Chad Greenway, Gray Duck Vodka Visit St. Cloud

ST. CLOUD -- Move over Grey Goose, there’s a new bird in town. Former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway and the rest of the crew from Gray Duck Vodka stopped by the Costco Liquor store for a couple of hours on Saturday morning to sign bottles for customers.

Greenway has been busy spending time with his wife and kids since retiring but has also made time to be a part of the business venture. The part-owner says he likes the local focus of the branding.

Gray Duck is such a regional thing here, just with the nomenclature and how we talk about it. I think that's something that makes it very uniquely Minnesotan. I think all of us Minnesotans love that.

The vodka is gluten-free, produced in Benson, and made with 100 percent corn from Benson area farms.

Greenway says the Gray Duck brand was inspired by an end zone dance that sparked a national conversation.

It comes from Kyle Rudolph's endzone dance in 2017 when they played Duck Duck Gray Duck in the end zone. Well, he said Duck Duck Goose after the game and it was funny that it kind of sparked this controversy. One thing led to another and they're talking about it on ESPN and on SportsCenter, and across the state of course, about how Kyle got this wrong and we're a Duck Duck Gray Duck state. So, my partner was just like we should come up with some concept around Gray Duck.

The brand launched in August of 2018 and is now available in four states.