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Sad news! He was an awesome player!

RIP Never had the pleasure to watch him compete but he sounds like he was an awesome player. Prayers for him and his family.

Very sad news. He was a terrific LB and one of the best FG-blockers I've ever seen.

Mothman wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 4:22 pm Very sad news. He was a terrific LB and one of the best FG-blockers I've ever seen.

He is a great punt blocker too, he is ranked #3 in blocks kicks in the NFL

I saw that Blair has the same birthday as I do!

Gone too soon. Very sad. RIP Matt, you provided me and many Viking fans some great memories.

One of my all time favorite Vikings. The guy was so great at blocking punts. A Classic Viking

Tough loss. Being an Iowan of a certain age, I remember Matt Blair at Iowa State, as well. Did you guys know he was a walk-on before eventually becoming an All-American?

Blair had 20 career blocked kicks with the Vikings, but that’s not all he did. He was a great LB, as well, racking up 231 tackles in 1981. One of the great all-time Vikings, a Ring of Honor inductee.

Cause of death was not announced, but he had been suffering from dementia. Very sad.

J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:03 am Tough loss. Being an Iowan of a certain age, I remember Matt Blair at Iowa State, as well. Did you guys know he was a walk-on before eventually becoming an All-American?

Blair had 20 career blocked kicks with the Vikings, but that’s not all he did. He was a great LB, as well, racking up 231 tackles in 1981. One of the great all-time Vikings, a Ring of Honor inductee.

Cause of death was not announced, but he had been suffering from dementia. Very sad.

He should have been a Hall of Famer

RandyMoss84 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 9:25 am

J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:03 am Tough loss. Being an Iowan of a certain age, I remember Matt Blair at Iowa State, as well. Did you guys know he was a walk-on before eventually becoming an All-American?

Blair had 20 career blocked kicks with the Vikings, but that’s not all he did. He was a great LB, as well, racking up 231 tackles in 1981. One of the great all-time Vikings, a Ring of Honor inductee.

Cause of death was not announced, but he had been suffering from dementia. Very sad.

He should have been a Hall of Famer

I totally agree. Blair was an incredible player, making 6 Pro Bowls. Very well-respected, both around the league and especially in the Vikings community.

It's a lot like the Jim Marshall exclusion ... very confusing. I suppose it's more fallout of the Vikings never winning a Super Bowl.

This is the kinda guy that made it an honor to wear purple! He helped build Purple Pride. We are far from those days.

My Matt Blair moment: November 1983. My wife and I went to New Orleans for our first wedding anniversary. Coincidentally, the Vikes were playing the Saints and coincidentally, I had tickets for the game .

Anyway, Saturday night my wife and I went to Pascal Manales for dinner and who did we stand behind in line waiting to get seated: the parents of Fred McNeil. We chatted and they were very nice. Also, Archie Manning was hosting some Viking teammates at the restaurant that night. Game day, we went to the Hyatt next to the Superdome for pregame brunch. My wife, not exactly a big fan, screamed when she saw Bud Grant come down the escalator.

Anyway, who do we see at the brunch: Fred McNeils parents. They call us over and at the same time Matt and Fred came over to say hi. I got to shake their hands. Great weekend despite the close loss. Note: the upper deck at the Superdome is very steep. I remember thinking if my wife tripped she might down 5 rows, being 5 months pregnant, too.