Minnesota Vikings superfan Millie Wall turns 100

Credit: Hannah Foslien

Credit: Hannah Foslien

Minnesota Vikings superfan Millie Wall now can check another item off her bucket list. She attended her first NFL playoff game in January and saw the "Miracle in Minneapolis" when the Vikings defeated the New Orleans Saints 29-24 on the game's final play to reach the NFC Championship Game.

On July 4, Wall turned 100.

Now the only item left on her bucket list is for her beloved Vikings, whom she has rooted for since the team entered the NFL in 1961, to win the Super Bowl.

For now, however, Wall is content turning 100. She is not only older than the Vikings, but also predates the NFL.

"I'm trying to catch my breath," Wall told the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis on Thursday, a day after friends and family celebrated her milestone birthday.

Wall received a telephone call Wednesday from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who also tweeted his best wishes, WCCO reported.

"I was so surprised," Wall told the Star-Tribune. "But there was so much noise around I had to go in the closet to hear him. I told him I sure hope the Vikings do it this year because I don't have much time left, you know."

Wall also received best wishes from Vikings COO Kevin Warren, WCCO reported.

Wall suffered through the Vikings' four Super Bowl losses in the 1970s, and agonized when Dallas' Drew Pearson seemed to push off Vikings defender Nate Wright to catch a Hail Mary touchdown pass in a 1975 playoff game to give the Cowboys a shocking victory. She suffered again in January 1999 when the Vikings' 15-1 regular season evaporated in an NFL Championship Game overtime loss when the Atlanta Falcons made a field goal after Gary Anderson missed a chip shot with 2:07 left in regulation that would have sealed a Minnesota victory.

"You just had to bear it,"Wall told WCCO in January.

Through the good times and bad, Wall followed the Vikings, toasting them with her signature screwdriver -- with a splash of cranberry -- or roasting them by throwing a yellow foam brick at her television set when Minnesota lost or made a bonehead play.

Wall’s fervor made her a media darling before this past season’s NFC playoffs, even though the Vikings once again failed to reach the Super Bowl.

A video of Wall opening a package that contained playoff tickets went viral.

"It just blew up," Wall told the Star Tribune. "People are funny, don't you think?"

In addition to Wednesday’s party, more than 400 people attended a service in Minneapolis at the Church of St. Charles Borromeo in her honor, the newspaper reported.

"They all have their smartphones," she told the Star-Tribune. "I should have charged for every photo and I could be a millionaire."

Wall said she had no secret formula for her longevity, although she conceded that age is catching up to her.

"I don't jump rope anymore," she told the Star-Tribune. "I still drive."

She’s planning to drive for a while. She recently bought a new car.

“My son got me a warranty for three years,” Wall told the newspaper.

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