Vikings fans will enjoy some recent comments from Harrison Smith

Longtime Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith recently talked about if he will retire from the NFL in a purple and gold jersey.

Before the 2012 season, Paul Krause was the most notable player to ever wear the No. 22 for the Minnesota Vikings. Krause might still be considered the greatest Vikings player to wear the No. 22, but that jersey number will also be associated with Harrison Smith from now on whenever people look back at the team’s history.

Smith is not only one of the greatest Minnesota players to wear the No. 22 on his jersey, but he’s also just one of the best to ever suit up for the purple and gold since their very first season in 1961.

Currently heading into his 10th year with the Vikings, Smith hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down just yet. But whenever that eventually happens, the Minnesota safety has a preference when it comes to which team he would like to finish his NFL career with.

Harrison Smith says he expects to retire with the Minnesota Vikings

During a recent appearance on Patrick Peterson‘s “All Things Covered” podcast, Smith was asked if he expects to play his final season in the league as a member of the Vikings. The All-Pro safety gave an answer that should please a lot of Minnesota fans.

"“Yeah [I do]. I mean I don’t know what happens at the end of careers. Sometimes things change. I don’t plan on that happening. But the NFL is the NFL, it’s always wild. But I’ll always consider myself a Viking no matter what.”"

Remaining with only one team for an entire career is not the norm in the NFL, especially for someone who has been in the league for as long as Smith.

Like Smith, guys like Kyle Rudolph and Everson Griffen probably had similar feelings about their future before departing from the Vikings. More often than not, veteran players will finish their NFL careers with a team that didn’t draft them into the league.

It will be interesting to see how Smith’s desire to remain in Minnesota will impact what sort of extension the team will offer him in the near future.

Will he be willing to take less than he might be worth just to stay with the Vikings? Minnesota might be able to get him to agree to a slightly discounted amount, but Smith still deserves to get a good chunk of change in the next deal he receives from the team that drafted him in 2012.