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Viking For Life: A Four-Decade Football Love Affair
An unforgettable look at a lifetime of Vikings football packed with Studwell’s insights into the game, on and off the field. In professional football, careers are often short and turnover is a constant. So when one man’s career spans more than four decades with one organization, it is quite an achievement.
Scott Studwell did just that with the Minnesota Vikings. As a linebacker, Studwell totaled a Vikings record 1,981 tackles in 14 seasons, reaching two Pro Bowls. After retiring as a player after the 1990 season, Studwell moved into the Vikings’ player personnel department and served as the team’s Director of College Scouting. In Viking for A Four-Decade Football Love Affair , Studwell shares stories from the Vikings teams of the 1970s and ’80s under head coaches Bud Grant and Jerry Burns, teams that reached two NFC championship games.
He also provides rare insight into his three decades in the Vikings’ scouting department and draft room, during which he helped the Vikings identify countless stars, including Randy Moss, Adrian Peterson, and Harrison Smith.
In the pages of this striking memoir, Studwell shares a passion for the Vikings that he calls “a dream come true.”
Scott Studwell did just that with the Minnesota Vikings. As a linebacker, Studwell totaled a Vikings record 1,981 tackles in 14 seasons, reaching two Pro Bowls. After retiring as a player after the 1990 season, Studwell moved into the Vikings’ player personnel department and served as the team’s Director of College Scouting. In Viking for A Four-Decade Football Love Affair , Studwell shares stories from the Vikings teams of the 1970s and ’80s under head coaches Bud Grant and Jerry Burns, teams that reached two NFC championship games.
He also provides rare insight into his three decades in the Vikings’ scouting department and draft room, during which he helped the Vikings identify countless stars, including Randy Moss, Adrian Peterson, and Harrison Smith.
In the pages of this striking memoir, Studwell shares a passion for the Vikings that he calls “a dream come true.”
240 pages, Hardcover
Published September 7, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 4, 2022
He repeats himself a lot. Would have liked to read about players he scouted that made it or fell short. Also would have enjoyed more stories about his playing days. The book was a little too vanilla. Great Viking but wish the author could have drawn more out of Studwell.
Same vanilla as the Bud Grant book he wrote.
Same vanilla as the Bud Grant book he wrote.
February 15, 2024
This is a good book overall. I liked the story telling and some of the pulling back the curtain you may not hear or read about as a casual football fan. As a fan of the Vikings, I recommend this to read and would enjoy it as much as I did.
March 25, 2022
Love the cover. Loved the author as a player. Did not enjoy this book.
If you are looking for funny locker room stories and recaps of wild nights during training camp in Mankato, look elsewhere.
I learned more about the player Scott Studwell, both his on field leadership and his off the field shenanigans, in Rashad, the autobiography by former Viking wide receiver Ahmad Rashad.
All that said, I like the way the book jacket looks and how this book looks on my shelf of Vikings, Twins and North Star related books.
If you are looking for funny locker room stories and recaps of wild nights during training camp in Mankato, look elsewhere.
I learned more about the player Scott Studwell, both his on field leadership and his off the field shenanigans, in Rashad, the autobiography by former Viking wide receiver Ahmad Rashad.
All that said, I like the way the book jacket looks and how this book looks on my shelf of Vikings, Twins and North Star related books.
January 27, 2026
𝙑𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 is the autobiography of former Minnesota Vikings linebacker, team scout, and then Director of Scouting 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹. He did all of those jobs for the Vikings from 1977 to 2019, no wonder why he's in their Ring of Honor. There are so many Vikings football players who belong in their ring of honor, and if you saw Studwell play in person and/or on TV back in his playing days or knew him personally when he worked for the Vikings after his playing career ended, or you read this book, you will understand for sure why he's in the Vikings Ring of Honor.
𝙑𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 explained his upbringing from Evansville, Indiana all the way up until the year 2021. As you read this book you will see how dedicated he was to the game of football and his immediate family which included his wife and three kids (especially after his scouting career ended). But one of the things he did admit in this book was that his lifelong passion for the game of football on and off the field kept him away from his immediate family more than he would have liked. When you read this book, you will come away from it and be like man, I wonder how did he find the time to be around his wife and kids with all of them accrued hours spent on the road or within the Vikings facilities scouting players for the Vikings benefit from 1992 to 2019.
𝙑𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 started off describing Studwell's beginnings in the Vandenburgh County section of Indiana (the city of Evansville) from the year he was born until the year he left that area for college in 1972 to go play for the University of Illinois. I learned on page 14 (Chapter 1, A Great Childhood) that a knee injury in his sophomore year (1973) at Illinois helped opened the door for him to move back to linebacker from defensive tackle, with the former being his natural position and the position that would bring him fame.
A chapter I found interesting was chapter 2 (Training Camp) where he described his first training camp with the Vikings in 1977. He was a low, low round draft pick of the Vikings in the 1977 Draft (9th round) and partly because of where he was selected in that draft, it wasn't a priority of his position coach (𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗡𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗻) or his Head Coach (𝗕𝘂𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁) to get him into the first football game of his career against the Los Angeles Rams (the first preseason game of the 1977 season for the Vikings). Then in the second preseason game of his rookie year (versus the Cleveland Browns) he actually did play in that game, but he got hurt in that game which put doubts in his head about whether he'd ever play football again. But he recovered from his injuries (one of his arms, an ankle) in that game and the rest was history.
The book then went on to chapter 3 (A Vikings Regular) where he talked about a few years of his career with the Vikings where he was a starter. That chapter ended up being the last instance where he discussed his playing career in a chronological manner. The rest of the book when it came to talking about his career as a player for the purple and gold, there were a few chapters here and there where he wrote about certain players he played with and the coaches he played for, but no chronological structure to them.
Chapter 4 (Some Great Teammates) was a nice touch for the book as he spent that 19-page chapter talking about some of his most memorable teammates like quarterback 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻, defensive lineman 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻 (RIP), linebacker 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗿, quarterback 𝗪𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗻 (RIP), defensive end 𝗞𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗱, defensive back 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹 𝗟𝗲𝗲, tight end 𝗦𝘁𝘂 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, and others. I like how he paid tribute in that chapter to Doleman (page 47) and Wilson (pages 53-54) and how he said that he missed both of them on pages 47 (Doleman) and Wilson (54), as both of them passed away in the years of 2020 and 2019 respectively.
Then from pages 72 to 144 or chapters 6 to 10, Studwell was about that NFL scouting life, as in that he wrote about his scouting career with the Vikings in those 73 pages. Those 73 pages is a must read for any person on this earth who is thinking about a career in the professional football scouting profession whether it's in the NFL, UFL, or the Canadian Football League. Studwell spent almost a third of this book educating you the reader on the NFL scouting business. Those 73 pages among other elements of this book are why this book was geared for football junkies or historical Vikings football fans period!
Some of the best advice Studwell gave in this book was on page 96 (Scouting), and it was in regard to NFL draft picks that become busts, terrible players, or just plain unhelpful players to a franchise. "Because you cannot measure their passion for the game. With those internal things missing, they fail---and as a result, you fail with them." People don't understand how when a first-round pick, second-round pick, or picks from other rounds fail or get cut from the team that drafted them within two years or less, that it reflects upon a teams' scouting department. Those failed picks hurt some scouts' egos, and they hurt bad for some of them.
On page 174 (Chapter 13), Studwell said one of the best and truest things about San Francsico 49ers legend 𝗝𝗼𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗮. "Joe Montana probably stood out the most. He had a great career with the 49ers and benefited from the right scheme and system to fit his talent." Good advice and analysis from a person who played against Montana (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987 playoffs, 1989 playoffs, and 1990) and who had a career in scouting.
One of the most touching paragraphs in this book for me was on page 183 (chapter 13, Rivals and Teammates) where Studwell knew that it was the end for him as far as his playing career in Minnesota. He knew that new jack inside linebacker 𝗥𝗮𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆 (the Vikings drafted him in 1987) was coming for his job and that he would be his successor in 1991 (Berry ended up starting for the Vikings for one year in 1991 and after that season he never was a full-time starter ever again in the NFL and would be out of the league by 1994). You just have to read that paragraph to understand where Studwell's head was at in 1990.
On page 187 it was refreshing to see Studwell write about his candidacy or worthiness for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On that page he was realistic about his career with the Vikings, meaning that he was a great Vikings linebacker but that he was not one of the best linebackers in NFL history or that he ever considered himself a Hall of Fame candidate. I've seen Studwell's film (from the 1970s to 1990 on YouTube) and he was a very good linebacker for the Vikings and very worthy of being a Vikings Ring of Honor member (inducted in 2009), but Pro Football Hall of Famer, no.
Pros of 𝙑𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚: The book described Studwell's beginnings as another kid who played football for fun and who by their college upperclassmen years (for Studwell it was his senior season of 1976), they started realizing that playing professional football was more than a dream and that it could become a reality. The book was also helpful for anyone who wants to learn what it takes to be an NFL scout and how taxing that job can be to a man's ego and to his immediate family.
Cons of 𝙑𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚: No extensive discussion of his career as a player with the Vikings; chapter 3 was the only chapter that had any semblance of a chronological or a sort of decent look at his individual career with the Vikings. There was much more writing in this book about his Vikings teammates and his scouting career than his own playing career. He played in the league for 14 years and just one chapter about his individual career.
In conclusion, 𝙑𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 was a solid memoir on a man who gave 42 years of his life to an organization that has seen its share of ups and downs. But through it all Studwell emerged as a great father and husband and ambassador for the Minnesota Vikings franchise. This book was almost like a love letter to the Vikings organization for what he put into the franchise (his playing career and his scouting career) and what they gave him and what he earned (a football career, two different jobs, and induction into the Vikings Ring of Honor 16 years ago). I would recommend this book to Vikings historians and aspiring football scouts (NFL, UFL, and CFL leagues).
𝙑𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 explained his upbringing from Evansville, Indiana all the way up until the year 2021. As you read this book you will see how dedicated he was to the game of football and his immediate family which included his wife and three kids (especially after his scouting career ended). But one of the things he did admit in this book was that his lifelong passion for the game of football on and off the field kept him away from his immediate family more than he would have liked. When you read this book, you will come away from it and be like man, I wonder how did he find the time to be around his wife and kids with all of them accrued hours spent on the road or within the Vikings facilities scouting players for the Vikings benefit from 1992 to 2019.
𝙑𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 started off describing Studwell's beginnings in the Vandenburgh County section of Indiana (the city of Evansville) from the year he was born until the year he left that area for college in 1972 to go play for the University of Illinois. I learned on page 14 (Chapter 1, A Great Childhood) that a knee injury in his sophomore year (1973) at Illinois helped opened the door for him to move back to linebacker from defensive tackle, with the former being his natural position and the position that would bring him fame.
A chapter I found interesting was chapter 2 (Training Camp) where he described his first training camp with the Vikings in 1977. He was a low, low round draft pick of the Vikings in the 1977 Draft (9th round) and partly because of where he was selected in that draft, it wasn't a priority of his position coach (𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗡𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗻) or his Head Coach (𝗕𝘂𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁) to get him into the first football game of his career against the Los Angeles Rams (the first preseason game of the 1977 season for the Vikings). Then in the second preseason game of his rookie year (versus the Cleveland Browns) he actually did play in that game, but he got hurt in that game which put doubts in his head about whether he'd ever play football again. But he recovered from his injuries (one of his arms, an ankle) in that game and the rest was history.
The book then went on to chapter 3 (A Vikings Regular) where he talked about a few years of his career with the Vikings where he was a starter. That chapter ended up being the last instance where he discussed his playing career in a chronological manner. The rest of the book when it came to talking about his career as a player for the purple and gold, there were a few chapters here and there where he wrote about certain players he played with and the coaches he played for, but no chronological structure to them.
Chapter 4 (Some Great Teammates) was a nice touch for the book as he spent that 19-page chapter talking about some of his most memorable teammates like quarterback 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻, defensive lineman 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗗𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻 (RIP), linebacker 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗿, quarterback 𝗪𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗻 (RIP), defensive end 𝗞𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗱, defensive back 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹 𝗟𝗲𝗲, tight end 𝗦𝘁𝘂 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, and others. I like how he paid tribute in that chapter to Doleman (page 47) and Wilson (pages 53-54) and how he said that he missed both of them on pages 47 (Doleman) and Wilson (54), as both of them passed away in the years of 2020 and 2019 respectively.
Then from pages 72 to 144 or chapters 6 to 10, Studwell was about that NFL scouting life, as in that he wrote about his scouting career with the Vikings in those 73 pages. Those 73 pages is a must read for any person on this earth who is thinking about a career in the professional football scouting profession whether it's in the NFL, UFL, or the Canadian Football League. Studwell spent almost a third of this book educating you the reader on the NFL scouting business. Those 73 pages among other elements of this book are why this book was geared for football junkies or historical Vikings football fans period!
Some of the best advice Studwell gave in this book was on page 96 (Scouting), and it was in regard to NFL draft picks that become busts, terrible players, or just plain unhelpful players to a franchise. "Because you cannot measure their passion for the game. With those internal things missing, they fail---and as a result, you fail with them." People don't understand how when a first-round pick, second-round pick, or picks from other rounds fail or get cut from the team that drafted them within two years or less, that it reflects upon a teams' scouting department. Those failed picks hurt some scouts' egos, and they hurt bad for some of them.
On page 174 (Chapter 13), Studwell said one of the best and truest things about San Francsico 49ers legend 𝗝𝗼𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗮. "Joe Montana probably stood out the most. He had a great career with the 49ers and benefited from the right scheme and system to fit his talent." Good advice and analysis from a person who played against Montana (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987 playoffs, 1989 playoffs, and 1990) and who had a career in scouting.
One of the most touching paragraphs in this book for me was on page 183 (chapter 13, Rivals and Teammates) where Studwell knew that it was the end for him as far as his playing career in Minnesota. He knew that new jack inside linebacker 𝗥𝗮𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆 (the Vikings drafted him in 1987) was coming for his job and that he would be his successor in 1991 (Berry ended up starting for the Vikings for one year in 1991 and after that season he never was a full-time starter ever again in the NFL and would be out of the league by 1994). You just have to read that paragraph to understand where Studwell's head was at in 1990.
On page 187 it was refreshing to see Studwell write about his candidacy or worthiness for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On that page he was realistic about his career with the Vikings, meaning that he was a great Vikings linebacker but that he was not one of the best linebackers in NFL history or that he ever considered himself a Hall of Fame candidate. I've seen Studwell's film (from the 1970s to 1990 on YouTube) and he was a very good linebacker for the Vikings and very worthy of being a Vikings Ring of Honor member (inducted in 2009), but Pro Football Hall of Famer, no.
Pros of 𝙑𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚: The book described Studwell's beginnings as another kid who played football for fun and who by their college upperclassmen years (for Studwell it was his senior season of 1976), they started realizing that playing professional football was more than a dream and that it could become a reality. The book was also helpful for anyone who wants to learn what it takes to be an NFL scout and how taxing that job can be to a man's ego and to his immediate family.
Cons of 𝙑𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚: No extensive discussion of his career as a player with the Vikings; chapter 3 was the only chapter that had any semblance of a chronological or a sort of decent look at his individual career with the Vikings. There was much more writing in this book about his Vikings teammates and his scouting career than his own playing career. He played in the league for 14 years and just one chapter about his individual career.
In conclusion, 𝙑𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 was a solid memoir on a man who gave 42 years of his life to an organization that has seen its share of ups and downs. But through it all Studwell emerged as a great father and husband and ambassador for the Minnesota Vikings franchise. This book was almost like a love letter to the Vikings organization for what he put into the franchise (his playing career and his scouting career) and what they gave him and what he earned (a football career, two different jobs, and induction into the Vikings Ring of Honor 16 years ago). I would recommend this book to Vikings historians and aspiring football scouts (NFL, UFL, and CFL leagues).
February 26, 2022
I definitely agree with the prior comments about the repetitiveness in this book However, you might read it like you were sitting around a fire at the lake, listening to Scott Studwell tell stories.
This was a fun and quick read, especially a recommend for any Vikings fan who likes to hear about the past players, coaches, and the scouting perspective.
This was a fun and quick read, especially a recommend for any Vikings fan who likes to hear about the past players, coaches, and the scouting perspective.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews