Red McCombs, ex-owner of the Minnesota Vikings, dies at 95
Former Minnesota Vikings owner Red McCombs has died at the age of 95.
Having made his fortune in the car business, McCombs bought the Vikings in 1998 for $250 million, later selling the franchise to Zygi and Mark Wilf in 2005 for $600 million.
"The Minnesota Vikings are saddened by the passing of former team owner Red McCombs. Red embodied his famous 'Purple Pride' phrase and remained a staunch Vikings fan after passing the torch to the Wilf family in 2005," a statement from the team reads. "While red had a clear passion for sports, it was evident what he loved the most were his children and grandchildren. Our thoughts and prayers are with the McCombs family during this difficult time. We will be forever grateful for Red and Charline's contributions to the Vikings."
#OTD in July 1998
— Red McCombs (@RedMcCombs) July 16, 2019
I made it to the pinnacle of professional sports - the NFL! I bought the Vikings after author Tom Clancy's deal fell through. What a ride it was! pic.twitter.com/i3ixL0wlFj
The Vikings exploded onto the scene during McCombs' first year as owner in 1998, drafting Randy Moss to cement what was then the highest-scoring offense in NFL history. That team went 15-1 before losing in overtime to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game.
Minnesota went to the NFC title game again in 2001, when they were blown out 41-0 by the New York Giants.
McCombs was married to his wife, Charline Hamblin, for 69 years. She died in 2019.
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.