Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman is considering current starting WLB Erin Henderson a possibility for the Vikings’ opening at middle linebacker, according to a report by ESPN 1500 Twin Cities.

“That depends on what happens in the draft,” Spielman said. “If we go outside, Erin can slide inside or if we go inside Erin can play outside. That’s what is great about this linebacker thing. We have the flexibility to go either way.”

While the Vikings could select the linebacker that they have been linked to repeatedly in Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o, this could mean they look outside the box. Te’o is a fit as a MLB in a Tampa 2 scheme like the Vikings deploy but with Henderson in tow they could look to improve the outside linebacker spot instead

With the No. 23 and 25 picks, the Vikings would seem to be a strong candidate to consider my top linebacker prospect in Kansas State’s Arthur Brown on Thursday.  Brown has the athletic ability  to be a standout player against both the run and pass.  Knowing that Henderson is strong in run support and adequate in coverage could make him a better fit on the inside where having a more athletic option on the outside in coverage is necessary.  Brown played MLB in college for the Wildcats and could still be the starting MLB if he is the draft pick.  Brown projects as a three-down linebacker at either position which is something the Vikings sorely need.

Regardless, he is the impact player that I hope the Vikings select Brown with either the 23 or 25 pick on Thursday.  However, this could be another Spielman smokescreen and he is intending on taking Te’o.

Jan 3, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oregon Ducks running back Kenjon Barner (24) is pursued by Kansas State Wildcats linebacker Arthur Brown (4) in the 2013 Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

Jan 7, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te

Rick Spielman is really really into Manti Te’o. Not only did Spielman attend Te’o's pro day at Notre Dame last month, he also took the linebacker to dinner before the pro day according to Peter King. Spielman is giving Te’o a once-over worthy of the show The Bachelor. Will it end in a draft day consummation or is Te’o doomed to once again have his heart broken? You know, like when the fake girlfriend died. Sorry, sore subject?

All kidding aside…whatever you think of Te’o as a football player or a person, it’s obvious the Vikings are interested in him as a solution to their current MLB issue. They’ve met with Te’o a couple of times and Spielman had the dinner. If they’re smokescreening, they are sure going all-out on it. But in this case I’m fairly certain it’s not a smokescreen. Te’o is getting special attention from the Vikings because they want to satisfy themselves he is an intelligent high-character guy and not some kind of crazy lying nut or total idiot.

By now I’m guessing Spielman has gathered more than enough intel – some by grilling Te’o's former defensive teammates Harrison Smith and Robert Blanton probably – to make his decision about the off-the-field stuff. So it comes down to whether he and the scouts think he can actually play MLB in their scheme. Can he move sideline to sideline? Can he play coverage? Is he large and strong enough or is he going to get blown up a lot like in the Alabama game?

It’s clear what the Vikings are looking for in this draft. They want their Brian Urlacher. I’m not sure Te’o fits the bill. Spielman may feel differently. He may be yearning to draft Te’o. Or he may just want to spoon with Te’o. Anything is possible at this point.

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Jan 7, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te

Manti Te’o overkill is in full effect on Twitter and elsewhere. This is to be expected in the wake of such shocking allegations. If you missed it, Deadspin has revealed that Manti Te’o's oft-discussed dead girlfriend Lennay Kekua, a young woman who became an integral part of the compelling Te’o backstory and indeed the entire Notre Dame 2012 narrative, never in fact existed. Deadspin shows how an entire false online identity was created and how Te’o became involved with this fictional person. More damningly, it shows how Te’o continued speaking of Kekua as a real woman even after he must’ve known there was no such individual. The story raises tons of questions: about Te’o's character, about the Notre Dame myth, about how the media operate in the age of Twitter and Facebook.

Notre Dame and Te’o have already released their statements about the matter. In some ways these statements raise more questions than they answer. Both the college and Te’o are claiming the player was the victim of a hoax. Te’o speaks of his humiliation in falling for the deception. The university says they found out about the whole thing in December and have been investigating. The problem for Te’o is this: he has spoken so extensively about the non-existent woman that it becomes hard to believe he was totally unaware of her non-existence. It’s possible he was duped, initially, but at what point did he wise up? And why didn’t he come clean about the hoax after realizing what had happened? Was he merely a victim or a guilty perpetrator? Or a little of both?

Te’o may be innocent in this, but at this point there are too many things that don’t add up. The stain of guilt is on him, at least in the public eye. But rather than simply paint Te’o as a total villain, let’s try to look at this from his point-of-view. You’re a young man who has found himself in the center of a whole massive media-driven whirlwind. The Notre Dame story. The resurgence of this proud football program. You become the symbol of this whole stirring thing. The Te’o backstory becomes an integral part of the narrative. The dead grandmother. Then the fake girlfriend enters into it. The media run with this. It’s easy to say that Te’o should’ve come clean, but imagine the pressure on him. Imagine how he must have felt. Never mind the realities of trying to play football games every Saturday amid this insanity. It’s possible to see how he might have become swept up. Just been carried along by the irresistible momentum of the thing and not thought to try and stop it.

Not trying to excuse Te’o. But to what extent should we crush this kid for the way he acted? He was in the middle of something much, much bigger than himself. It’s easy to pile on him, call him a liar or at the very least a fool. But what about the media? They went along with his apparent lies. Why did they not look closer at this story? Was it their zeal to push the Notre Dame narrative? Are they so invested in selling these inspirational stories that they deliberately suspend journalistic responsibility? And what about the school? Where were they in all this? Were they just happy to have the positive attention? Should they have asked more questions?

This looks like a case of a snowball that got rolling downhill, and once it built up momentum, no one could stop it. Sadly, it appears no one WANTED to stop it. Not the school. Not the media. Maybe Te’o did, but by then it was too late. Now his character and integrity are being questioned. His draft stock may suffer. Let me say this. If Te’o is the only one to suffer the consequences from this story…that would be a shame. Because there are plenty of other people who deserve punishment. If this was a hoax perpetrated by others besides Te’o, they must be publicly exposed if not criminally prosecuted. The media must also be taken to task. So must Notre Dame. And we as media consumers must look ourselves in the eye and ask “Are we a little too gullible as well? Are we a little too willing to go along with a good story? Should we be more skeptical of what the media are putting out there?”

It’s easy to look at this as yet another example of a sick conspiracy between media, sports and the public to build people up out of all proportion with reality, then perversely revel in their demise once things take a turn. We did it with Barry Bonds. Lance Armstrong. Joe Paterno. Over and over the same thing. The desire to worship heroes trumps common sense. And then, when the heroes fall, we feel stupid for being duped. And we lash out against the figures at the center of the lies. But maybe we’re equally culpable. Maybe the answer is to stop making heroes out of sports figures at all and start finding real role models in the real world. There are plenty of them out there. And they don’t need the ESPN spin machine to make them seem heroic.

There will be much to chew on in the coming days and weeks. Hopefully this will lead to some positive change. More responsibility from the media. More healthy skepticism from the public. And more honesty from the institutions that benefit so much financially and otherwise from media fawning and fan blindness.

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