Retirement had been on Scott Studwell's mind for a while, which probably felt weird because the man is the definition of a workaholic.
The final push came last summer after Studwell learned that his former Vikings teammate Keith Nord had cancer and wasn't doing well. Studwell always considered Nord a little brother.
Studwell was on the road scouting college players in September — something he has done for years, always away from home searching for talent — when he left Nord a phone message. Nord's wife texted back a half hour later.