MINNEAPOLIS -- For years, former Minnesota Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff had waited for his Pro Football Hall of Fame chance, without so much as an opportunity to be discussed by voters as a finalist. That's despite the fact Tingelhoff had in his favor a ringing endorsement from one of the greatest coaches of all time.
Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, whose teams played against Tingelhoff during the first six seasons of his career, routinely praised Tingelhoff, calling him one of the toughest centers he'd ever seen after the Vikings became one of the two teams to beat the 1966 Packers, winners of Super Bowl I. As Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman wrote in his 2007 book, Tingelhoff had played that game with a broken ankle.
The accolades from Lombardi -- as well as Hall of Fame coach Bud Grant -- finally have reverberated. Now, Tingelhoff is headed to Canton.
The 74-year-old was selected to the Hall of Fame on Saturday evening in his 32nd year of eligibility, as the lone nominee from the senior committee. Tingelhoff joins an eight-member class that officially will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame on Aug. 8.
Tingelhoff is the 16th former Vikings player to reach the Hall of Fame, and the 11th who spent at least a majority of his career in Minnesota. Grant, former coach Norm Van Brocklin and former general manager Jim Finks are also in the Hall of Fame.
Tingelhoff, who was the anchor of the Vikings' offensive line on four Super Bowl teams, is the fourth former Viking to reach Canton in the past six years, following defensive tackle John Randle in 2010, defensive end Chris Doleman in 2012 and wide receiver Cris Carter in 2013. He becomes the sixth player from Grant's teams -- which played in four Super Bowls from 1969 to 1976 -- to be selected.
The undrafted free agent started 240 consecutive games in 17 seasons, playing through myriad injuries that never caused him to miss so much as a practice. At the time of his retirement, Tingelhoff's consecutive starts streak was the second longest in NFL history, behind teammate Jim Marshall. In fact, the three longest streaks in NFL history were all set by players in Vikings uniforms -- Brett Favre, Marshall and Tingelhoff.
"Mick was a catalyst for our team and one of the most respected players on those teams," Grant said. "I have no doubt that had he not played center, he would have been a Hall of Fame linebacker. He played center with the mentality and tenacity of a linebacker. Mick’s intangibles were the thing that made him so great. He was a captain the whole time I coached him and guys looked at him as an example of how to do things.”
Tingelhoff was named a first-team All-Pro every year from 1964 to 1970, and was selected to the Pro Bowl each season from 1965-70. Tingelhoff was part of Vikings teams that won 10 division titles in 11 years from 1968-78, played for five NFL/NFC Championships and went to three of their four Super Bowls from 1973-76.