Staff photo by Fritz Busch Former Minnesota Viking Tommy Kramer, left, and Ted Brown, signed autographs and posed for photos at the 209 Pub & Grille, 209 N. Minnesota St., New Ulm Saturday.

NEW ULM — Former Minnesota Vikings players Tommy Kramer and Ted Brown talked about their playing days decades ago as they signed autographs at the 209 Pub & Grill, 209 N. Minnesota St. Saturday.

Among the intriguing things they described was how they survived games and practices with the Vikings in the late 1970s and 1980s before they had an indoor practice facility.

“I had a cape on and sauna rocks in my pocket to keep my hands warm,” said Kramer. “Coach Bud Grant was known for not allowing players to use heaters at games, but he knew it was important for a quarterback to keep his hands warm, so he said do whatever I needed to do to keep my hands warm and he’d look the other way.”

Kramer recalled his first Vikings game appearance in 1977, coming in to play in the second half after starting quarterback Fran Tarkenton suffered a broken ankle.

“I’d never played in a game until then when Bud said ‘Hey rookie, get in there,'” Kramer said. “I didn’t expect to play. I didn’t even warm up.”

Kramer threw three second-half touchdowns, helping the Vikings beat Cincinnati.

The Vikings trailed the San Francisco 49ers 24-7 in the fourth quarter in game 12 of the season and Kramer entered the game to replace Bob Lee. Kramer hit 9 of 13 passes for 188 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-27 win.

“I remember all the people jumping up and down and making lots of noise after that game,” said Brown. “Lots of people thought we lost and left the stadium. I’ll never forget that.”

Brown said the game-winning play was “squad right” and ended up being a hook-and-ladder play, Kramer said.

Brown said the Viking receives broke from the huddle after hearing “squad right.”

“They didn’t hear the hook and ladder play call. If they had, they wouldn’t have run hard. They would have looked around to see what was going on,” Brown said.

Kramer was a first-round draft pick and 27th overall pick by the vikings in 1977 after being named MVP of the 1977 Senior Bowl.

Also known as “Two-Minute Tommy,” Kramer led the Vikings to 19 comebacks, one in the playoffs, and 15 in the fourth quarter, four times a year from 1980 to 1985.

A 1987 pre-season spine injury all but ended his career, on top of a number of concussions, knee and shoulder injuries.

Trailing Cleveland 23-9 in the final game of the 1978 season, Kramer threw a game-winning Hail Mary pass with six seconds left to Ahmad Rashad. Kramer threw three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, two to Rashad late in the game.

Kramer and Brown said they feel the Vikings will be a better team next year with a new defensive coordinator.

“Ok, I’ve got to eat,” said Kramer, digging into a big rack of ribs.

“I think the Vikings can go far next year,” said Brown, the Vikings first-round draft pick in 1979. He played for eight NFL seasons.

Brown and Kramer recalled practicing with the Vikings on cold winter days at Parade Stadium, in the Metropolitan Stadium parking lot and near Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis.

A North Carolina State University grad in 1978, Brown set the Atlantic Coast Conference rushing record with 4,602 yards and the single game rushing record of 251 yards against Penn State in 1977. He was a consensus All-American in 1978.

Brown was a Ramsey County juvenile probation officer in St. Paul for several decades. His son J.T. played with the Minnesota Wild.

Brown and Kramer live in the Twin Cities.