Each week, commenter RandBallsStu (branding!) tracks down a former Minnesota sports figure about whom you might have otherwise forgotten. This usually works out well, except when the subject ends up yelling at us on the phone. Stu? -----------

The Hunt Down

Name: Dave Roller Claim to Fame, Minnesota: in the wake of last week's rundown of the many Green Bay Packers who left for the greener pastures of Minnesota, multiple people let me know that I forgot Dave Roller. While it's not as troubling and unpatriotic as forgetting about Poland, I regret the exclusion and hope this week's Hunt Down suffices. Roller was a defensive lineman for the Vikings in 1979 and 1980. Claim to Fame, Everywhere Else: Roller, a Kentucky product, was a 3rd-round draft pick of the New York Giants in 1971, but only played one season for them. He made a bigger splash in the short-lived World Football League, where, according to his Wikipedia page, he led the league in sacks in 1974 with 18 for the Southern California Sun. Roller went on to play for the Green Bay Packers from 1975 through 1978. If the aforementioned Wiki page is accurate, he is one of only two Green Bay Packers to be carried off the field by fans, the other being Gary Knalfec, obviously. He is also a member of his alma mater's Athletics Hall of Fame. A Few Words about Dave Roller's Wikipedia Page: it was pretty clearly written by him or a friend or relative, and it is great. That said, it claims that he appeared in the movie Two-Minute Warning with "Charleston Heston," but IMDB does not list him as part of the cast, which did include Jack Klugman (TV's Quincy) and former Vikings quarterback and puncher of old people Joe Kapp. Where He Is Now: as of 2011 he was in Georgia, where you could find him at local home improvement mega-stores. Further Googling indicates that there is a Dave Roller in the city of Suwanee. Is He on Twitter: no. Has He Ever Been in a Twitter Feud with Patrick Reusse: no Glorious Randomness: the Southern California Sun is perhaps best known for providing the Twitter avatar of area college student David Brauer.