There are plenty of reasons why the Minnesota Vikings chose to part with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as the team's general manager last Friday, but the narratives being pushed around since his departure feel more personal than professional.
Following Adofo-Mensah's dismissal, The Athletic's Diana Russini and Alec Lewis shared that in 2023, the former Vikings general manager reportedly worked remotely during two weeks of training camp to take paternity leave following the birth of his first child.
The report mentioned that Minnesota was "publicly supportive" of Adofo-Mensah taking the time to be with his newborn child, but some have questioned the timing of this info being shared.
During a recent episode of his "Nightcap" podcast, legendary former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe wondered why this info about Adofo-Mensah taking paternity leave wasn't brought up until after he was fired.
"Now this happened in [2023]. Why didn't you mention this in [2024]? Why didn't you mention it last year? Why are you trying to salt the man up and make him look bad now that you done fired him?
If I'm not mistaken, it was his first child. If I'm not mistaken, his wife was having a very difficult pregnancy. Hell, they lucky he didn't take the whole damn year.
And it's not like he's playing. He don't have no impact on the game. He ain't calling plays. He's not throwing the football. He's not catching the football. He's not blocking. He's not tackling.
And I'm not trying to diminish executive front office people, but their role is not as important. Once training camps start, they can pick up the phone and call.
He's accessible. He's just not wherever the training camp is. He's not there physically. He's tending to his wife."
Shannon Sharpe questions why old details of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's tenure with Minnesota Vikings are popping up now?
Sharpe brings up a good point when going over some of the details that have been released recently about Adofo-Mensah taking paternity leave in 2023.
Why now?
If it wasn't enough of a problem for someone to leak to the public in 2023, or 2024, or 2025, then why is it being included in a story published a day after the Vikings fired him?
Well, it's possible that Russini or Lewis had this information shared with them back in 2023, and for whatever reason, felt that it was worth sharing in an immediate report about his departure.
This scenario seems even more likely after Russini had to clarify on her X account on Sunday that Minnesota "supported [Adofo-Mensah] through the entire process and did not hold it against him in any way."
This screamed that someone from the Vikings likely contacted her or Lewis after the news of Adofo-Mensah's paternity leave became public and didn't like the way that it portrayed the organization.
Whether this was the reason why it was shared or something else, an event from 2023 that didn't even prevent Adofo-Mensah from landing a contract extension from Minnesota felt like it was included in the report only in an effort to paint the former Vikings general manager in a negative light.