Mick Tingelhoff, Vikings Hall of Fame Center, Dies at Age 81

The Minnesota Vikings announced Saturday that Hall of Fame center Mick Tingelhoff has died. He was 81.

Tingelhoff was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015, and his former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer, quarterback Fran Tarkenton, gave his speech. 

"Mick's a man of little words, but a lot of action," an emotional Tarkenton said at the time, per Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. "He's so proud to be in this class of 2015. He waited 37 years to get to the Hall of Fame."

After going undrafted out of Nebraska in 1962, he would go on to play every game in his career for the Vikings until retiring in 1978, a remarkable run of resilience. Only Brett Favre (297) and Tingelhoff's teammate Jim Marshall (270) started more games than Tingelhoff's 240 in NFL history.

"When we came to the Vikings, Mick was the pillar of what we built our team around, he and Jim Marshall. Mick led by example," Hall of Fame head coach Bud Grant once said of Tingelhoff. "His toughness and his durability and intelligence, he was a great football player and one of the greatest Vikings of all time. I loved Mick Tingelhoff."

Tingelhoff was an NFL champion (1969), helped lead the Vikings to four Super Bowl appearances, was a six-time Pro Bowler and a five-time first-team All-Pro selection. 

"Mick Tingelhoff was the anchor of the great Vikings teams during an amazing era that included four Super Bowls," the Wilf family said in a statement. "A humble but strong leader, he defined toughness. Mick's legacy will live on as a Hall of Famer, on the field and off the field. Our thoughts are with his family and friends."

The Vikings retired his number in 2001.

"I came to the Vikings a year before Mick, but we left at the same time. He was my guy," Tarkenton said Saturday after learning of Tingelhoff's death. "He played 17 years, never missed a game, never missed a practice. Mick was my best friend by far."