[BobbyB]

A former Viking's battle off the field







Remember Minnesota Vikings linebacker Wally Hilgenberg? He played for the Vikes during the 1970s.

"My age? 27, no, that's not right. I guess 64," laughs Hilgenberg.

Sixty-four? Can't be? Football heroes aren't supposed to age.

Wally Hilgenberg was a tough linebacker, a beloved Minnesota Viking for 12 seasons. Today Wally Hilgenberg is playing a different kind of high-stakes game, the game of life.

"Last summer I started getting some little symptoms that something was wrong.
I ended up at the Mayo Clinic. The diagnosis was like a blindside hit. I was told I got three years and it's not three quality years. It's ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease.
I said, 'that's not a good diagnosis because it's a terminal illness.'"

And the cure is unknown.

Six months later, in June of 2007, the former linebacker no longer could walk unaided.

"It's to a point that when I start to stumble, I don't recover," says Hilgenberg.

Yet, in a fishing canoe on the Zumbro River, Wally's zest for the outdoor life was not fading a bit. What also matters to Wally these days is his family, Mary, his wife of 40 years, their four children and soon to be 14 grandchildren.

Wally also is playing a medical long shot. He's been told there's a chance he may have Lyme disease, and not ALS. Symptoms are similar but Lyme disease is curable. And Wally has faith.

"Only the Lord knows my future."

If life is like a river, Wally knows he's drifting downstream at a rapid pace.

"Actually, when we're out there fishing, going down that river, I'm thinking this could be my last fishing trip and those aren't good thoughts. Since that time I have gotten stiffer and my balance is worse and I can't do that right now."

Yet, like the football player he was, there's no fear about tackling what's ahead.

"I don't think anybody is ready for it. But we're all dying, Ron. You don't look that bad, but, you don't look that good, either. We are all going to go sometime, where you're going to is more important than when you're going to go."

Spoken like a true Viking.

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_arti...storyid=268131
By Ron Schara, Minnesota Bound