There are two negative stories to report about Viking DBs, one only a little bad, the other potentially really bad.
The possibly really bad story involves S Dwight Smith who, it has been reported, was ticketed in downtown Minneapolis last night for misdemeanor pot possession and obstructing traffic. Smith’s car was reportedly blocking an intersection, and when a police officer approached it, he smelled marijuana. A mellow Smith admitted right away that he had just smoked a blunt, and the officer issued him a citation. Viking DT Pat Williams was also in the car with Smith but was not cited.
The fine for Smith’s violation would only be $125, but of course that’s not the issue. The potential big problem for Smith would come from the NFL, who will undoubtedly punish him in some way, per the league’s personal conduct policy. And of course coach Brad Childress could also take action against Smith as he has done on several occasions during the player’s tenure, including the beginning of the 2006 season when Smith was benched one game for an off-season incident involving a stairwell, a random skank and behavior best confined to non-public locales.
Childress had this to say about the Smith incident:
"We’ve been extremely proactive with the first precinct police officers and the inspector. The allegations are under investigation and I’ll have further comment after more information comes to light."
Wouldn’t surprise me at all if Chilly sat Smith down for a game. Those two have had a lot of issues this year and last, and frankly I don’t think Childress really cares for Smith that much. It’s telling, I think, how much the Vikings went out of their way this off-season to pad their depth at the safety position, signing guys like Mike Doss and keeping Greg Blue (who shouldn’t have been cut at all) till deep into the pre-season. Chilly, in his infinite wisdom, saw potential trouble with Smith and took steps to protect himself.
The second DB-related incident was much smaller in severity: Antoine Winfield got fined $10,000 by the NFL for wearing white socks during the San Francisco game. Winfield says he knew the fine was coming, but he wanted to wear white socks, so he didn’t care. That’s the life of an NFL player kids – being willing and able to shell out 10-grand for the privilege of wearing whatever color socks you want.