Larsen grew up on a wheat farm near Moorhead in northern Minnesota, where he played eight-man football in high school.

He spent three years there (playing two in service football) and started a family with his newly married wife that resulted in him having a daughter by the time he returned to Concordia.

[2] At the time, the Vikings had defensive end Carl Eller (a fellow second-year player) and Jim Marshall on the roster.

[3] Alan Page, drafted to play defensive tackle in 1967, was the final piece of what became known as the "Purple People Eaters" with Eller, Marshall, and Larsen.

Larsen did not start in Super Bowl IX, his final game as a player, as he had been supplanted by Doug Sutherland in the lineup due to injuries to his foot along with a sore knee.