Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 5, 1993 TAG: 9301050104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ST. PAUL, MINN. LENGTH: Medium
FORMER NFL STAR JOINS MINNESOTA'S SUPREME COURT
More than a decade after he hung up his jersey and cleats, pro football Hall of Famer Alan Page put on a new uniform Monday - the robes of a Minnesota Supreme Court justice.Page, 47, became the first black to serve on the highest court in a state with only a 2.2 percent black population. He won a seat on the state's highest court with 62 percent of the vote in the November general election.
The former star for the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears stressed the importance of hard work and setting goals before an audience that included political and legal leaders as well as 140 fourth-graders invited by Page.
"One of the things I've learned over time is you can never have too many winners," Page said in a brief speech after taking the oath of office.
Gov. Arne Carlson, U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone and the other six members of the Supreme Court were among the judges, lawyers and public officials who crowded into O'Shaughnessy Auditorium at the College of St. Catherine for the hour-long ceremony.
The oath of office was administered by Judge Damon J. Keith of Detroit, a member of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In an interview before the ceremony, Page downplayed the significance of becoming the first black on the state Supreme Court.
"That's not something I've spent a lot of time thinking out or being concerned about," he said. But Page said the day was important because, "I now get to the point where I'm able to serve, which is what I've been looking for all along."
He said he invited fourth graders from a Minneapolis school and a St. Paul school because he wanted youngsters to understand the importance of hard work.
"Success comes with hard work, it comes with preparation. And when you do prepare, then you can achieve your hopes and dreams," he said. "That's something that I think all children need to see - to see that things just don't happen. My having been elected was not a matter of luck."
Page won a spot on the ballot last summer after he successfully challenged a law under which Carlson extended the term of Associate Justice Lawrence Yetka for 22 months so Yetka could serve until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.
A native of Canton, Ohio, Page was a first-round draft choice of the Vikings in 1967 after he helped lead undefeated Notre Dame to a national collegiate championship in 1966.
But his greatest fame came in professional football.
An outstanding defensive tackle, Page in 1971 became the first defensive player to win the National Football League's Most Valuable Player Award.
He earned his law degree in 1978 from the University of Minnesota and retired from pro football two years later. He was in private practice with a Minneapolis law firm for five years before joining the staff of state Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III in 1985.
He has served as an assistant attorney general since 1987 and in 1989 was elected by the Minnesota Legislature to a six-year term on the university's Board of Regents.
Page gave up his seat on the Board of Regents to become a judge.
Wellstone said that having a black on the only state Supreme Court in the nation with a majority of female members sends a strong message.
"It's symbolic and significant," he said. "It's symbolic in a powerful way because Alan Page is an inspiration for not just African-Americans, but for really all Minnesotans. It's significant because we're going to have a very talented justice."
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.