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Former Viking Keith Nord passes after cancer battle

A graduate of Minnetonka High School and St. Cloud State University, Keith Nord showed up at Vikings training camp in the summer of 1979 with a heart full of courage and what many thought was a small shot at making his NFL dream come true.
Credit: KARE
Keith Nord

Minnesota native and former Vikings safety Keith Nord passed away Wednesday following a short battle with an aggressive form of cancer.

Nord was 60 years old.

His wife announced Keith's passing on his CaringBridge site.

"Heaven gained a pretty amazing man. Hubby passed early this morning with his family surrounding him," wrote Jenne Jewell-Nord. "The cancer really never gave him a shot and the pain was just too much. We all feel blessed to have had such a wonderful man as our husband, dad, son, brother, friend, teammate, coach, and mentor. It surely doesn't help any of the pain or the feeling of our hearts being ripped out, but we do feel blessed for the time we all had with him. It's a tough thing to explain to an 8yr old and even a 13yr old, why such a great person would be taken so soon. I don't have answers and honestly right now I just feel like he forgot me here."

Keith Nord played with a ready supply of both desire and heart, qualities that helped him carve out a career as a motivational speaker.

A graduate of Minnetonka High School and St. Cloud State University, Nord showed up at Vikings training camp in the summer of 1979 with a heart full of courage and what many thought was a small shot at making his NFL dream come true. He defied the odds, earning a spot on the Vikings roster and carving out a 7 year career with the club. Nord even became a team captain in 1983.

His journey from an in-state Division 2 college program to the heights of professional football fueled Nord's next chapter as a motivational speaker. He also did some on-air work for NFL television broadcasts. Through it all, he stayed connected to the Twin Cities community and was active in charitable work.

Keith Nord is survived by his wife Jenne and five children.

The Minnesota Vikings paid tribute to Nord on their website.

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