Bobby Bryant, a hero in the defensive backfield for the Minnesota Vikings of the ’70s, to enter Ring of Honor

Bobby Bryant, a hero in the defensive backfield for the Minnesota Vikings of the ’70s, to enter Ring of Honor

Bobby Bryant will become the 15th member of the Bud Grant era to be honored with induction to the Vikings Ring of Honor.

Bobby Bryant (20) makes an interception during the 1976 NFC title game against the Los Angeles Rams. (William Seaman/Minnesota Star Tribune file)

Bobby Bryant and Alan Page first met at the East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco in 1967, when Page was a likely first-round pick out of Notre Dame and Bryant was a defensive back out of South Carolina. They clicked as teammates on the East squad that week; two months later, the Vikings took Page 15th overall and selected Bryant with the 167th pick.

“When we both got drafted by the Vikings, we said, ‘Why don’t we be roommates?’ ” Bryant said this summer. “So we did, for 14 years.”

Bryant and Page became one of the NFL’s first sets of interracial roommates, after Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo had done it in Chicago. Their 57-year friendship marked another milestone this summer, when Page joined Fran Tarkenton on a call to let Bryant know he would be the 28th inductee to the Vikings Ring of Honor.

Bryant will be honored at halftime of the Vikings’ game against the Texans on Sunday, as perhaps one of the last members of the Bud Grant era to reach the Ring of Honor. He is the 15th member, and 11th player, of the Grant era to join the group; he got the news this summer about six months after his 80th birthday.

Bobby Bryant in 1981, the year he retired. (Minnesota Star Tribune file)
“When I did get that call, I was pretty much blown away,” Bryant said. “I really never expected it, and didn’t think I deserved it, but it sure was nice to have it. … Alan and Fran are just great players, great friends, and Alan took good care of me. The reason I got 51 interceptions was because of Alan Page and Jim Marshall and Carl Eller and Gary Larsen and Doug Sutherland, because they didn’t give quarterbacks a whole lot of time to throw the ball. They couldn’t wait to get rid of it. A lot of times, they threw the ball right to me.”

Bryant’s 51 regular-season interceptions are second in Vikings history behind Paul Krause’s 53. Bryant’s six postseason interceptions give him a total of 57, eclipsing Krause’s 56 for the most in team history when counting the regular season and playoffs.

He was a 145-pound halfback when he graduated from Willingham (Ga.) High School; South Carolina was one of the only schools that offered him a scholarship. “They saw something in me, and they gave me a chance to play,” Bryant said. A former high school track star, Bryant set a school record with a 98-yard punt return, and he first made his mark as a kick and punt returner for the Vikings in 1968 after spending his rookie year on the practice squad.

Bryant returned three of his regular-season interceptions for touchdowns, and he scored in two of the Vikings’ four NFC Championship Game victories. His 63-yard return of a Roger Staubach pass put the Vikings up by two scores in the fourth quarter of their 1973 win over the Cowboys, and his 90-yard return of a blocked field goal gave the Vikings their first points of a 24-13 win over the Rams in 1976 in which Bryant also intercepted two passes.

”They tried the field goal, and Nate Allen came from the right side and blocked it,” Bryant recalled. “It took one bounce right into my arms, I caught it at the 5-yard line, and all I had to do was run 95 yards without falling down.“

Asked what allowed him to make so many big plays in playoff games, Bryant smiled and demurred again. “Alan Page, Gary Larsen, Jim Marshall, Carl Eller and Doug Sutherland,” he said.

On Sunday, as the Vikings bring back many of their former players, Bryant will have his day amid some of his former teammates. He was back at the team facility on Friday to be recognized in front of the current Vikings.

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”It’s awesome to see him and get him around our team,” coach Kevin O’Connell said. “It’s an exciting weekend.”

Ben Goessling has covered the Vikings since 2012, first at the Pioneer Press and ESPN before becoming the Star Tribune’s lead Vikings reporter in 2017. He was named one of the top NFL beat writers by the Pro Football Writers of America in 2024, after honors in the AP Sports Editors and National Headliner A