New Vikings QB has bizarre history with Dalton Risner

On Thursday, the Minnesota Vikings waived quarterback Jaren Hall and replaced him on the 53-man roster with veteran passer Brett Rypien. The move was somewhat surprising to fans, but rounds out the position for the upcoming season.

Vikings fans might not know a lot about Rypien other than him being the nephew of Super Bowl XXVI MVP quarterback Mark Rypien. However, some people might remember him from an incident on the sideline during the 2022 NFL season.

New Vikings QB has bizarre history with Dalton Risner

During the Christmas Day game between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams, new Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Rypien was involved in a hot argument on the sideline with current Vikings offensive lineman Dalton Risner.

CBS Sports captured the aftermath of the confrontation where the two parties were separated and USA Today shared an account of the incident on their website, The reason for the incident was revealed during a conversation between Risner and KUSA's Mike Klis following the game.

"He let our offensive line know that we need to pick up Russell Wilson when he goes down. And it’s the middle of the game, it’s heated. I didn’t really hear what he said. I thought he was talking about us giving up sacks."

- Dalton Risner vis KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis

The entire incident was a miscommunication that escalated because the Broncos were in the middle of a 14-51 manhandling by the Rams. During that game, Brett Rypien entered the game as Russell Wilson's backup in the fourth quarter to throw eight passes while Dalton Risner played every offensive snap for the Broncos.

The incident seems like an isolated one and there doesn't seem to be any hard feelings between the new Vikings teammates.

"It was just miscommunication. Dalton and I are really good friends. He thought I said something else."

- Brett Rypien

Currently, Dalton Risner is on the Reserve/Designated to Return list for the Vikings while Brett Rypien joins Minnesota's 53-man roster to act as the team's QB3 behind starter Sam Darnold and backup Nick Mullens.

This public incident shows how easily things can blow up on an NFL sideline when frustrations are high. For the Minnesota Vikings, they are fortunate that there doesn't seem to be any lingering bad blood between their newly signed quarterback and the veteran offensive lineman as they prepare for the upcoming 2024 NFL season.

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