We are losing the greatest generation of Vikings.
In May, Bud Grant, the legendary coach, was memorialized at U.S. Bank Stadium. On Thursday, at the Hotel Ivy in Minneapolis, there was a quieter tribute to another essential member of the braintrust that built four Super Bowl teams.
Frank Gilliam, the team's longtime scouting director and director of player personnel, died in April at age 89. He was remembered this week, before and after the ceremony, as a historic and endearing figure.
Gilliam starred at football in Iowa, playing receiver for quarterback Jerry Reichow. He would play in the CFL for Grant, and would become one of the country's first Black Division I college football coaching assistants for Jerry Burns at Iowa.