EAGAN, Minn. — Bobby Bryant picked off a Vikings record 57 passes over 174 games in the regular season and playoffs.

He returned four interceptions for touchdowns in his 14-year career, the entirety of it spent in purple.

But none of them come to mind when he's asked about his top moment on the field.

"A favorite play? Not one I can think of," Bryant said Thursday at Vikings headquarters, minutes before the team's last practice of the week before Saturday's first preseason tilt of 2024.

Most would say his 90-yard return of a blocked field goal for a touchdown in the 1976 NFC Championship.

Bryant fielded 10 minutes of questions from media interested in his upcoming Ring of Honor induction that will occur at halftime of Week 3. He's the 28^th member and first cornerback with the distinction.

By Bryant's account, his admission to the fraternity of legendary Vikings is all thanks to his teammates.

"The reason I got 51 interceptions [in the regular season] was because of Alan Page and Jim Marshall and Carl Eller and Gary Larsen and Doug Sutherland," said Bryant, glossing over his own epic accolades. "[Quarterbacks] couldn't wait to get rid of it. A lot of the time they threw the ball right to me."

On what contributed to his surreal playmaking abilities – Bryant recorded at least six interceptions in four seasons, plus picked off a pair of passes in the 1973 and 1976 NFC Championship Game victories – he turned the attention, again, to his longtime Vikings training camp roommate Page and the d-linemen.

"[Alan] made the front four," Bryant said. "They were the Purple Gang, the Purple People Eaters."

On this cool, breezy afternoon at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center, the 80-year-old Bryant is set up in the area Head Coach Kevin O'Connell usually speaks. He's reminded not to lean on the podium.

Bryant's call to join the Vikings Ring of Honor took a while. His last game was in 1980. But there's no displeasure in his voice, only elation that he's joining his teammates and friends.

"I was amazed that it took them so long," joked Bryant. "Not really, that's an honor that no one should ever expect to receive. … When I did get that call, I was pretty much blown away. I never expected it."

Earlier this summer Bryant was surprised with the news on a video call that included Page and Vikings Legend Fran Tarkenton – Bryant had no idea that the virtual meet-up was meant to revolve around him.

It was fitting to have Page and Tarkenton there. The three of them played a big hand in many of the greatest moments in franchise history. Bryant lets the media know that he's keeping up with the times:

"If there are two GOATs, those two are GOATs," Bryant said with a smile, hurrying again to spotlight his brothers in purple. "People who are in the know, know that a GOAT is the Greatest of All-Time."

"Alan and Fran were great players and great friends, too," Bryant added.

Bryant, happy to be back in Minnesota, is overly gracious with each comment – and funny as heck.

Without being prompted (perhaps mistaking one question for something else) he retells the story of the Vikings drafting him in the seventh round (No. 167 overall) of the 1967 event. All 160 pounds of him.

"I was so important," Bryant remembers, "That they had the equipment manager call me."

The voice on the other line belonged to Jim "Stubby" Eason, who suffered an injury in World War II that later resulted in an amputation. Eason, however, continued working until passing away in 1981, less than a year after Bryant's final game.

One thing Bryant is 100% certain on, needing not even a sliver of a second to consider is the push-off by Cowboys receiver Drew Pearson that sent the Vikings packing in the 1975 Divisional Round.

"Absolutely [he pushed off]," Bryant said. "But it wasn't on me. It was on Nate [Wright]."

No time to cry now. The witty Bryant is full of one-liners and swift replies that draw laughs.

What made this wiry cornerback so dang good?

"Sure wasn't my size," quipped Bryant.

The burgeoning emphasis on becoming bigger, stronger and faster in today's NFL has produced a mold of cornerbacks that hardly look anything like Bryant. For perspective, he graduated high school as a shrimp.

"Not too many schools were looking for 145-pound halfbacks, but South Carolina saw something in me," said Bryant, noting most people probably doubted his talent even after playing well for the Gamecocks.

Bryant clearly wanted to excel, though. He said he gained 20 pounds during his first professional season and put his best foot forward to mesh with Head Coach Bud Grant's "disciplinarian" method of leading.

"I like to think he liked me," Bryant said, also emphasizing Grant's greatness.

While it wasn't a sudden answer when he was asked about his favorite play, Bryant selected that touchdown against the Rams.

Revisiting the moment like it happened yesterday — fresh and familiar — he recalled:

"We were playing the Rams in the NFC Championship Game. The opening kickoff, they marched down the field and had first-and-goal on the Vikings 2-yard line, and we held them for three downs, and on fourth down, they tried a field goal, and Nate Allen came from the right side and blocked it. I was on the left side, and it took one bounce and was right in my arms. All I had to do was run [90] yards without falling down, and I did, so that was a big play.

"I was a little tired, but I felt good," Bryant added.