Shirley Bowden
Shirley personifies Vikings football.
A lifelong fan, lives, eats and breathes anything around the team all year long.
Though she was raised and currently lives in the Twin Cities, Shirley and her husband spent 15 years in Georgia. Even during that day, she sought out places to watch the Vikings game every weekend. Shirley says that when they "finally" moved back to Minnesota, before they purchased a home or she got a new job, she made sure to get Vikings season tickets "so I would never miss a game."
Shirley has an entire room of her home dedicated solely to Vikings memorabilia. She also provides plenty of SKOL Spirit to coworkers as a nurse case manager at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, where she daily goes above and beyond for her patients.
Football is more than entertainment for Shirley.
The Vikings have been a constant in her life and have helped her get through some rough patches, including the deaths of her mother and grandson, and through a personal battle with ovarian cancer. A few weeks after undergoing surgery as part of her treatment, Shirley attended the Vikings Wild Card playoff game against the Seahawks at the University of Minnesota.
Equal to Shirley's passion for the Vikings is her kindness and generosity. She never misses a game at U.S. Bank Stadium – where she is on her feet for every defensive third down – but often uses her second ticket to bring a friend or grandchild along to the game.