Millie Wall, the 99-year-old Vikings fan whose devotion to the Purple won her a legion of admirers and tickets to Sunday's Super Bowl in her home city of Minneapolis, is too ill to attend the game, her family said.
"My grandma ... is recovering from pneumonia and unfortunately will not be able to attend Super Bowl," granddaughter Ashley Wall revealed Saturday on Twitter.
"Even though she really wanted to experience this once in a lifetime event and is heartbroken she can't attend, the combination of her illness and the single-digit temperatures was not worth the risk at her age."
Ashley Wall said another of Millie's granddaughter will go instead.
"She wanted to keep the experience within the family," Ashley Wall wrote in her posting. "My cousin and I will be sure to tip back a handful of screwdrivers in her honor. ... Thank you everyone for your continued love and support of Millie!"
Millie-mania got rolling when the Vikings surprised her with tickets to the Vikings' Jan. 14 playoff game at U.S. Bank Stadium. That's where Wall and Ashley Wall were approached by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who handed Millie two tickets to Super Bowl LII.
The national Fox broadcast highlighted Millie's story and panned to her several times during the game. She had her trusty yellow foam brick nearby and her signature drink in hand: a screwdriver with a splash of cranberry.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482