34 Facts About Alan Page

Alan Cedric Page was born on August 7,1945 and is an American retired judge and former professional football.

Alan Page gained national recognition as a defensive tackle in the National Football League during 15 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears, and then embarked on a legal career.

Alan Page was the first defensive player in NFL history to win the MVP Award and only Lawrence Taylor has done it since.

Alan Page is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and is considered one of the greatest defensive linemen ever to play the game.

Alan Page's parents stressed the importance of education and of doing his best regardless of what others did.

Alan Page said he wanted to become a lawyer when he was a child.

Alan Page graduated from Canton Central Catholic High School in 1963, where he starred in several sports and excelled in football.

Alan Page worked on a construction team that erected the Pro Football Hall of Fame, laying the groundwork for the building in which he would one day be enshrined.

Alan Page was presented with one of the 1992 Silver Anniversary Awards for achieving personal distinction since his graduation.

In 1967, Alan Page participated in the East-West Shrine Game and 25 years later received the "Babe Hollingbery" Award for his performance as he was inducted to that game's Hall of Fame.

Alan Page won the Walter Camp Alumni of the Year award in 1988.

Alan Page was a first round selection in the by the Minnesota Vikings, for whom he played for 11 seasons, through 1977.

Alan Page is one of 11 Vikings to have played in all four Super Bowls in which the team appeared.

Alan Page joined the Chicago Bears in 1978 and played there for four seasons and amassed an additional 40 sacks.

Alan Page was a member of the Vikings' "Purple People Eaters," a defensive line adept at sacking or hurrying the quarterback.

Alan Page had three safeties, the second most in NFL history.

Alan Page set a career-high with 18 sacks in 1976 and is unofficially credited with five other seasons of 10 sacks or more.

Alan Page was voted All-Conference 10 times, in 1968 and 1969 as All-Western Conference and in 1970 through 1977 and 1980 as an All-National Football Conference.

In 1971 Alan Page was named both the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year and the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player.

Alan Page was the first defensive player to be named MVP since the award's inception.

Alan Page was voted the NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1973.

In 2019 Alan Page was chosen as a member of the NFL's 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Alan Page was named to the Vikings' 40th Anniversary Team in 2000.

Along the way, Alan Page was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Week three times: Week 9,1967; Week 8,1968; Week 13,1971.

In 1988 Alan Page was further honored by his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Alan Page received the NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award in 1995 for attaining success in his post-NFL career.

Alan Page was appointed Special Assistant Attorney General in 1985, and soon thereafter promoted to Assistant Attorney General.

In 1992, Alan Page was elected to an open seat as an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, becoming the first African-American to serve on that court.

Alan Page was reelected in 1998, again in 2004, and for a final time in 2010: Minnesota has mandatory retirement for judges at the end of the month in which they turn 70.

On January 7,2009, Alan Page was appointed by Chief Justice Eric Magnuson to select the three-judge panel that heard the election contest brought by Norm Coleman in the 2008 US Senate election.

Alan and Diane Sims Page were married from 1973 until her death in 2018.

Alan Page has a passion for running and runs on a regular basis.

Alan Page's running routine, which he took up while helping his wife quit smoking, is believed to have contributed to his dismissal from the Minnesota Vikings.

Alan Page appeared in a 2012 Minnesota-filmed episode of PBS's Antiques Roadshow with an 1865 banner mourning the death of Abraham Lincoln.