Steve Hutchinson: The body guard

The little girl appeared shy and a little nervous as her father approached Steve Hutchinson. As the two men talked, the girl turned her head the other direction and clung tightly to her father.

Hutchinson knew exactly how to break the ice. He playfully stroked his thick beard and made silly faces at the girl, who began to giggle.

Hard to believe, but this was the same guy whom Brett Favre described as a "grouch" and Vikings coach Brad Childress once jokingly accused of waking up on the wrong side of the bed every day.

Regarded as the premier left guard in the NFL, Hutchinson's no-nonsense personality has become comically legendary inside Winter Park. But the six-time Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection revealed a different side this week when he and his wife, Landyn, held their annual Thanksgiving dinner for patients at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital.

The couple organized the event when Hutchinson joined the Vikings in 2006, and they have since added an annual Christmas party for the kids, too. Hutchinson, who spends time with the children and their families during the meal, said it's a painfully rewarding experience. The patients this week included a girl who is awaiting a heart transplant.

"It's hard," he said in a quiet moment during the event. "You have to kind of bite your lip a little bit. Being a father myself, I wanted to give the families a way to kind of take a break from reality for a minute and get a home-cooked meal. It's hard to take when your kid falls down and bumps his elbow and cries, let alone seeing these kids that really don't know what's going on yet and seeing them have to go through these surgeries. Any way you can put a smile on their face it's worth it."

This was a rare glimpse of Hutchinson's personality outside of football. The nine-year veteran doesn't do many media interviews and is loathe to talk about himself when he does. He's as tough off the field as he is on it.

"Everyone always asks me if he's that mean and nasty at home," Landyn said. "For me, this is what I always see so I'm glad everyone else gets to see a glimpse of that. He's a softy."

Hutchinson? A softy?

His teammates almost seem to take delight in describing the side they witness daily.

"He's a surly old man," center John Sullivan said. "He's an offensive guard so that's how he's supposed to be. If you catch him at the right time, you might see a smile every once in a while. Like after a win. But most of the time it's all business."

"People assume he's grumpy," linebacker Ben Leber said. "You get him behind the scenes and he's probably one of the funnier guys on the team. The jokes that Hutch can come up with is comedic excellence."

Said linebacker Chad Greenway, whose locker is next to Hutchinson's: "I don't think how he acts in here is necessarily how he is in his personal life. When he's at work, he's a miserable [person]."

'A joy to watch'

Hutchinson has spent his career making life miserable for opponents. At 6-5 and 313 pounds, he uses his brute strength to maul defensive linemen. Hutchinson, who will make his 113th consecutive NFL start against the Chicago Bears, has helped pave the way for a 100-yard rusher 57 times.

"He's old-school style," said Hall of Fame guard Randall McDaniel. "He gets in there and takes care of business. The tenacity, he goes after people, he's relentless. He has that attitude that 90 percent of the time I'm going to win. Maybe 10 percent you might get something on me, but that 90 percent I know I'm going to walk away [the winner]. The guy going against him is going to have a long day. I like watching that. He's a joy to watch."

This season hasn't been without a few tough moments for Hutchinson. He suffered a back injury early in the season that affected him for several weeks and took an obvious toll. He gave up a sack that resulted in a fumble return for a touchdown against Pittsburgh, and he accepted blame for a blocked field goal against San Francisco that was returned for a touchdown. He also received his first holding penalty since 2003 this season.

Hutchinson said every season has ups and downs and requires critical self-analysis.

"I have goals and kind of a checklist that I have for myself that I go through on a daily basis during the season," he said. "It goes back to not letting yourself get complacent. The better you think you're playing, the more you try to find wrong with yourself. It's a hard game. It's an emotional game that you have to pour your heart into each and every week. It's kind of a roller coaster. You learn to keep it at an even keel and perform the way that you're expected to."

Security blanket

The Vikings have leaned on Hutchinson more than ever this season with the loss of longtime center and his close friend Matt Birk. Sullivan has made steady progress in his first season as Birk's replacement, which he credits in part to Hutchinson's presence.

"It's huge to play next to experienced guys, especially a guy who has the résumé that he has," Sullivan said. "He's been a great resource and basically a security blanket. I can mess up, and a lot of times he bails me out."

Hutchinson also serves as a security blanket for Favre, of course. The veteran quarterback knew Hutchinson casually before this season and now having played with him, Favre said understands why he is considered one of the top linemen in the league.

"He's everything I thought he was to begin with, just a heck of a player," Favre said. "He's legit. He's good, very good. Obviously he's consistent, which is hard to do for any player in this league. He's very impressive, tough."

Hutchinson, who played in the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks, said this season has been particularly enjoyable for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the Vikings' 9-1 record.

"You play this game to win," he said. "Everything you do from when you're playing football at 5 years old until you're 32, you want to win. When your team has success and you're 9-1, you're never satisfied. But this is fun. Regardless of what the record is, the way that we jell in the locker room, the way the guys interact with each other, we're truly friends. The defense and the offense and special teams, there's no cliques or sections in the locker room. It's been a lot of fun."