Colonel White grad, NFL Vikings great Blair dies at 70

“He’d been suffering for a while, so I guess maybe it’s a blessing in disguise,” former teammate Scott Studwell told the newspaper. “But it’s still too young. It’s a sad day.”

Blair ranks second in Vikings history in tackles (1,452) and is a member of the franchise’s Ring of Honor. The Vikings drafted him in the second round in 1974 out of Iowa State.

“Matt Blair was a great presence at Vikings events and a tremendous teammate long after playing," said Vikings Owner Mark Wilf in a statement. "He embodied the best of what it means to be a Viking. Matt is a Ring of Honor player whose legacy will live on forever with the franchise and in the community he loved.”

Blair’s dad, Levine Blair, was in the Air Force. The family moved to Dayton when Levine got a job at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

“We lived on Grand Avenue,” Matt told the Dayton Daily News in 1975. “I registered for Colonel White high school my junior year and went out for football. They’d been practicing for a couple days. I was tall and pretty skinny. Coach Jim Eby handed me a uniform — but without much enthusiasm.”

The next day, Matt said, he shaved his head to get attention, and Eby, who died Sept. 27 at 99, didn’t forget him after that.

“When he came out for football," Eby told the Dayton Daily News in 2003. "it didn’t take long to realize he should be playing somewhere. I could play him at free safety because if they threw a pass 35 yards, he could cover from sideline to sideline.

“He was just a great kid, on and off the field. He was just a pleasant person to be around. Never caused any problems or that type of thing. He was one of my favorites.”

Blair started his college career as a walk-on at Northeast Oklahoma Junior College. He grew 3 inches before his sophomore year and after that season, he got an opportunity at Iowa State. In 1971, he helped lead Iowa State to its first bowl game and was named the most outstanding player in the game even though Iowa State lost to LSU.

After a knee injury cost him the 1972 season, Blair became an All-American in 1973, which was the first year Earle Bruce was head coach. Iowa State inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1999.

With the Vikings, Blair played in the Super Bowl in 1975 and 1977, but the Vikings lost those games to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders.

“Lose and you’re forgotten,” said Blair, who was named one of the 50 greatest Vikings in 2010. “Writers just think about the winners, but you’re not a loser if you lose in the Super Bowl.”