Alan Page

Alan Page

Career history
Minnesota Vikings Chicago Bears
Pro Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame

Alan Cedric Page (born August 7 1945 in Canton, Ohio) is a former professional American football player who starred as a defensive lineman in the NFL, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings as a member of the "Purple People Eaters", and then went on to have a distinguished legal career, serving as a current Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Justice Page is married to Diane Sims Page and is the father of four children, Nina, Georgi, Justin and Kamie.

High School

Graduated from Central Catholic High School, Canton, OH, 1964. Starred in all sports, and excelled in football.

College

Page earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He was an All-American in football in 1966, and was selected by the Vikings in the 1967 NFL Draft. Although he was an exceptional athlete, Page was not drafted and sent to Vietnam. At Notre Dame, he led the football team to a national championship in 1966 and a 25-3-2 record from 1964 to 1966.

He was presented with one of the 1992 Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA) for achieving personal distinction since his graduation. In 2005 he was awarded the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award. In between he was inducted into College Football Hall of Fame (1993).

In 1967 he participated in the East-West Shrine Game and 25 years later received the "Babe Hollingbery" Award for his outstanding and lasting performance as he was inducted to that game's Hall of Fame. Named to the Academic All-American Hall of Fame in 2001 and as such received the Dick Enberg Award. Also a winner of the Walter Camp Alumni of the Year in 1988.[1]. In 2002 he was inducted into International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame. 2004 winner of the Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA) which is awarded to a graduates from an NCAA institution who earned a varsity letter for athletics and who ultimately became a distinguished citizen of national reputation.

NFL

Although he had played defensive end in college, he was moved to defensive tackle with the Vikings. He played for Minnesota from 1967 until the middle of the 1978 season when he was released by the team. The Chicago Bears signed him and he played with the Bears until the end of the 1981 season.

In 1988 he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is the first native of the Hall's home city of Canton to have been inducted with the second being Dan Dierdorf. In 1989 had the opportunity to dedicate "Alan Page Drive" in his hometown of Canton, OH.

During Page's tenure the Vikings won one NFL (1969) and 3 NFC (1973, 1974 and 1976) title games. Page played in 218 games, never missing one. He scored 3 touchdowns (2 on fumble recoveries and one on an interception return) and also scored 3 safeties, second most in NFL history. He recovered 22 fumbles and totaled 148-1/2 sacks. He is third on the Vikings sack list with 108-1/2[2] and recorded 40 in his 3-3/4 season with the Chicago Bears.

Page was named the AP's NFL "Most Valuable Player" in 1971, the second defensive player to be accorded that honor since the inception of the award in 1957 (the Lions' Joe Schmidt was co MVP in 1960). Page was joined on this short list in 1986 by New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor. The three remain the only defensive players to win the league's top regular season award.

He was also named the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1971 and 1973. Page earned All-Pro honors 6 times and was voted to 9 straight Pro Bowls. In addition he was voted the NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1973. For that honor, he was given the George S. Halas Trophy by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Page earned All-Pro honors six times, and was named second-team all-league three additional times.

Page's playing style was based on his quickness and his ability to shed blocks with his agility and beautiful arm work (like that of Deacon Jones). He had an uncanny knack to get in the backfield and was great in pursuit. He was also adept at intercepting passes at the line. At the conclusion of his career opponents had averaged only 3.4 yards per carry against him. (cite?)

Page was National Football League Players Association player representative, 1970-1974, 1976-1977 and a member of the NFLPA Association Executive Committee, 1972-1975. Named to the Vikings' 40th Anniversary Team in 2000. Along the way Page was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Week three times: Week 9, 1967; Week 8, 1968; Week 13, 1971.

After his playing career he dabbled in the media first as a color commentator, Turner Broadcasting System covering the College Football Game of the Week series during the Fall of 1982 and then became a commentator on National Public Radio from 1982-1983.

In 1999, he was ranked number 34 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking Viking player. Received the NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award in 1995 for attaining success in his post-NFL career.

Legal career

Page received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1978 while playing professional football full-time. He was a lawyer in private practice in Minneapolis from 1979 to 1984 with the law firm Lindquist and Vennum [3]. In 1985, Page was appointed a Special Assistant Attorney General and was soon promoted to Assistant Attorney General.

In 1992, he was elected to an open seat as an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. He was re-elected in 1998, becoming the biggest vote-getter in Minnesota history also re-elected in 2004. "Justice Purple People Eater" shares fame as a former football player with Justice Byron White of the U.S. Supreme Court, now deceased.

In 1988, Page and his wife founded the Page Education Foundation, which helps minorities go to college. Justice Page has also expressed interest in becoming a public school teacher for a year or two upon retirement from the bench.

Honorary Degrees

Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters University of Notre Dame, 2004, Winston-Salem State University, 2000, Gustavus Adolphus College, 2003.

Honorary Doctorate of Laws University of Notre Dame, 1993, St. John's University, 1994, Westfield State College, 1994, Luther College, 1995, University of New Haven, 1999.

Awards

2007—Trumpet Awards Foundation Honoree.[4]
2005—National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award
2004—Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA)
1999—Sports Illustrated's "The 50 Greatest Sports Figures from Ohio".
1999—Star Tribune's "100 Influential Minnesotans of the Century".
1999—Star Tribune's "100 Most Important Sports Figures of the Century".
1995—NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award
1994—Aetna Voice of Conscience Arthur Ashe Jr. Achiever Award.
1993—WCCO Radio Distinguished Good Neighbor Award.

1992—Silver Anniversary Awards (NCAA)
1992—U.S. Sports Academy Theodore Roosevelt Meritorious Service Award.
1992—Notre Dame Alumni "Reverend Edward Frederick Sorin, C.S.C." Award.
1991—Inducted into Chicago's Inner City Sports Hall of Fame.
1991—National Education Association "Friend of Education" Award.
1990—Inducted into the Nike Walk of Fame.
1988—Walter Camp Alumni of the Year
1987—Completed Edmund Fitzgerald 100-kilometer (62-mile) race.
1981—Selected by U.S. Jaycees as one of America's Ten Outstanding Young Men.

Professional Organizations

• Member, American Law Institute, 1993-present
• Member, Minnesota State Bar Association, 1979-1985, 1990-present
• Member, Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers, 1980-present
• Member, National Bar Association, 1979-present
• Member, American Bar Association, 1979-present
• Member, Advisory Board, Mixed Blood Theater, 1984-present
• Founder, Page Education Foundation, 1988. Assists minority youth with post-secondary education.
• Member, Board of Regents, University of Minnesota, 1989-1993
• Helped establish Kodak/Alan Page Challenge, a nationwide essay contest encouraging urban youth to recognize the value of education.
• Member, Institute of Bill of Rights Law Task Force on Drug Testing in the Workplace, 1990-1991
• Board of Directors, Minneapolis Urban League, 1987-1990

Etc

• In 1979 Page became the first active NFL player to finish a marathon.
• As a result of his long distance running, Page played his last 5 NFL seasons at 225 pounds.
• He is the only person in NFL history to have both worked on the construction of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and inducted into the Hall of Fame.

External links

• Justice Alan Page's Minnesota Courts bio
• Alan Page at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• College Football Hall of Fame
• Template:Pro-football-reference
• Page Education Foundation
• 2007 Trumpet Awards
• Notre Dame Magazine Article on Page's 2004 commencement address
• Viking webpage on Alan Page

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