Bert Rose
Bert E. Rose Jr. was an American football executive who served as the first general manager of the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, and Texas Stadium.
Biography
Early life
Rose received a degree in journalism from the University of Washington in 1941. He was the commander of a United States Navy submarine chaser during World War II. After the war, Rose worked in the public relations department at Boeing. In 1947, he returned to his alma mater as director of sports publicity. In 1952 he was promoted to assistant athletic director. In 1955 he succeeded Pete Rozelle as public relations director of the Los Angeles Rams.Minnesota Vikings
On August 5, 1960, Rose was named general manager of Minneapolis's National Football League expansion team. Rose is credited with coining the Vikings name for the new team. The moniker was intended, Rose said, to serve the dual purpose of representing an aggressive entity imbued with the will to win as well as to pay tribute to the people of Scandinavia, the descendants of whom are quite populous in the Minnesota region. He recommended the Vikings name to the team's board of directors and it was adopted on September 17, 1960.He selected Los Angeles cartoonist Karl Hubenthal to design the team's helmet, uniforms and logo and chose the team's purple and gold colors to match those used by his alma mater, the University of Washington. He hired former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Norm Van Brocklin to serve as the team's first coach. In his three seasons as GM, the Vikings compiled a 10–30–2 and failed to make the playoffs. He resigned on June 1, 1964.