PHOENIX — After his introductory news conference a year ago, Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell met with Bud Grant, who had watched the session from a seat in the back of the Vikings' field house. The team kept an office for the Hall of Fame coach in its headquarters; Grant, then 94, mentioned to O'Connell he'd recently been spending more time there.
"That day, he said something along the lines of, 'We should grab lunch next week,'" O'Connell said at the NFL owners' meetings on Tuesday. "And I said, 'Coach, anytime. We can have a meal together, where you can just come by.