RIP Fred Cox

Fred Cox, the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Minnesota Vikings, passed away Wednesday night at the age of 80.

Cox was the kicker of my youth. The entirety of my youth. NFL rosters didn't change near as much in the 1960s and 1970s as they do today. And those Vikings teams seemed to change even less than other teams. As an itty bitty fan of the team, I thought that those Vikings players would play forever and those Vikings teams would be in the Super Bowl routinely. And they'd eventually win one, and hopefully more. Those winning days were wonderful and those Vikings teams were beautiful. It was crushing in the late 1970s when Cox and his teammates started to retire. Days like these are harder.

Cox was more automatic than most on extra points. At a time when field goals were a bit better than a 50-50 proposition across the league, he was much better than that. He started his kicking career at a time when the position was just starting to be specialized. Many position players still did the kicking for their teams and Cox entered the league in 1961 with the Cleveland Browns as a fullback. An injury allowed him the time to try his hand (or foot) at kicking. It didn't hurt that he had Hall of Famer Lou "the Toe" Groza as a mentor. Cox was a quick study and just needed an opportunity. He got that opportunity with the Vikings in 1963. He remained the team's kicker until his retirement in 1977. His straight-ahead kicking style was the norm when he started. It wasn't when he retired.

And he invented the Nerf football.

I think often of those great Minnesota Vikings teams. They were great, fun teams. The only thing missing from those teams was a damn Super Bowl title. I miss those Vikings teams. I miss Fred Cox. RIP.