Associated Press
Fred Cox, a place-kicker for the Minnesota Vikings who scored the most points in the team’s history and, while still playing, helped conceive the Nerf Football, a squishy faux pigskin that sold in the millions, died on Wednesday at his home in Monticello, Minn. He was 80.
The Vikings announced his death but provided no details. He had been treated recently for kidney problems.
Cox, a straight-on kicker who used a square-toed shoe, was one of the Vikings’ most valuable players since the team was founded in 1961. He scored 1,365 points, the second most in N.