Justin: Vikings veterans Ed Marinaro and Chuck Foreman offer fans more than autographs

Autograph collector Johnny Hudson has racked up moments with Joe Montana, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He longed to add Ed Marinaro to that list.

So when he heard the former Vikings running back and “Hill Street Blues” star was doing a series of meet-and-greets this past weekend in the Twin Cities, he booked a flight from his Atlanta home for his inaugural visit to Minnesota.

“I’ve been wanting to meet him since the early ’80s, but it’s not like I can google him and go to his house,” said Hudson, 61, who arrived early at Mahtomedi‘s Dugout Bar on Saturday, armed with a bagful of precious items, including a 1971 copy of Football Roundup magazine with Cornell University standout Marinaro on the cover. “People don’t understand my hobby. They ask me, ‘How much do you spend on that?’ Well, how much do you spend on beer? I’ve never had alcohol in my life. I don’t have kids. Who’s going to marry me? This is just something I enjoy.”

Hudson got his signatures — and a whole lot more.

When Marinaro, 74, arrived at the Dugout, sporting a long coat and a mop of white hair, he shuffled on his bad leg over to the bar, ordered a beer in a plastic cup, and shook hands with patrons on stools.

For the next two hours, he regaled those in line at the merchandise table with self-deprecating tales from his playing days, like how he didn’t score a touchdown until the last game of his rookie season.

He shared anecdotes from his time in Hollywood, how he auditioned twice for the role of Tony Soprano on ‘The Sopranos” and was in contention to play mobster Ralphie Cifaretto, a role that would end up winning Joe Pantoliano an Emmy.

He also signed a lot of memorabilia from “Blue Mountain State,” the 2010-13 cable comedy that introduced him to a younger fan base. A reboot is in the works.

“With all due respect, if you show a 30-year-old guy a picture of Harrison Ford and a picture of me, they would know me first,” he said between posing for pictures with more than a few dozen attendees. “Some of the ‘Blue Mountain’ fans don’t even know that I played football.”

Marinaro, who made it to two Super Bowls in purple, was joined at the table by Chuck Foreman, another beloved Vikings running back, who was equally generous with his time.

Foreman, 74, advised one youngster with NFL dreams to spend less time playing video games and more time outside, then served up high fives to him and his siblings. He joked about his low salary during his pro career and how O.J. Simpson laughed when he found out how much the Viking was making in his third season.

The only time the pair weren’t fully engaged with fans was when they were busting each other’s chops or marveling at running back Derrick Henry on a big-screen TV as he led the Baltimore Ravens to victory over the Cleveland Browns.

It didn’t have to be this way.

Meet-and-greet events can just be money grabs for athletes who were under-appreciated during their glory days. At the Mahtomedi gathering, fans paid $20 to have either star sign an item. There was also a chance to purchase autographed collectibles like bobbleheads ($40) and caps ($45). There was even a side hustle: spices with clever names like Intentionally Grounded.

But Sports Legends USA, the locally based company that sponsors these events, is aiming for more than a shopping spree.

“I love what other groups do, where you basically stand in line and get an autograph. But we want to create experiences and memories,” said Legends owner Ben Theis, who founded Legends with Foreman in 2020 and now represents stars like Tony Oliva and Carl Eller. “I try to think of what 15-year-old Ben would have loved.”

Dawn Widener drove all the way from Belfield, N.D., to attend a Friday Q&A featuring former running backs. She had such a blast, she brought her grandchildren to the Dugout.

”They’ve watched Grandma watching football on TV," she said. “Now they can see why grandma is screaming.”

Fans seemed to enjoy mingling with each other as much as they did with the superstars.

“In all the years of these events, I’ve only met one jerk,” said Andrew White, president of City Boy Sports Cards, who took a break from manning his own tables to simply enjoy Saturday’s gathering. “If someone is in a bad mood at one of these things, they’re probably a bad mood person.”

You would think someone like Foreman would tire of the ritual: posing, signing, talking about the past. Nope.

“This is a joy,” he said. “If you don’t get out and about and have this kind of experience, you might think the whole world is crazy. But you get here, meet people one-on-one and you realize, ‘Hey man. There’s a whole bunch of good people out here.’”