Roger Erickson, “flexibility genius,” draws a famous, once-flexible audience at his death

Erickson didn't drive. And he didn't like taking the bus. He rode a bike, but he preferred to get a ride.

“Everyone here who took Roger with them should raise their hand,” was a request on Sunday, and there was general laughter at the raised hands.

Joe Mauer was there on Sunday – not as a celebrity, but out of gratitude for Roger’s help.

“I came to Cretin a year after Roger left; I knew about him, but I didn’t work with him until after I had all these injuries [in 2011],” Mauer said. “I was in that training room all winter. I came into spring training feeling great and had one of my best years.”

Perhaps Roger's greatest miracle came in 2012. Birk was then playing for the Baltimore Ravens in what would be his last of 14 NFL seasons. John Harbaugh, the Ravens' coach, praised Birk for his excellent physical condition at age 36.

“I told him about Roger – that he was about 275 [pounds] and looked out of shape, but he could do the splits, he could lift a leg up to his head; he was a genius at flexibility,” Birk said. “I said, 'Fly him in, give him an hour.' Harbaugh did that, came out of his office after an hour of stretching with Rog and said, 'I haven't felt this good in 20 years.'”