The games are half a lifetime away, but the reminders still come every day in the mail. T-shirts and hats. Helmets and jerseys. Pictures and trading cards. All packaged with return postage.
Inside a brick townhouse in Lakeville, Minnesota, a 77-year-old Hall of Fame center plays Santa. Arthritic fingers that curled around footballs for 17 years at Metropolitan Stadium now squeeze highlighters. With a signature, he turns ordinary $20 items into treasured memorabilia.
Mick Tingelhoff, Minnesota Vikings 62-78.
It’s a piece of his routine, just like watching “Gunsmoke” and Andy Griffith in his favorite sunroom chair.