First, there was No Crying In Baseball but that was followed in Purple Nation by No Room for Crybabies
Apparently, Dennis Green was wrong.
ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert lists the embarrassing details.
As embarrassing as it is to admit, you sorta expect the a dome team like the Vikings to find objections to playing at home outdoors in the cold.
Ryan Longwell objects to being cut out of the loop with regard to the decision to play at TCF Bank Stadium. One of the primary advantages Longwell considered when signing with the Vikings was the fact that he would be playing in a dome, away from the elements.
But it’s all about player safety with Longwell; he wants to know if you can “put a cleat” in TCF Bank Stadium’s field.
Punter Chris Kluwe thinks “playing at these kinds of temperatures with no heating coils underneath the ground seems to be asking for injury.”
But they’re just kickers, right? Kickers are expected to be soft.
But both linebacker Ben Leber and tight end Visanth(e) Shiancoe are among the Purple protesters
Fran Tarkenton and Joe Kapp and Dave Osborn and Bill Brown and Carl Eller and Alan Page and Gary Larsen and Jim Marshall and Paul Krause must be just gritting their teeth about now.
There’s at least one Viking who has got no complaints. That would be rookie quarterback Joe Webb, who will likely make his first NFL start on Monday. Maybe the Vikings players should take a cue from their new leader and “man it up.”
Worse, though, is the fact that the Chicago Bears are being crybabies, too. They play outdoors. I’ve watched a game at Soldier Field; it can get pretty damn cold there, so the Bears ought to be tough enough to take it.
Defensive backs Chris Harris and Charles Tillman as well as quarterback Jay Cutler are among the Windy City Whiners.
Tomorrow, as a public service, I’ll post a piece on how the Vikings can dress for snow football. I’ve got some experience with it. 😉
ROSTER MOVES
TJAX; Well, I won’t have Tarvaris Jackson to kick around anymore, at least for the end of the season if not for good. Most likely for good.
The Vikings put Jackson on injured reserve, ending his season and, as he is an unrestricted free agent next year and the team will be under new management, it’s highly unlikely he’ll put on number 7 for the Purple again.
While it became clear to me that Jackson was not a realistic solution to the Vikings long-term quarterback needs, and I, along with plenty of others, was increasingly frustrated with his lack of progress as a quarterback, any animosity I felt was largely toward at Brad Childress.
My standard line on the subject has always been that Childress traded up to the second round of the 2006 draft (at the cost of two third-rounders) to reach deep into the sixth round to pick Jackson. He was the first Division I-AA player taken that year. He was late-round material.
Childress set Tarvaris Jackson up for unrealistic expectations with that one move. And unfortunately for Jackson, he’s been “Chilly’s Guy” ever since.
Ever since we learned that Donovan McNabb was a talented quarterback despite having Childress as his coach. Ever since we learned that Childress wasn’t the offensive genius we’d been sold. Ever since we learned that Childress was no Great Communicator.
With all those things conspiring against Jackson, I’d be curious to know if he could succeed with a change of scenery and a new coach/teacher.
It looks like that’s a chance he’ll get. I hope he does catch on with someone and I hope he succeeds because the cards were stacked against him here in Viking Land.
But don’t cry too much for Tarvaris Jackson. With all the opprobrium he suffered, most of us would cash that particular genetic lottery ticket in exchange for the public scrutiny any day.
It’s not a bad gig…if you can get it.
Simeon Castille: The Vikings signed second-year defensive back Simeon Castille to the practice squad. Castille stand six feet tall and weighs 190 lbs.
In 2008, he played eight games for the Cincinnati Bengals and in 2009 he played in one game for the San Diego Chargers. [READ: His NFL.com Profile, his Scouting Combine Profile.]
PHILANTHROPIST
Madieu Williams has been named the Vikings’ 2010 Community Man of the Year. For as much as I complain about Williams on the field, he appears to be the model of a man off the field. Congratulations, Madieu.