Purple People Eater Sighting

I was at the Uptown Bar last night in Minneapolis, desperately trying to regain my street cred while I checked out three up and coming bands, including my Hamline friend Mark's band (he's the drummer) when I saw Carl Eller sitting across from me at the bar. Mr. Eller was a defensive end for the Vikings during their dominant period in the late 60's and 70's and was so good you could call him a force of nature, a one man hurricane, if you will.

Mr. Eller was sitting alone, at 12:30 at night, and he didn't look particularly happy with the giggly crowd of preppy drinkers, most of whom were about thirty years younger than him. I felt sorry for him, to have accomplished so much in his career and to end up at the same bar as me, but today I've read more about him and now think he's doing all right for himself.

4 comments:

Rand said...

Yeah, I see him around town, too. He recently had a new bar/restaurant in Woodbury (the "Purple People Eatery") that went bankrupt and closed almost immediately.

Lots of former Vikings around town doing good things:

Dr. Leo Lewis, Assoc. Athletic Director at the U of M

Oscar Reed, Founder of Life's Missing Link, a Mpls Social Service nonprofit

Tim Baylor, recently chosen to be Becky Lourey's running mate for Mn Governor

Alan Page, MN Supreme Court Justice

David Oppegaard said...

Yeah, I guess these guys aren't as exciting as sex boat cruises.

Becca said...

I never know how to react when I see someone famous. It's fun for name-dropping later, though.

Did I tell you how I was "This close" to Steve Carell....

David Oppegaard said...

Sweet! I was once behind Posh Spice Beckham in an airport security line. Her kid kept acting up and embarrasing her. Someone had to tell me who she was. She was tiny.

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