MANKATO – The Vikings are heading into their 57th season. They’ve had two equipment managers.
Two.
Jimmy “Stubby” Eason handled the job from 1961 until 1980 before losing his battle with lung cancer in 1981. A young pup named Dennis Ryan joined Stubby’s staff in 1975, got promoted in 1981 and will be going as strong as ever Wednesday morning as he oversees the final stages of packing the team up and leaving Mankato for the last time.
Asked if he’ll miss Mankato when training camp shifts to the team’s new headquarters in Eagan next year, Ryan smiled, paused and said, “I’ll miss the people.