When it comes to the Minnesota Vikings, Millie Wall has seen it all -- almost.
The 99-year-old fan was there when the Vikings joined the NFL in 1961. She suffered through four Super Bowl losses in the 1970s, and agonized when Dallas’ Drew Pearson seemed to push off Vikings defender Nate Wright to catch a Hail Mary touchdown pass in a 1975 playoff game to give the Cowboys a shocking victory.
"You just had to bear it,"Wall told WCCO.
Sunday night, she witnessed her first playoff game in person and saw the Miracle of Minneapolis unfold, as the Vikings defeated the New Orleans Saints 29-24 on the game’s final play to reach the NFC championship game.
And if the Vikings should defeat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Wall will be in the stands for Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, courtesy of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, WCCO reported.
Wall could be seen during the Vikings game Sunday drinking a screwdriver with her granddaughter, Ashley, WCCO reported. The team had given her two tickets to the playoff game against New Orleans to celebrate her upcoming 100th birthday in July.
How rabid a fan has Wall been? When angered or frustrated by the Vikings’ play, she would throw a foam brick at her television set, WCCO reported.
“There were years I got up all the time so I thought ‘Well, this is dumb,’” Wall told WCCO. “So now I put a string on (the brick) so I can retrieve it.”
If the Vikings reach the Super Bowl, it will be the first time a team will play pro football’s biggest game in its home stadium. And if Minnesota should win its first Vince Lombardi trophy, then Wall truly would have seen it all.
