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inates the game. Maybe 20 years ago a haircut." Then I'll laugh-and go out 1969-becatise of a bunch of highly in-
an individual like Bobby Layne could and get a haircut. Why? Because he's dividualistic people doing their highly
impress his brand of playing on the game. the honcho, and that's the way it has to individualistic things. A genuinely skilled
But when it comes down to it maybe be, and maybe there have to be little coach will allow for this, and Old Stone-
Kapp was destined to lose and is the rules about haircuts and things like that face is definitely a winner. I may have
last of a breed." to drive the point home. I don't like it, to get my hair cut and wear a jacket
Dave Meggyesy is a graduate student but I understand it. Bud and I have our and a tie on the plane, but within that
in sociology and was a linebacker for little wars of nerves, and hair length is square outfit I'm still allowed to be Joe
the St. Louis Cardinals, and I have a one of the battlefronts. Funny thing, Kapp. If Bud were to cali me in and
lot of respect for his inte!Jigence, but I though, the same man always wins the say, "Listen, Joe, from now on no more
can't say that I agree with him on that battles. tequila, no more chili beans, no more
quote. The way I see it, a football team None of this means that Bud re- going to X-rated movies," then I would
is like a ship or maybe like an army, fuses to al low the Vikings to act as in- have to reassess the situation. But he un-
and there can only be one big honcho dividuals, or that the color and indi- derstands football players better than
giving the orders. On the Vikings the viduality are going out of the game of that.
honcho is Bud Grant, and don't think professional football. That's just plain And anyway, Len Dawson's techno-
for a second that he doesn't lay down not true. In those functions we inter- logical skill wasn't what won the Super
the rules, and don't think for a second lock, of course; we have to perform as Bowl, but an overall team effort by the
that some of the rules don't bug us. team members and not as individual per- Kansas City individuals. What did I do
Like the one about haircuts. The length sonalities. But there's plenty of room in that game that was so "deviant," so
of an athlete's hair is getting to be a big- for individuality-in fact, there's a need individualistic? And what did Len Daw-
ger issue than it ought to be. Bud will for it. And that's one of the reasons son do that was so technologically per-
call me over and he'll say, ''Time to get that the Vikings were successful in fect? His team played better, that's all.
If our team had played better, then Meg-
gyesy could have said the reverse: that
Dawson was too individualistic and I
was too machinelike. If you look at the
central gear on a complex drive mech-
anism it doesn't look like it's doing much,
but if it gets off-center it looks indi-
vidualistic as hell.
Well, that's ancient history-yester-
day's enchiladas. Now my attitude is sim-
ply that we Vikings will have to go out
there and do it all over again-the hard
way. I don't mind. Doing things the
hard way is almost a life pattern with
me- and I'm not complaining, I'm not
whining, I revel in it. I like the heat, I
like the pressure, I like being on the
spot. The last thing I want to be is Mr.
Cool out there. I want to get charged
up, to hear the crowd, to overcome ob-
stacles. I like being an emergency guy,
an innovator, a " deviant." I wouldn't
want it any other way. A man doesn't
know how these things develop, whether
he unknowingly selects a certain life-
style or whether it's pushed on him. But
coming from behind is my way, and
I'm glad we get another chance to do it
each year. Winning the Super Bowl on
our first attempt would have been too
easy. Now we'll come back and do it
the hard way on our second try.
That's the way life should be Jived.
There's nothing more unnatural than
coasting through life, bowing to left and
right and accepting precious gifts. Men
and football teams are the same-they
WITH HIM AT HIS MOTHER'S DAIRY QUEEN IN SALINAS IS HIS BROTHER LARRY both should have to reach a little. END