The mystery of Mary Tyler Moore’s Tarkenton jersey

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Celebrity deaths usually bring out the trivia buffs and yesterday’s death of Mary Tyler Moore is no exception.

Today’s most intriguing trivia mystery comes from Paul Lukas, who writes the Uni Watch blog, which focuses on sports uniforms: Whose name is on the back of the Fran Tarkenton jersey that Mary Richards is wearing in the opening credits while washing her car?

Hint: It’s not Fran Tarkenton. Or Richards. Or Moore.

The quick shot of the car washing scene was not part of the original opening credits, he notes. It was added later. And it’s not a real Vikings jersey either.

But whose name is on it?

The internet being the internet, one of Lukas’ readers had the answer.

Spoiler alert!

It says “Vikings.”

There was one other worthy piece of Mary Tyler Moore trivia in the video above. Prior to filming the scene for the credits, she had never washed a car before.