Bert E. Rose Jr. (September 26, 1919 – October 14, 2001) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

executive who served as the first general manager of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

, and

Texas Stadium Texas Stadium was an American football stadium located in Irving, Texas, a suburb west of Dallas. Opened on October 24, 1971, it was known for its distinctive hole in the roof, the result of abandoned plans to construct a retractable roof. Th ...

Biography

Early life

Rose received a degree in journalism from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1941. He was the commander of a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a type of small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. They encompass designs that are now largely obsolete, but which played an important role in the wars of the first half of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, Rose worked in the public relations department at

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

. In 1947, he returned to his alma mater as director of sports publicity. In 1952 he was promoted to assistant athletic director. In 1955 he succeeded

Pete Rozelle Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle (; March 1, 1926 – December 6, 1996) was an American professional football executive. Rozelle served as the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) for nearly thirty years, from January 1960 until his retire ...

as public relations director of the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

Minnesota Vikings

On August 5, 1960, Rose was named general manager of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

expansion team. Rose is credited with coining the Vikings name for the new team."How the Vikings Got Their Name," ''Minnesota Vikings 1962 Press, Radio, TV Guide,'' p. 10. The moniker was intended, Rose said, to serve the dual purpose of representing an aggressive entity imbued with the will to win as well as to pay tribute to the people of

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, the descendants of whom are quite populous in the

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

region. He recommended the Vikings name to the team's board of directors and it was adopted on September 17, 1960. He selected Los Angeles cartoonist Karl Hubenthal to design the team's helmet, uniforms and logo and chose the team's purple and gold colors to match those used by his alma mater, the University of Washington. He hired former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback

Norm Van Brocklin Norman Mack Van Brocklin (March 15, 1926 – May 2, 1983), nicknamed "the Dutchman", was an American professional football player, coach and executive. He played as a quarterback and punter in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. ...

to serve as the team's first coach. In his three seasons as GM, the Vikings compiled a 10–30–2 and failed to make the playoffs. He resigned on June 1, 1964.

Assistant to the commissioner

After leaving the Vikings, Rose returned to the Rams as a special assistant to team president

Dan Reeves Daniel Edward Reeves (January 19, 1944 – January 1, 2022) was an American professional football running back and coach in the National Football League (NFL). During his 38 years in the NFL, Reeves participated in nine Super Bowls, the third ...

. In February 1965 he was appointed as special assistant to the commissioner for college relations. In this role, Rose headed up the league's babysitting program, which employed about 150 men to steer college prospects away from the rival

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

. He was also in charge of ticket sales for the first Super Bowl.

New Orleans Saints

In 1966, Rose was on the screening committee that interviewed prospective owners for the league's expansion franchise in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. John W. Mecom Jr., son of Texas oilman John W. Mecom Sr. and the owner of the

Mecom Racing Team The Mecom Racing Team was led by John Mecom Jr. and was active between 1960 and 1967 in the World Sportscar Championship racing, Formula One, and American Championship Car Racing scenes. The Mecom Racing Team and later the Mecom Group were led by J ...

, was chosen over William G. Helis Jr.,

Herman Lay Herman Warden Lay (March 6, 1909 – December 6, 1982) was an American businessman who was involved in potato chip manufacturing with his eponymous brand of Lay's potato chips. He started H.W. Lay Co., Inc., now part of the Frito-Lay corporati ...

, Louis J. Roussel Jr., Jack Sanders, and Edgar B. Stern Jr. On July 20, 1967, Rose was named general manager of the New Orleans Saints. The team went 3–11 in its inaugural season. In April 1968 he was replaced by the Saints director of player personnel Vic Schwenk.

Texas Stadium

After leaving the Saints, Rose served as assistant personnel director of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He was fired in 1969 by the team's new general manager,

Pete Retzlaff Palmer Edward "Pete" Retzlaff (August 21, 1931 – April 10, 2020), nicknamed "Pistol Pete" and "the Baron", was an American football player and executive for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played as a flanke ...

. On June 28, 1969, he was hired to manage Texas Stadium, which was then under construction. He was responsible for bringing high school football to the stadium. He retired in 1988 and remained in Dallas until his death on October 14, 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Bert 1919 births 2001 deaths American public relations people Los Angeles Rams executives Minnesota Vikings executives NFL executives New Orleans Saints executives Philadelphia Eagles executives Businesspeople from Dallas Businesspeople from Seattle United States Navy personnel of World War II University of Washington alumni University of Washington people Sports venue managers