Mike Tice in the Security line

Not that is a huge deal but I had a small brush with fame the other week while waiting in line for security at the airport. I was using the skyway security line (perfect if you are using the A, B, or G concourses because the walk ways put your right there. It is also nice because really only Airline personnel and business travelers know about it so the line is relatively short and moves pretty fast. I like to use it during the holidays or when the airport is really busy. The other nice thing is that people who use this line are mostly traveling for business so it is nice and quite and no one is freaking out about things. However it is a hassle to get to. You have to go to the basement and take a tram to edge of the parking ramp, then you take 2 escalators and you are there. But again some days taking the time to get there more than makes up for how long you would wait at the main lines.

Anyway I was waiting in line like all of the other robotized business travelers with my black roller board suit case, laptop bag, and slip on shoes when I noticed a large (as in tall and brawny) man walking to get into the security line. He looked very familiar. This guy looked big enough to be a tight end for a NFL team in fact. That is because he had been a tight end for the Vikings in the early nineties. This guy later became the head coach of the team in 2001 after the release of Denny Green. Of course if you read the title of the blog you know I am talking about Mike Tice. His career as a head coach, was to put it lightly, not stellar. If fact he has since left organization to take a lower position as assistant coach of Jacksonville. But it is always cool to see someone that is semi-famous in real life.

It was funny though as no-one spoke to him, asked for his autograph, or acknowledged who he was, at least for the most part. I don’t know if this is because of how bad of a coach he was or because everyone was trying to mind their own business. However there was a teenager in line who, when he noticed Mr. Tice, pretty much yelled out “that’s Mike Tice the old Vikings coach”. This kid had a somewhat awestruck look on his face that was answered by the people in front and in back of him with a simple smile and head nod. So I wasn’t the only one who recognized him. Nor was I the only one who was minding his own business. This brush of fame is as crazy as my little brother tripping Michael Jackson at an amusement park in the 80s or my day Piloting a flight with Audrey the Giant, meeting the president, or knowing Chuck Yeager, but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway.