Continued: Vikings great Karl Kassulke succumbs to heart attack

Bob Lurtsema remembers seeing Bud Grant break down only once during the six years he played for the Hall of Fame coach.

The Vikings were set to open training camp in 1973 when Grant got up in front of his players. Grant informed the team that safety Karl Kassulke had been in a motorcycle accident hours earlier and could possibly die.

"Bud broke down and started to cry," Lurtsema said. "Tears were coming down my cheeks. You could hear a pin drop. ... That says more for any individual of being the total package for a coach to respect him that much."

Kassulke, who was paralyzed in that accident, died Monday after suffering a heart attack at his Eagan home. He was 67. A member of the Vikings from 1963 to '72, Kassulke is the second member of the team from that era to pass away in just more than a month. Linebacker Wally Hilgenberg (1968-79) died after a battle with ALS in September.

"It's tough because I respected them both so much as teammates and got to be friends with them and know their families," said Stu Voigt, a tight end with the Vikings from 1970 to '80. "Wally died at 66 and Karl at 67. That is too young. But they both had a twinkle in their eye, were mischief-makers, fun guys and catalysts for a lot of things that happened."

Drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 11th round out of Drake in 1963, Kassulke quickly ended up with the Vikings. He started in the team's Super Bowl loss to Kansas City in 1970 and played in the Pro Bowl the following season.

Teammates remember Kassulke for being one of the NFL's hardest-hitting safeties. "He would come up on you no matter who you were and clean your clock," former Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall told the team's website. "He would hit you anytime and anywhere. He was without fear as a player."

Lurtsema, who arrived in Minnesota in 1971 after playing for the New York Giants, became close friends with Kassulke and the two were training camp roommates.

"His laugh was just infectious and totally spectacular," Lurtsema said. "He was a type-A personality a lot like myself. When we roomed together, after practice we'd go bowling. We had to be doing something all the time."

After his accident, Kassulke spent time at the University of Minnesota hospital. It was there he met Sue, who was his rehab nurse. The two ended up married for the past 33 years.

Sue and Karl became parents to Chris, now 29, after the accident. Karl also had two older sons, Kurt and Kory, from his first marriage, and there are three grandchildren.

Sue said what attracted her to Karl was the fact that despite his misfortune he remained an eternal optimist.

"He never did say, 'Why me?'" Sue said. "His question was, if they could send a man to the moon, which happened in 1969, why couldn't they fix him? It was never, 'Why me?' I've known Karl for 35 years and been married 33 and the guy never had a bad day. He was so, so upbeat."

Sue said her husband "had been in good health, except for a few things that come with the paralysis." Karl had recently undergone a cardiac exam that detected no problems, Sue said, and was at the Vikings' victory over Detroit on Oct. 12.

"He had season tickets to the Vikings and he and his buddy from Eagan would hop the Hiawatha light rail line and go down and watch the home games," Sue said.

Visitation for Kassulke will be from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday at Klecatsky and Sons Funeral Home in Eagan, and on Thursday at 10 a.m. at Oak Hills Church in Eagan, followed by an 11 a.m. funeral.