Owner of popular Minnesota sports blogs dies
The owner of multiple Minnesota sports websites, including Vikings Territory and Purple PTSD, has died.
Joe Johnson's death was announced Wednesday afternoon by Joe Oberle, who covers the Vikings for the aforementioned websites. Details of Johnson's death have not been announced, with Oberle saying Johnson's family has asked for privacy.
"It is with great sadness I must report the passing of Uffda!Sports owner and operator Joe Johnson this past week. To those who knew Joe, he was a kind and loving son, brother and uncle, a hard-working and generous employer, creative entrepreneur and fiercely loyal friend," Oberle wrote.
"His family asks for privacy at this very difficult time, and they appreciate the out-pouring of love and condolences they've already received. His mark on local sports , particularly on the fans of the Minnesota Vikings, is indelible. Rest in peace, my friend. Skol."
Johnson launched VikingsTerritory.com and purplePTSD.com, then more recently transformed his sports empire into UFFda! Sports, which was effectively the home for FranchiseTagged.com, purpleTERRITORYRadio.com, TheDraftTeam.com and MinnyIce.com.
Johnson's most recent column was posted July 4, where he thanked his loyal colleagues and followers since he began his journey writing and talking about Minnesota sports in 2015.
Been meaning to thank you all for awhile for allowing me/us to pursue this dream, but now it has new meaning for me and I really wanted to let you all know what this means to me personally after a rough couple months.https://t.co/vqSQvwZMvr
— Joe Johnson (@vtptsd) July 5, 2021
In memory of Johnson, his family requests that donations be made the University of Minnesota School of Journalism.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.