Welcome to the Hall of Fame Mick Tingelhoff

As part of the NFL Hall of Fame weekend the Football Preseason commences with the Steelers and Vikings playing an exhibition game in Canton.

Both teams were represented by HoF inductees over the weekend, Jerome Bettis for the Steelers and Mick Tinglehoff for the Vikings.

1964 Philadelphia Gum #110 Mick Tingelhoff (rc)

Tinglehoff was the Vikings starting Center for every game the team played from 1962 through 1978. That is 17 seasons without missing a game - 240 of them, plus 19 playoff games.

The Vikings never won a Superbowl, but Tinglehoff played in four of them.

Mick Tinglehoff's Hall of Fame presenter will be another Vikings Hall Member, Fran Tarkenton. 

Flip

1964 Philadelphia Gum #110 Mick Tingelhoff (rc b-side)

The card specifies Mick Tinglehoff is a 3rd year player, however according Cardboard Connection this is his rookie card.

The 1964 Philly Gum Cards give some pretty solid hints on the tunes related to their trivia questions. Kudos for to Philly Gum for going to the trouble of getting Tinglehoff's uni number right.

Sources and Links
cardboard connection
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Football-Ref

My Art Donovan Memory

About 15 years ago I was at a Wedding at the Valley Country Club which is owned and operated by the Art Donovan family.

The Wedding was definitely a special and fun night on its own merit, but there was an added bonus as Art Donovan happily joined the reception.

1956 Topps #36 Arthur Donovan RC (image swiped from football card database)

To the side of the main reception hall was a small bar decorated with memorabilia from Art Donovan's football career as well as items from other family members in the Donovan clan - Art's grandfather Mike Donovan was a boxer and a middleweight champion during the 1870s. Mike Donovan is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and Art of course is a member of the NFL HoF in Canton.


During the Wedding Reception Art hung out in the bar area and would talk with anyone who was interested.  He told us about the various memorabilia items and his grandfathers boxing career.  He gave special attention to the Best Man  - "Hey Best Man" he called out several times, making conversation and ordering up drinks. It was a fun night and I was glad to find a guy that came across as so friendly and engaging on TV was the same guy in real life.

If you have never seen Art Donovan on TV this is a link to a clip from Letterman in 1988.  Just past the 3 minute mark he discusses the Valley Country Club

Other Voices
Von's Cards

Sources
Wikipedia.com
Valley Country Club
YouTube/David Letterman
football card database