MINNEAPOLIS — On Sunday, the Vikings memorialized Bud Grant. On Monday, at the league's spring meetings, the NFL conjured a sentence the Hall of Famer could not have comprehended when he was coaching:
"NFL owners flew their private jets to Minnesota to attend league meetings at the luxury hotel adjacent to the Vikings' massive headquarters and practice facilities in Eagan, as franchise values edged toward $10 billion."
When Minnesota hosted the Super Bowl for the first time, following the 1991 season, the Vikings were based in Eden Prairie, at Winter Park. When they wanted to practice inside, they would inflate a 40-yard bubble that precluded punting and throwing long passes.
