Editing Alan Page (section)

==Professional football==
[[File:1986 Jeno's Pizza - 18 - Alan Page (Alan Page crop).jpg|175px|left|thumb|Page <!--(''left'')--> tackling running back [[Lawrence McCutcheon]]<!--an opponent for the Vikings--> in [[1977 Minnesota Vikings season|1977]]]]
<!--After graduating from Notre Dame,-->Page was a first round selection (15th overall) in the {{nowrap|[[1967 NFL/AFL draft]]}} by the [[1967 Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota Vikings]], for whom he played for 11 seasons, through [[1977 Minnesota Vikings season|1977]]. He is one of 11 Vikings to have played in all four [[Super Bowl]]s ([[Super Bowl IV|IV]], [[Super Bowl VIII|VIII]], [[Super Bowl IX|IX]], [[Super Bowl XI|XI]]) in which the team appeared. Page joined the [[Chicago Bears]] in [[1978 Chicago Bears season|1978]] and played there for [[1981 Chicago Bears season|four seasons]] and amassed an additional 40 sacks.

As a right defensive tackle, Page had an unusual 3-point stance, placing his left rather than his right hand on the ground. During his 15-year career, the Vikings won four conference titles and one [[1969 NFL Championship Game|league championship]]. Page was a member of the Vikings' "[[Purple People Eaters]]," a defensive line adept at sacking or hurrying the quarterback. Page played in 218 consecutive games without an absence ([[Most consecutive starts (NFL)#Consecutive games started|215 consecutive in the starting line-up]]), during which he recovered 22 fumbles, made 148½ sacks (Vikings-108½,<ref>[http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/11918016.html  startribune.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202195703/http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/11918016.html |date=February 2, 2009 }},</ref> Bears-40), and scored three touchdowns (two on fumble recoveries and one on an interception return). He also recorded three safeties, the second most in NFL history, and blocked 23 kicks.<ref>[https://www.profootballhof.com/players/alan-page/ HOF: ALAN PAGE Class of 1988]</ref> He set a career-high with 18 sacks in 1976 and is unofficially credited with five other seasons of 10 sacks or more.<ref>[http://www.purplepride.org/vikings/yearsack.cfm purplepride.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080502150017/http://www.purplepride.org/vikings/yearsack.cfm |date=May 2, 2008 }}</ref><ref>[http://assets.chicagobears.com/assets/tradition/AllTimeResults2006.pdf chicagobears.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229033614/http://assets.chicagobears.com/assets/tradition/AllTimeResults2006.pdf |date=February 29, 2008 }}</ref>

While in the NFL, Page earned [[All-Pro]] honors six times and made second-team all-league three additional times.<ref name="Alan Page Stats">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PageAl00.htm|title = Alan Page Stats|website = [[Pro-Football-Reference.com]]}}</ref> He was voted to nine consecutive Pro Bowls.<ref name="Alan Page Stats"/> He was voted All-Conference 10 times, in 1968 and 1969 as All-Western Conference and in 1970 through 1977 and 1980 as an All-National Football Conference.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alan Page |url=https://www.profootballhof.com/players/alan-page/ |website=profootballhof.com |publisher=Pro Football Hall of Fame |access-date=31 August 2021}}</ref>

In 1971 Page was named both the [[National Football League Defensive Player of the Year Award|AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year]] (the first player to be named such) and the AP's [[National Football League Most Valuable Player Award|NFL Most Valuable Player]].<ref>{{cite web |title=AP NFL Most Valuable Player Winners |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/awards/ap-nfl-mvp-award.htm |website=pro-football-reference.com |publisher=Sports-Reference, LLC. |access-date=31 August 2021}}</ref> Page was the first defensive player to be named MVP since the award's inception. Only one other defensive player, [[Lawrence Taylor]], has ever received the award. Page was also voted the [[Newspaper Enterprise Association Defensive Player of the Year Award|NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year]] in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alan Page Highlights |url=https://www.profootballhof.com/players/alan-page/highlights/ |website=profootballhof.com |publisher=Pro Football Hall of Fame |access-date=31 August 2021}}</ref>  In 2019 Page was chosen as a member of the NFL's 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

===NFL player representative===
Page was [[National Football League Players Association]] player representative from 1970 to 1974 and in 1976–1977, and a member of the NFLPA Association Executive Committee from 1972 to 1975. He was one of the fifteen [[plaintiff]]s in ''[[John Mackey (American football)|Mackey]] v. National Football League'' in which Judge [[Earl R. Larson]] declared that the [[Pete Rozelle|Rozelle rule]] was a violation of [[United States antitrust law|antitrust law]]s on December 30, 1975.<ref>{{cite web | last=Wallace | first=William N. | title=Rozelle Rule Found In Antitrust Violation | website=The New York Times | date=1975-12-31 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/31/archives/rozelle-rule-found-in-antitrust-violation-rozelle-rule-judged-in.html | access-date=2025-05-08}}</ref><ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/407/1000/2281018/ ''Mackey v. National Football League, 407 F. Supp. 1000 (D. Minn. 1975)'' &ndash; Justia.com.] Retrieved December 12, 2023.</ref> He was named to the Vikings' 40th Anniversary Team in 2000. Along the way, Page was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Week three times: Week 9, 1967; Week 8, 1968; Week 13, 1971. In 1988 Page was further honored by his induction into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]]. In 1999, he was ranked number 34 on ''The Sporting News''' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking Viking player. He received the NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award in 1995 for attaining success in his post-NFL career.