The Minnesota Vikings And The New Face Of The Franchise

I have to admit, the whole Adrian Peterson thing has me quite upset. As regular listeners of the Purple People Podcast already know, I’ve reached the point where I’m just ready for the Vikings to move on without their star running back and create a tradition of winning without all the drama and games.

Nov 7, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) acknowledges the crowd following the game against the Washington Redskins at Mall of America Field at H.H.H. Metrodome. The Vikings defeated the Redskins 34-27. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Sadly, this Adrian Peterson issue still has no end in sight. The Minnesota Vikings have built this offense around Peterson and have finally got him some weapons to help stretch the field and a young quarterback that is showing a lot of potential. Plus, Minnesota seems more than willing to pay him the extremely high salary and take the massive cap hit that it would cost to keep him on the roster. Yet, Peterson (or his agent, who has done more than enough talking in this situation) feels that the Vikings aren’t a good fit for him and that he’d like to move on.

Many loyal Minnesota Vikings fans stuck with Adrian for quite a while. Despite what happened between him and his child, some fans were still more than willing to get Peterson back on the field and help this team make a potential playoff run during the 2015 NFL season. With the most recent statements from Ben Dogra (Peterson’s agent), even those fans are jumping from Adrian’s sinking ship.

So, now that we know for sure that Adrian Peterson doesn’t want to be a part of the Minnesota Vikings and he used to be the face of the franchise for several years, a new player has to emerge as that guy that’s willing to take the organization on his shoulders and bring the fan base around. And I believe fans have found that guy.

On a team full of young defensive studs like Harrison Smith, Everson Griffen, Xavier Rhodes and Anthony Barr, the fan base has instead looked to their young quarterback as the new face of the Minnesota Vikings. That’s right, I’m talking about Teddy Bridgewater.

Dec 21, 2014; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (5) runs off the field after losing to the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium. The Dolphins won 37-35. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Remember when fans were upset because the Minnesota Vikings “missed out” on Johnny Manziel in the draft and many fans thought of ending up with Teddy Bridgewater as a consolation prize? Well, Bridgewater made most of his rookie year after being thrown into to fire after a Matt Cassel injury. His play and demeanor helped turn a large portion of the fan base into believers during his rookie campaign by showing great poise under pressure and being the calm during this media poop storm surrounding the team. While reporters are off trying to figure out what is going on with Peterson, Bridgewater is quietly working with his teammates this offseason to get better and help this team win.

The funniest thing of all this is that Bridgewater didn’t seem to be the guy that the Minnesota Vikings or their fan base thought would be the guy on the billboards or that they’d hear “Teddy Bridgewater and the Minnesota Vikings” during advertisements for the games on television. But it’s happened. And it’s going to keep happening.

Hopefully, Teddy Bridgewater can handle this new found attention well. In the past, other faces of the franchise have failed to keep a level head for themselves and have instead crashed and burned. But I have a good feeling that Bridgewater has the right mentality and attitude to be able to take on this responsibility. And hopefully he can, because it seems like it’s happening whether Bridgewater likes it or not.

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