Archive for August, 2010

Sidney Rice has spent all of training camp on the PUP list, presumably because he is still recovering from a hip injury suffered in the NFC Championship Game. I use the word “presumably” there because, all of a sudden, there is talk that Rice’s hip isn’t as bad as he wants everyone to think.  In his August 10 column, the ever-controversial Judd Zulgad not only raises the possibility that Rice is exaggerating the severity of his injury, but also speculates on a motive. All the attention that has been focused on Brett Favre‘s absence from training camp has meant the [...]

Move over Chris Cook, there’s another Vikings cornerback who is making a huge splash in camp. And it’s not Lito Sheppard. In fact, if Chip Scoggins is to be believed, Lito might not even end up with a starting job when all is said and done. The man making the huge impression on Scoggins and others?  Second-year corner Asher Allen.  “I’ve been very impressed with Asher Allen and won’t be surprised if he’s the starter at right corner in season opener,” the Star-Trib’s Scoggins tweeted Monday morning from camp. This comes as a somewhat amazing development given that, up till [...]

Jay Glazer believes he knows what is really going on inside Brett Favre‘s head. In a new column, Glazer insists that Favre really did mean to retire when he sent those text messages to his teammates last week, but was so blown away by the resulting “outpouring of love” from the guys that he once again changed his mind. “He’s torn,” Glazer quotes one Vikings player as saying. “I think in his mind he was done, but he loves the guys in this locker room and doesn’t want to let them down. He didn’t want to [come back), but I [...]

Congrats to John Randle on his induction into the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame.  I was hoping he’d drop a “Big dog’s in the house” into the speech, but he decided to go the soft-spoken and humble route, which is okay too. Sign up now and get 50% off CBSSports.com’s award-winning Fantasy Football Commissioner Sign up for CBSSports.com’s College Fantasy Football. It’s free. Follow FanSided on Facebook. Follow The Viking Age on Twitter.

Let’s take a look at where some guys stand going into the second week of camp: Stock through the roof: Logan Payne.  The former Gopher is impressing the hell out of everyone.   He’s added weight this camp and claims he’s got his 40 time under 4.4.  Receivers coach George Stewart said of Payne, “Logan is a crafty pro.  Logan’s a guy that’s a hard worker, he makes plays, and it’s very exciting to see him grow.”  Unless something changes drastically between now and the end of camp, I have to believe Jaymar Johnson is history. Stock still up: Chris Cook.   [...]

The injury-and-ailment bug is biting big-time in Mankato.  A quick laundry list of the players affected: Sidney Rice, on the PUP list with a bad hip. Cedric Griffin, on the PUP list as he recovers from ACL surgery. E.J. Henderson, able to practice but being held back somewhat as he recovers from his broken leg. Percy Harvin, tweaked an ankle on Saturday but returned the next day.  And then his grandmother died and he had to leave camp. Benny Sapp, got dehydrated on Sunday and hasn’t been back on the field since. John Sullivan, got kicked in the calf during [...]

After a day of apparently being stiffed by his buddy, ESPN’s Ed Werder finally got through to Brett Favre. Or maybe Brett called Ed.  I don’t know.  Anyway, the important thing is what Brett said to Werder: Brett said he’s not retiring.  And he will play in 2010 if healthy.  And he never sent texts to any teammates telling them he was retiring.  And it’s not about the money. So I guess yesterday never happened.  We just dreamed it.  Or maybe Judd Zulgad made up the text message story so the Star-Trib website could get some much needed hits. And [...]

Brett Favre plays for the love of the game…as the banner on his official website adamently reminds us. But, Brett also plays the game for money.  And, like pretty much every other pro athlete, he is always looking to get paid a little more. Now, I don’t mean to suggest that the drama surrounding Brett and that retirement thing he apparently floated to some of his teammates via text message was all about Brett leveraging the Vikings into offering him more money, but… Well, you’ll just have to put two-and-two together on that for yourself.  All I can do here [...]

So is Brett Favre retired or isn’t he? ESPN seems to think he is.  Which is why they’ve spent the entire day acting like the world just came crashing down around their ears. Brad Childress, on the other hand, doesn’t seem so convinced.  At his press conference this morning, Chilly said he hadn’t heard anything about retirement from Favre, and wouldn’t believe any such stories until he heard it “from the horse’s mouth.” Players were mostly careful when discussing the subject, with the notable exception of Visanthe Shiancoe, who went on ESPN to say he had heard from some teammates [...]

Brad Childress just gave his post-practice presser from Vikings camp, and not surprisingly, the assembled reporters were not interested in discussing Joe Webb or Chris Cook. They wanted to talk about all the reports saying Brett Favre has told the team and some of his teammates he is not returning for 2010. Chilly replied by saying he knows nothing about Favre telling teammates he is retiring.  He then said that he has spoken to Favre himself in the last 24 hours and Favre told him nothing about retiring. The coach reiterated that there is no timeline for Favre to make [...]