A Viking's dying wish: Mackbee returns home

As former Vikings defensive back Earsell Mackbee was placed into an ambulance outside Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis on Thursday, his daughter, Marcee Harris, stood nearby taking in the bittersweet moment that fulfilled his dying wish.

After a four-year health struggle following a debilitating stroke, Mackbee, 68, of Minneapolis, was heading back to his hometown of Vallejo, Calif. It's the last thing her father wanted, and for that she was glad.

"It's hard," she said after the ambulance doors closed, unsure whether her father would even survive the trip. "It's probably the last time I will see him. But I did get to say goodbye."

Harris, along with Mackbee's other children, siblings and an extended family that reaches into "the hundreds," worked tirelessly over the past four years to find a way to return him to the place where he first started. They sought help from the NFL, Vikings and others. They battled over insurance coverage and ran into roadblocks and red tape, said Lynette Stewart of Rosemount, mother of the youngest of Mackbee's six children.

"He wasn't the greatest Viking player to have ever lived and he wasn't the greatest father to have walked the face of the Earth, but he's a man and a human being and deserves to have this amount of respect given to him so that he could have the last wish he ever had," said his son Mateo Mackbee.

In the past two weeks, the quest to fulfill that wish became more urgent as pneumonia and a stomach infection took a toll on the former pro player and youth counselor. His family scrambled to find $25,000 to charter a plane equipped with medical equipment and staff. Donations, including at least one significant contribution, gave them what they needed, Stewart said.

On Thursday, Mackbee's children sat around a hospital conference table to publicly thank the people who sent thoughts, prayers and money to make Mackbee's trip home a reality.

"This isn't just about granting a man his dying wish," Mateo Mackbee said. "It brings back to the essence of how we all need to live as a community, and that we really need to look out for one another."

The bulk of the financial aid came from the National Football League Players Association through its players assistance fund, brother Doug Mackbee said in a telephone interview from the West Coast. "The NFLPA had very kind words and financial support, and more important, a sense that they cared. [The players union] was the first entity that contacted us."

Mackbee (pronounced mick-BEE) was alone in his apartment when he suffered a stroke four years ago. A maintenance worker found him, and doctors suspected he had suffered the stroke several days before he was discovered. "It was amazing he was able to bounce back," Harris said. With therapy, he eventually was talking and joking once again, she said. "Oh, he was loud," she said.

That's how Harris remembers her dad as he once stood on the sidelines watching his kids play football or soccer, wrestle or compete in dance or encouraging them to do well in school. When she graduated from middle school, her dad came with a homemade banner and was shouting. None of the other parents held up signs. "I was so embarrassed," Harris said. "Today it's one of my best memories of him."

With his life nearing its end, Mackbee held on in hopes of seeing his youngest son, Jeremy Stewart, graduate in June from Rosemount High School. Medical complications confined Mackbee to a hospital bed, but Jeremy recounted the graduation with the help of photos and stories.

Mackbee, an Air Force veteran and football standout at Utah State, joined the Vikings as a free agent in 1965. He started every game from 1966 through 1969, led the team in interceptions in 1967 and played in the 1970 Super Bowl as part of the legendary Purple People Eaters.

When his football career ended, he stayed in Minnesota to work with at-risk youth. His work included counseling at The City Inc. in Minneapolis, a community outreach organization and alternative high school. "He was terrific with the kids," said Fred Easter, president of The City Inc.

"He did not sugarcoat anything," Easter said. "He told you what you needed to hear. The kids seemed to appreciate that he was fundamentally on their side and fundamentally willing to not accept anything other than their best."

But his work with disadvantaged kids sometimes meant he wasn't always there for his own kids. "All in all, he did his best," Mateo Mackbee said. "He was always doing something to help someone else."

That drive likely came from growing up in difficult circumstances, Harris said. "Things were tough," she said. "There wasn't a lot of money ... and his father was from the era where he ruled with an iron fist."

But Mackbee found success in his sports, particularly football. "Being a Viking was the highlight of his life," she said. When he would encounter fans who remembered him, he would shake hands and sign autographs.

Back in his hometown, Mackbee was inducted into the Vallejo Sports Hall of Fame.

"We came from such humble beginnings," said brother Doug Mackbee. "When people here heard that he wanted to come back to his first town, it was this responsive thing that we want to embrace him one last time."

On Thursday, Mackbee's son Jeremy boarded the ambulance and then the plane to accompany his dad to California. Eldest daughter Melanie Mackbee raised her arms and shouted "Woohoo!" as her father, with a Vikings blanket on his legs, was placed in the ambulance. Other family members applauded.

"I'm so ecstatic," Melanie Mackbee said. "He's finally going home."

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