Mike Florio Thinks Chad Greenway Should Be Fined For Urging Viking Fans to Drink

Oct 25, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway (52) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Metrodome. The Buccaneers defeated the Vikings 36-17. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Everything in the NFL is a fineable offense these days, even legal hits. So why shouldn’t joking also be worthy of a sanction? This is what Mike Florio would like to see. Fines for cracking jokes. Specifically, he wants to go after Chad Greenway for saying Viking fans should get “super duper drunk” ahead of Sunday’s game vs. the Bears. As if football fans ever needed such urging. No Chad, they were going to be stone sober. But since you asked? They’ll get totally hammered.

Florio made his case for fining Greenway in rather sanctimonious Costas-like fashion. “Binge drinking remains a serious problem in our society, and the NFL continues to struggle with striking the balance between selling beer to fans while also ensuring that those fans don’t become sufficiently intoxicated to ruin another fan’s experience at the game or an innocent stranger’s life while driving home,” Florio raved. “Public comments from players urging fans to get sloppy drunk become irresponsible in this context, especially since plenty of fans are young and male and more than happy to oblige the home team’s request for folks to be ‘super duper drunk.'”

Florio: It was a joke. Everyone understood it was a joke. Trust me dude, not one single Viking fan is going to get drunker than they were already going to get because Chad Greenway said get drunk. They already have more than enough reasons to get drunk. I mean, have you seen the Vikings’ offense lately? You have to be totally smashed to even endure that crap.

This is all a big “whatever” for me. I’m not offended by Greenway’s joke. I’m not really offended by Florio’s high-horse bullcrap because that’s what media people do and I get that. I am sort of amused by the idea that drunkenness can make a crowd more boisterous. I suppose it’s true but it’s really not the most effective way to get a crowd into a game. You know what works better? Completing passes more than five yards down the field. Fans like that kind of stuff, it turns out.

So maybe instead of urging the fans to drink, Greenway should implore Christian Ponder to not suck. Florio would probably want to fine him for excessive leadership.

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