First it was Fred Smoot sounding off about the Love Boat incident (again)…now it’s former Viking all-pro safety Robert Griffith revisiting another infamous moment from team history – 41-doughnut.
We will of course never forget the 2000 NFC Championship Game, which the Giants led 34-0 at halftime and won 41-0, and which was christened “41-doughnut” by a dejected but still spunky Randy Moss. Griffith famously played his heart out in that game – but according to him, he was about the only one who did:
"I think a few guys quit in that game. It might have been me and a couple of other guys that didn’t, and that’s it. It was so frustrating, because it wasn’t like [the Giants] did anything we didn’t practice for.I’ll never forget their second touchdown: We knew that when the Giants’ fullback, Greg Comella, offset to our left with Tiki [Barber] in the backfield inside our 25, he would run a wheel route. The whole defense is going, “Watch out for the wheel route!” Dwayne Rudd, the linebacker who had the coverage, turned and said, “I got it. I got it.” Then, bam — wheel route to Comella for a touchdown. That’s when I knew it was going to be that kind of day."
Robert Griffith sells out Dwayne Rudd? Wow – that’s so underwhelming at this late date.
No – I have no interest in remembering that game. The Giants were who we thought they were and blah blah.
Griffith, by the way, also has some choice words for the Arizona Cardinals, who recently cut him. He says this about the team’s new reputation for being big-spenders:
"They’re all show. They’re a facade. They say, “We’ve got the nicest stadium in North America” — and they do. But everything else is to the penny. When we’re not there on Tuesdays, they put a lock on the Gatorade fridge in the locker room."
That’s funny. Wonder how our buddies over at Raising Zona feel about that. Eh – they’re probably used to their team getting ripped.
Did I mention the Vikings beat the Cardinals 41-21 in the ’98 playoffs? Now that’s a game worth remembering.