Max Winter, who was born in Austria before emigrating to Minneapolis, helped to introduce major league sports to Minnesota.
He brought the Minneapolis Lakers to the Twin Cities in 1947. During the 1950s, the Lakers became the NBA's first dynasty.
In the fall of 1959, Winter landed a franchise in the upstart American Football League, which was going to begin play the next year. But in January of 1960, Winter and a group of four other businessmen were awarded an expansion team by the NFL. The franchise began play as the Minnesota Vikings in 1961.
Winter eventually became the biggest single shareholder and team president of the Vikings. He served as the Vikings president from 1965 to 1987 and remained on the Vikings board of directors until 1989.
MAX WINTER
Class: 1987.
Sports: Basketball, football.
Business: Minneapolis Lakers general manager, Minnesota Vikings president.
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