Shortly before the Minnesota Vikings began their training camp practice at the TCO Performance Center on Wednesday, SKOR North's Thor Nystrom shared a post on his X account that certainly raised a few eyebrows.
"I was watching warmups near the entrance to the practice field. A young mom nearby had her phone out, appearing to be taking a video of her daughter with TCO Center in the background. A Vikings security guard asked her to stop recording."
This is just the latest over-the-top example in what has been an extreme effort by the Vikings this summer to not have fans record any videos of practice and post them online to the public.
Minnesota Vikings placing extra emphasis on stopping fans from taking videos at training camp this year
Prior to sharing what he witnessed on Wednesday, Nystrom revealed on Tuesday that before Minnesota's practice, security at the TCO Performance Center talked to fans sitting in the stands about not recording any part of practice on their phones.
"Vikings security sounded an airhorn before practice began and a security guard addressed fans in bleachers about not taping. If there weren't many clips out today, thats why.
With the QB derby and changes to the run game and personnel groupings, they’re keeping a lid on things."
Another user on X with the handle @twinberviks, who was at Wednesday's Vikings practice, claimed online that security at the TCO Performance Center approached him in the stands and questioned him about posting videos of practice on his account.
He said he was only given a warning by security and not asked to leave, which is something another popular Vikings-related account on X was not afforded when he attended one of the team's training camp practice recently.
Last Thursday, the user @Dust_Vikings on X shared that after recording and posting several videos from practice earlier that day, security at the TCO Performance Center wrote him up for trespassing.
"Guys… some very unfortunate and frustrating news I regret to share.
At the end of practice today, I was approached by two officers, letting me know I am being written up for trespassing because of the videos I took today. It is for one year.
As you all know, I have no ill intent on posting videos. I understand it says “No Videos of Practice”, but I was told by a Vikings media member, the correct way to post videos, if I were to do so. I followed the instructions on how to properly do it.
Not because it was anyone’s fault but mine, and not blaming anyone, I just feel very misguided in this process. Yes it comes down to rule following of no videos, but I thought I was in the clear from someone that works for the Vikings. Would’ve just liked a written warning.
I’m going to try to fight this, but just know that if you are taking videos at camp, you will be written up for trespassing."
On their official website, the Vikings do have "recording of the game or event" listed as something that is prohibited during training camp this summer, so any requests for fans to stop recording videos from the stands shouldn't really come as a surprise.
However, while there have been efforts to curb this in the recent past (Minnesota posted the message "Please help our team, not the opponents, and refrain from taking videos of practice," on a scoreboard at practice in 2022), stopping it seems to be a very high point of emphasis this year.
Are the Vikings concerned that other teams are going to use clips from training camp to beat them instead of the four years of game film of Kevin O'Connell's offense that is available for any coach around the league to view?
Plus, if another team really wanted to, what's going to stop them from sending a scout or assistant coach to watch Minnesota's practice from the stands and take notes on what happened out on the field?
Is Minnesota concerned that fans who can't attend practice are going to find out that the quarterback competition between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy isn't as legitimate as O'Connell wants everyone to believe (especially since the gap between the two continues to widen)?
Whatever the real reasoning is, it all seems like signs of major paranoia heading into a season that has the potential to be the final one with O'Connell as the Vikings' head coach.
Coincidence? Absolutely not.
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