Archive for May, 2009

New Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler needs to take a few courses in public relations: I know Cutler already has alienated enough small pockets of fans at various appearances in Chicago to produce a flurry of furious e-mails, such as the one from a guy at Wrigley Field last week who criticized the quarterback for waving off autograph seekers. “His lack of appreciation for fans will be his undoing in Chicago,” Glen. R. wrote me. We’ll see, but if Cutler experiences an undoing in Chicago it will have more to do with the people on the field than in the [...]

The Star-Trib’s Judd Zulgad giddily reports that the Vikings have been mixing some Wildcat plays in with the rest of the stuff they’re working on at minicamp: On Saturday, the Vikings experimented with using the “Wildcat” offense, lining up [Percy] Harvin at quarterback at times.  Running back Chester Taylor and wide receiver Darius Reynaud also are getting looks in a formation that became popular last season around the NFL after the Miami Dolphins started to use it. Harvin has been put forth by some as an ideal Wildcat player, a guy who can line up at multiple positions and has the [...]

Judd Zulgad and Kevin Seifert are both reporting (Seifert via Facebook) that Antoine Winfield was a no-show for today’s mandatory minicamp session.  There is no official word on why Antoine is not there, but we all know Antoine was trying to negotiate a contract extension this off-season and those talks broke down.  For what it’s worth, in a recent interview, Erin Henderson said Antoine intended showing up for the minicamp, which is, as I said before, mandatory.  Guess Erin’s not a great source.  Of course, it’s always possible Antoine’s absence had nothing to do with his contract, and it was [...]

The fine folks at EA Sports have released the official player rankings for the newest installment of the highly popular Madden NFL football series, Madden 10 (evidently not Madden ’10, as I would’ve expected).  As we all might have anticipated, the Vikings‘ own Adrian Peterson is ranked #1 among running backs with an overall 97.  Among Viking defensive players, Jared Allen scores the highest rating, a 98, followed by Kevin Williams who is a 97.  Of course, if you’re like me, you immediately fart with the rankings to make all the Vikings players better than they would ever be in [...]

You thought Marcellus Wiley was going to let Fran Tarkenton‘s hatchet job on him go by without a response?  Think again. First, what Fran said about Marcellus, in response to Marcellus calling him “a grumpy old man”: Marcellus Wiley, who is trying to parlay a minimal football career into still making  more money. This grumpy old man is 69 years old, I own six businesses, I’ve built 16 over the years, I’m paying my taxes, I’ve started two new businesses, we’re hiring more people, we’re not laying them off, we’re not cutting their salaries — we’re increasing their salaries, and [...]

The Packers‘ transition from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense was always going to be a difficult one, but the Green Bay coaching staff at least hoped their players would help smooth it some by being on-board for it.  Hope dashed: Aaron Kampman did nothing Thursday to quell speculation that he’s not overly thrilled about his role in the Green Bay Packers’ new defense. The former defensive end who is converting to outside linebacker in the new 3-4 defense continued his media boycott. The eight-year veteran has not granted any interviews since coach Mike McCarthy revamped his defense by hiring [...]

Fran Tarkenton doesn’t just think signing Brett Favre would be a mistake for the Vikings as a football team – he believes it would violate the very essence of what it means to be a Viking; an essence that, in Fran’s mind at least, is intimately tied up with feelings of tribalistic hatred toward that team to the east that, with Favre at the helm, tormented Minnesota and their fans for so many years. “I know the Minnesota press, fans, whatever have gotten kind of excited about is the flamboyant, Hall-of-Famer to be, the great Brett Favre going to come [...]

If you thought Fran Tarkenton was done mixing it up with the Branch Favreidians…well, you were way off.  Fran ain’t afraid.  Fran is here to tell it like it is.  To the sportswriters who have been bashing Fran in the wake of his anti-Favre remarks: I had an opinion that was not in agreement with Brett Favre’s opinion. Now, have the sportswriters and sportscasters across the country, have they just sucked up to Brett Favre and glorified Brett Favre on this subject matter — don’t they have an opinion? They certainly haven’t expressed it have they? To Marcellus Wiley, who [...]

Tarvaris Jackson was already in an awkward position thanks to all the Favre-talk going on…and then Pat Williams made that situation still more uncomfortable by publicly questioning Jackson’s commitment to being a top quarterback.  Now Jackson is trying to defend himself.  The Vikings‘ quarterback said: [Pat]’s an older guy, he wants to win. I guess he went through his times growing up and [you] have to figure it out yourself. My first year, I had to figure it out. Now, I’ve pretty much figured it out. I’m studying more. I feel like I’m doing what I’ve got to do and [...]

The Brett Favre melodrama is proving a divisive issue among legendary Vikings of the past.  On one side you have Fran Tarkenton, who recently told Atlanta radio that Favre behaved in a “despicable” manner by forcing his way out of Green Bay, and said he hoped the Vikings do sign Favre so he can “watch him fail.”  This anti-Favre stance has now been answered by former Vikings running back and Tarkenton teammate Chuck Foreman, who is decidedly pro-Favre. “Number one, I’m a big Brett Favre fan,” said Foreman.  “Number two, the New York Jets, where he went to play [in [...]