Former Vikings Star Has Son Vying For Frozen Four Title
ST. PAUL (WCCO) -- The Frozen Four is in St. Paul this week and one interested observer is Ted Brown, who played for the Minnesota Vikings between 1979 and 1986.
But it's not just the thrill of hockey that has his interest -- it's his hockey-playing son.
When he played for the Minnesota Vikings, Brown had a knack for the end zone, scoring 40 touchdowns.
"I've seen some game film, you know, I get talked to about it a lot by a lot of his fans," said his son, J.T. Brown. "I've seen a few clips."
J.T. has a different kind of knack -- he scores goals for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, who are part of this weekend's Frozen Four.
"He's doing something that I never had an opportunity to do -- play for a championship, or get close to playing for a championship," Ted said.
J.T. never wore cleats like his dad did, instead he opted for skates. His passion for pucks began when he was 3 years old. J.T. was even a Mr. Minnesota Hockey finalist at Rosemount High in 2008.
"All the kids in his neighborhood, they played hockey so it was sort of a easy transition for him to play hockey," Ted said.
J.T. said his dad has always been encouraging of his sport, even if it wasn't exactly following in his dad's footsteps.
"He was definitely supportive, 100 percent," J.T. said. "You know, whatever I wanted to do, he was OK with it."
Choosing ice over the gridiron has paid off for J.T. The Bulldogs are just two wins away from a Frozen Four title.
J.T. has already made a splash in his freshman season. He is the Bulldogs fourth leading scorer and is a big the reason UMD is here, at the Frozen Four.
The Bulldogs play Notre Dame in the first semifinal game Thursday at 4 p.m. Notre Dame faces off against Michigan in the other semifinal at 7:30 p.m.
