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By Craig Peters
When Alan Page and Bobby Bryant arrived in Minnesota as members of a pivotal 1967 draft class, they quickly learned the value of learning from Jim Marshall.
The Vikings Ring of Honor defensive end was entering his second of 14 consecutive seasons as a team captain.
Marshall's official tenure ended upon his retirement in 1979, less than two weeks before he turned 42, but his legacy of leadership has lasted in the hearts and minds of his contemporaries and inspired generations of players who followed.
Consider this interchange between Page and Bryant during a recent joint interview.
"He taught me how to be a professional football player, both in terms of attitude but also in terms of the nuts and bolts of being a defensive lineman," said Page, the 1971 NFL MVP and a Pro Football Hall of Famer. "Between Jim and Carl [Eller] and Gary [Larsen] and Paul [Dickson], they taught me what it was to be a football player. You talk about Jim—"
"Jim was The Captain," Bryant interjected.
Page, seamlessly continuing the thought, said, "If there was ever a leader, Jim was that. It's sort of trite, but it's also true when you look up leadership in the dictionary, what you're going to find is Jim Marshall. It was just who he was, or who he is. There wasn't anything forced or unnatural about it. It wasn't based on arrogance or anything else. He was just a leader."
Just as Marshall's teammates continue to look up to him, current and future Vikings will be able to look to Marshall for inspiration through the installation of the "Jim Marshall Vikings Captains Legacy" display.
The wall display is the first and final thing players see as they walk through the hallway from their parking lot to the locker room. It features a tribute to Marshall, a listing of all season-long captains since the inaugural 1961 season and a photo of the 2024 captains, who were announced Wednesday by Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell.
Minnesota has eight captains for 2024 (Offense: Sam Darnold, C.J. Ham, Justin Jefferson and Brian O'Neill; Defense: Joshua Metellus, Harrison Phillips and Harrison Smith; Special Teams: Andrew DePaola).
O'Connell filmed a special message to inform Marshall of the installation and recorded a separate video explaining the team's desire to connect Marshall's legacy with current leaders.
"It was really important as we get ready to announce this year's captains to find a way to honor the greatest captain in the history of our organization, Jim Marshall, a 14-time captain," said O'Connell, who enjoyed weekly in-season lunches with Hall of Fame Coach Bud Grant before Grant's passing in spring 2023.
Grant, who was hired in 1967, routinely pointed out Marshall's impacts in those conversations.
"Nobody led a football team like Jim did, led this team and this organization to so much success during his career here, meant so much to so many Vikings fans, Coach Bud Grant, to everyone here at our organization," O'Connell said. "We thought, 'What better way to honor Jim and what we believe to be his Hall of Fame career not only as a player but as the genuine example we have all our captains strive to be like here at the Minnesota Vikings?'"
Marshall began his NFL career in 1960 with the Cleveland Browns and started seven of 12 games. He was traded just before the start of the 1961 season, immediately drove to Minnesota and started in the first Vikings game, a roaring upset of the Bears on Sept. 17, 1961.
Marshall never missed a contest the rest of the way, starting 270 consecutive regular-season games and 19 postseason contests, including Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX and XI.
Eller, a 1964 first-round pick who played 228 Vikings games (including playoffs), and Scott Studwell, who suited up for 213 after joining Minnesota as a ninth-round pick in 1977, explained how much Marshall meant to their teams.
"We all looked to Jim, myself and the other guys. It was something about, 'If Jim's ready, we've gotta be ready.' It was a motivator," Eller said. "You can't put a price tag on it; you can't put a name or image, because it's something that a guy has within him that he gives to the rest of the team. That's something that we needed. We relied on that. We looked to Jim game after game, year after year."
Studwell and Doug Sutherland hoisted Marshall on their shoulders on Dec. 9, 1979, after Minnesota edged Buffalo 10-3 at Metropolitan Stadium for a win in Marshall's final home game. Studwell said what Marshall "accomplished and did for this team, and this organization, was unmatched."
"He's one of the most remarkable people I've been around in this business," Studwell added. "Bud kind of let Jim carry the torch, and he ran the locker room, and Bud ran the team. I have absolute, utmost respect for Captain Jim."
When asked about being "Captain," Marshall answered in the same way he led the team, by putting the focus on the team, not on himself.
"I saw it as my responsibility to ensure that everyone on the Vikings knew they were part of a team both on and off the field," Marshall said. "We had fun, operated like a family, but on the field, everyone knew what they needed to do and came to play. We were successful because we trusted each man to do his job."
When asked what it means that teammates still call him Captain, Marshall said, "It brings a smile to my face. I'm honored. It means I did my job."