Ole Haugsrud
Encyclopedia
Ole Haugsrud was an American sports executive. Haugsrud was born in Superior, Wisconsin
Superior, Wisconsin
Superior is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 26,960 at the 2010 census. Located at the junction of U.S. Highways 2 and 53, it is north of and adjacent to both the Village of Superior and the Town of Superior.Superior is at the western...

. There is also a field in Superior, Wisconsin called Ole Haugsrud Field. The Superior High School Spartans and University of Wisconsin–Superior Yellowjackets play there. Haugsrud was owner of the Duluth Eskimos in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 in the late-1920s. His signing of Ernie Nevers and having the Eskimos barnstorm, is credited as helping grow the league at critical time. He later sold the team back to the NFL. Part of the deal was that he would have first rights to any future NFL team in the state of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. Though he passed on a stake in the Minneapolis Red Jackets in 1929, when the NFL expanded to Minneapolis-St. Paul in January 1960, Haugsrud was given 10% ownership. He remained part owner of the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

until his death in 1976.

The Vikings name and team colors were borrowed from Haugsrud's high school, Central High School in Superior, WI. The Vikings secondary logo that is still in use today is a modified version of Central's original logo.
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