Some hopeful fans took stories of That Guy’s involvement in the failed recruitment of LaDainian Tomlinson as proof that their hero will be returning for a second shot at glory in 2010.

“Not so fast” says That Guy’s chief spokesman Ed Werder.

According to Werder, who spends the majority of his pitiful existence jammed further up That Guy’s butt than I would’ve thought physically possible, The Old Gunslinger played only a minor role in the Tomlinson push.

Far from providing assurances about his future, That Guy reportedly texted Tomlinson that he has “no clue” if he will play for the Vikings again.  The best TG could do was tell LT nice things about the Vikings organization and their unusually accommodating coach Brad Childress.

We will likely never know for sure if That Guy’s non-committal stance chased LT away from the Vikes.  But I’m guessing it didn’t help matters.

The LaDainian Tomlinson watch can now end.  Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the free agent running back has spurned the Vikings and signed a contract with the New York Jets.

The Vikes courted Tomlinson late last week, hoping he could step into the third-down back role vacated by Chester Taylor.  Tomlinson left Minnesota without a deal, and flew to New York to meet with crazy Rex Ryan and the gang.

Whatever Rex Ryan said, and whatever money the Jets offered, it was all more to L.T.’s liking than the Vikings’ efforts.

And this leaves the Vikes still searching for someone to replace Chester Taylor.  It’s looking more-and-more like that replacement will have to come from within the organization – Albert  Young is the only likely candidate – or via the draft.

I wonder how That Guy feels about the team’s failure to secure LT.  Maybe he won’t want to leave Mississippi now.

LaDainian Tomlinson has visited Minnesota, heard what Brad Childress and Zygi Wilf and Rick Spielman had to say…and gone on to New York to sit down with Rex Ryan and the Jets.

If Tomlinson is looking for touches, New York would probably be the better destination.  If he’s looking for a chance to win a championship?

The conventional wisdom is that Minnesota would afford him the better opportunity to taste Super Bowl glory.  On the assumption that That Guy and not Tarvaris Jackson, Sage Rosenfels or Tim Tebow would be starting at quarterback.

It would be interesting to know what Chilly told Tomlinson about the That Guy situation.  Did he assure LT that TG will indeed be behind center in 2010?  Or did he have to confess that even he doesn’t know?

One thing we know Chilly told Tomlinson:  if he does join the Purple, he will be the #2 back behind Adrian Peterson.

Actually, make that the #1A back.

Chilly already backpedaling on his Adrian Peterson is the man in Minnesota talk, to make Tomlinson more comfortable.  They really want this guy bad.  They know they need to replace Chester Taylor, and they know there’s no one else out there who can give them anything close to Chester’s production.

It’s LT or bad news for the Vikings.

Let’s hope yesterday’s presentation impressed him.  He certainly had enough fuss made about him in the media.  If he likes silly attention from newspaper reporters – for instance, endless Twitter updates about his limo – he should love Minneapolis.

The big Vikings news this week is their pursuit of LaDainian Tomlinson, who was recently released by the San Diego Charges, the team for which he once won NFL MVP.

Tomlinson will reportedly be in Winter Park to meet with Brad Childress and the gang on Thursday.  Chilly said in an interview at University of Minnesota Pro Day that he has already spoken to LT, and made sure the future Hall-of-Famer understands that, if he does sign with the Vikings, he will be a back-up to Adrian Peterson.

The Vikes’ interest in Tomlinson has seemingly signaled that they are not interested in Brian Westbrook, a man with Chilly connections but a disconcerting history of concussions.

Tomlinson’s interest in the Vikings seems to signal a few things as well:  that Tomlinson has found the market for his services less-than-vigorous, that LT at least thinks he can live with being a #2 back and, most importantly, that LT knows or at least thinks That Guy will be back as quarterback.

Moving from the running back situation to the cornerback situation:  the Vikings have avoided losing yet another top back-up by signing nickel corner Benny Sapp to a two-year contract.  The two-year deal shows how desperate the Vikes were to keep Sapp, who became a key cog in the defense last year, especially after Antoine Winfield got hurt.  The Vikes will still probably look around for another low-price veteran corner to cover themselves in case Cedric Griffin has to miss some time.

And the last bit of news:  the Vikings have moved to fix their occasional special teams coverage issues by signing Rhys Lloyd as a kickoff specialist.  Lloyd’s job will be to boom kicks into the end zone and hopefully help us avert disasters like the second half of the Bears game where every time we seemed to be getting back into it, the kick coverage broke down, giving the Bears field position.  If Lloyd sticks, it will mean one less roster spot for useless guys like Erin Henderson.

The Vikings are not making the good kind of waves so far in free agency.  As of now, the only news is the loss of top back-ups Chester Taylor and Artis Hicks, a report that the Vikes are mulling adding a kick-off specialist, and another report that they are interested in an old cornerback last seen chasing Adrian Peterson down from behind.

Artis Hicks left over the weekend, signing with the Redskins, who will give him a shot to start.  This leaves the Vikings without their top back-up guard and tackle.

The prospective kick-off guy, Rhys Lloyd, a former Gopher, was scheduled to meet with the Vikings on Monday.  No report on how that went so far.  The Vikes are apparently hoping a kick-off guy could help their weak coverage by putting a few more in the endzone than Ryan Longwell is capable of doing at this point in his life.

Then there’s that old cornerback they may be after, Phillip Buchanon, former Lion, whose 2009 highlight was chasing and catching Adrian Peterson on what looked like a touchdown, and forcing Peterson to fumble.  The Vikes could lose Benny Sapp, which would leave them with old Antoine Winfield, injured Cedric Griffin and green Asher Allen as their top three cornerbacks.

Scary.

Other rumors:  Willie Parker?  That’s been shot down by Judd Zulgad.  Brian Westbrook keeps coming up, but who knows.  All I’m sure of is, if the Vikes don’t come out of this free agency period with replacements for Taylor and Hicks and another veteran corner, they will have to be considered a notch worse than they were last year.

I think everyone was pretty much resigned to the idea that Chester Taylor would be leaving the Vikings as a UFA and signing with a team that would give him a shot to get more touches.

What might be a little harder to come to grips with is the fact that the Chicago Bears are the team that has nabbed Chester, giving him two annual shots at the Vikings for the next four years.

There’s nothing really to say here except, thank you Chester for four great years.  The offense was always better when it involved you, but with Adrian Peterson on the team, and especially with all the weapons that emerged last season, it just wasn’t in the cards for you to be used the way you probably wanted and deserved.

Now Chester gets the chance to play for Mike Martz, an offensive coordinator known for making good use of pass receiving running backs.

Oh, and did I mention the Bears just signed Julius Peppers, aka Bryant McKinnie’s worst nightmare?

The NFC North balance of power may have just shifted radically.  Unless That Guy comes back.  Then everything will of course be fine.

The guy whose name I said I wasn’t going to say again until he announced his intentions for next season (headlines don’t count – I need his name in there for the traffic) had a big day on Thursday, flying to L.A. to appear on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, then taking his kid to see Hannah Montana before finishing the night with wife Deanna, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at a swanky eatery.

The best thing about the evening for That Guy?  No big cheap-shot artist Saints pass-rushers blowing by his pitiful linemen and trying to take his ankles out.

Of course, any time That Guy goes anywhere in public, he is going to get grilled about his NFL future.  On Leno, he said what we all expected him to say:  nothing definitive.

He seemed pretty good-natured about the whole thing there with Jay on the Tonight Show set.  On the sidewalk after dinner with some idiot photographer getting up in his face?  He seemed…irritated.

But, he abstained from going full Sean Penn on the photographer, so that’s good.

Next up for That Guy:  guiding the Vikings’ free agent signings and draft activities from his hot tub in Hattiesburg.

The Vikings‘ cornerback situation went from manageable to iffy with one pop of Cedric Griffin’s ACL.

With Griffin expected to be out until at least training camp and possibly not until well into the 2010 season, the Vikings figured to lean more heavily than ever on Benny Sapp, who was elevated to starter last season after Antoine Winfield’s foot injury and did a decent job.

Unfortunately, Sapp may not even be around to fill in for Cedric.  He is one of the Vikings’ handful of unrestricted free agents, and according to reports, he intends to test the market.

Even if the Vikings do flash enough cash to keep Sapp in the fold, cornerback will remain a position of concern.  Any promotion of Sapp to the starting role leaves you with a serious lack of depth at the position – especially now that you’ve given Karl Paymah his walking paypahs – plus, no one knows if Winfield will ever be able to recover his previous Pro Bowl form coming off the injury that hampered him throughout the second half of ‘09.

In other words, the Vikings could be in the market for a cornerback once free agency begins.

The top free agent corner is Leigh Bodden of the Patriots.  Unfortunately, he would come at a high cost, and is not generally seen as a good fit in the sort of zone defense the Vikings prefer to employ.  So strike him off the wishlist.

Dunta Robinson of the Texans is generally regarded as the second best UFA corner after Bodden, but many see him as overrated.  On the restricted free agent side, there’s Carlos Rogers of the Redskins, who received a 1st round tender from the team and is therefore not an option.

After that come some restricted free agents like Ellis Hobbs and Brent Grimes, both of whom are seen as nickelback options at best.  One other restricted free agent possibility is Richard Marshall of the Panthers, who has received a 2nd round tender from the team and will therefore likely not be moving.

None of the guys listed above, nor many of the guys further down the list, present ideal possibilities for the Vikings in upgrading at corner.  Their best hope is that Cedric heals quickly, Sapp can be retained and Winfield can get back to being Winfield.

Counting on your own guys isn’t as sexy as drooling over other people’s guys, but it’s often more sensible.