Former Vikings tight end Stu Voigt gave Dennis Ryan his first nickname 40-some years ago. The moniker, naturally, was based on Ryan's tireless devotion to serving the Purple's every need when it came to the equipment side of football.
"When I started working with Stubby in 1975, we were over at old Midway Stadium in St. Paul," said Ryan, referring to the team's first equipment manager, Jimmy "Stubby" Eason. "When the Twins season ended, we'd move to Met Stadium and practice there. But we had no storage, so we kept everything at Midway, including one washer and one dryer.