Charity

Greenway’s Absence Understandably Due To Father’s Illness

June 13, 2012, by 4 comments

The Minnesota Vikings have had good, spirited attendance at OTA’s so far this year by all accounts.  A few veterans have stayed away, including Percy Harvin after his shoulder presumably started to act up after attending the very beginning of OTA’s.  Jared Allen has also been away, which is not really a surprise given that is pretty much the norm for number 69.

One player that has been somewhat of a mystery has been Chad Greenway whose absence has been attributed to the vague reason of “family situation” up until this point.

According to reports, however, Greenway is indeed dealing with an unenviable and difficult situation.  His father, whom we can all remember for his words after Greenway was drafted, has been battling leukemia and is currently getting hospice care.

“I talked with him a few days ago and I don’t know if we’ll have him back for mandatory minicamp,” Leslie Frazier said. “His family situation is something he’s dealing with so we may or may not have him back for that but it’s understandable, what he’s experiencing.”

According to the reports, a number of South Dakota farmers have banded together to help Alan Greenway out by bailing his hay this season.

We here at VT would like to pass along our best wishes to Alan, Chad, and the whole Greenway family. This is surely the most trying of times for the Greenway family, and I know many of you would be eager to help out, but I have been unable to find any sort of fund being organized for Mr. Greenway.  If I find one I will be sure to pass that along.

In the meantime, Pennies for Patients has always been a standup organization to support in the battle against leukemia.

[UPDATE: It should be noted that the sixth annual Greenway's Gridiron Gallup will be held this Sunday, Father's Day, in Minneapolis.  The 5k run helps to raise funds for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board youth athletic programming.  For more details, you can click here.]

Ponder and Greenway Take On Unusual (But Worthwhile) Cause

April 29, 2012, by 1 comment

Financial Literacy.

Now, there is a term that one doesn’t hear about too often, especially in relation to professional football players.  Players that sign big contracts will often take part in some sort of charity work or civic service that warms the heart or helps somebody with an incredible need.

VISA and the NFL have teamed up, however, to unroll a program teaching kids about their personal finances and Ponder enlisted to unroll the program in Minnesota while Greenway has done the same in Iowa.  The intent is to warn students of the dangers that exist with debt and also how to properly invest and safeguard their money.

As someone who listens religiously to the wise words of Dave Ramsey, I am glad to see that financial literacy is being brought to the forefront of America’s mind, and am proud to see our Vikings players getting involved.

“Kids need to know how to make smart money management decisions early in life,” said Ponder. “It takes the combined efforts of parents, teachers and mentors within the community to give teenagers a strong background in personal finance.”

The financial education center around an NFL video game called Financial Football.  In the game, students have to answer questions in order to gain yardage and score touchdowns.  When the players go to the classrooms, they split into two teams and face off with each other using Financial Football as the tool.

Greenway gave students a warning not to repeat his mistakes when they go to college.  Greenway told a story of piling up credit card debt and, were it not for his football career, it could have just snowballed from there.

“I eventually paid it off and I pay it off every month now,” Greenway told the students. “It’s important to learn how to manage money, and in the future, hopefully, to watch your budget grow.”

Kudos to Ponder and Greenway for representing the team very well and taking time to make a difference for these kids in the mid-west.

If you have interest in giving the Financial Football video game a try (I did, its… okay) you can do so by clicking here.  At the very least, your kids might be interested in giving it a shot.

Cook Visits With Virginia Students

April 7, 2012, by 3 comments

Chris Cook appears to be trying to turn his image around following a season that saw his name in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Cook recently visited Heritage Elementary School in Lynchburg, Virginia where he spoke to the students about the relationship between educations and their futures ran drills and shuttles, and played basketball and volleyball.

“I just wanted the students to know that school is the most important thing, especially today as far as them achieving their dreams and being what they want to be,” he said.

Cook missed his entire 2008 season at Virginia after being declared academically ineligible.

Peterson Makes Blockbuster Donation

April 5, 2012, by No comments yet

Adrian Peterson may have looked like a man disconnected from the real world when he compared NFL player to slaves in a Yahoo! Interview during the NFL Lockout, but it is hard to deny that he also comes off as one of the most genuinely nice and generous dudes in the league.

No former Oklahoma Sooner has ever donated as much back to their college as Peterson pledged on Thursday.

He is donating a whopping $1 million to the University of Oklahoma’s Athletics Department.

“This was something that I had been thinking about doing for a long time,” Peterson said in a statement. “I always hoped to be in a position to be able to donate back to the University of Oklahoma and make it an even better place; do whatever I could to help the university that did so much for me. It was something that I always wanted to do and there just came a time when I got established and comfortable enough to make it happen. It was a no-brainer to do it and I am thankful that I’m in a position to give back to OU and to show my appreciation.”

The donation will help pay for construction of a housing hall, will fund a scholarship foundation in Peterson’s name, and will see the football team’s meeting room named after him.

Many of us are still making involuntary payments to our college’s via student loans, so it refreshing to see someone like Peterson being so generous with his good fortune in an effort to help out his school and their future students.

Well done, Adrian.  Well done.

Links Of The Week: April Begins

April 5, 2012, by 1 comment

Draft month is finally here, and while we have to wait until the end of the month for the actual Draft to get here there is plenty of reading to do between now and then.

Here are some hand-picked selections:

  • Rob Gronkowski beat out Jared Allen in the latest round of fan voting that will put one player on the cover of the new Madden video game.
  • Brett is one of a few guys representing the Vikings in this live mock Draft that has the Vikings getting Matt Kalil and also trading back into the first round to nab another prospect.
  • An examination of the Vikings reported interest in Bill Parcells.
  • Looking for a way to do some good today?  Consider this.
  • Interesting grading system for the Vikings past few Draft classes.
  • A new rule in the NFL was influenced by our favorite team.
  • The Viking fan base would love to finally see a big signing, but are there any options left?
  • One NFC North team has had a very bad week, which includes an arrest of a player that some (me) wanted the Vikings to draft last year.
  • The signing of Chris Carr represents value and low risk, but could also have Draft implications.
  • A humorous look at the Vikings offseason so far.  Funny, sad, possibly true.
  • Superstitious?  Then here are some reasons to be glad about Jared Allen’s exit from the Madden race.
  • One obstacle was hurdled a while back that could help the Vikings stadium effort.
  • A comprehensive list of prospects known to have visited with the Vikings as the Draft approaches.
  • A “Vikings Mock Draft” that makes selections for every scheduled pick.
  • Chris Carr brings more competition to this Vikings secondary, which is becoming a trend.
  • Some ownership insight into the relationship between Rick Spielman and Leslie Frazier.
  • Mel Kiper is a well regarded media draftnik, so here is a look at who he sees the Vikings targeting in the upcoming Draft.
  • There continues to be plenty of action centering around the Vikings stadium battle, but little progress seems to have been made.
  • The still-existing possibility of the Vikings trading out of the three spot is keeping speculation interesting.
  • Ryan Tannehill’s pro day was a success, which could give the Vikings some serious trade leverage on Draft Day.
  • There is the potential for the Vikings to have not one but two sets of brothers on their team, but can they afford it?
  • The Vikings hosted their “Top 30” prospects this week and a number of blue chip players were invited.
  • Percy Harvin is scheduled to have minor surgery on Tuesday.
  • Like me, Ben Leber is perplexed about why the linebackers are having to wait during this free agency period.
  • Want your Vikings Territory friends to see your own mock draft?  Here is a great place to put it.
  • And now, here it is, your moment of Zen:

You Asked And I Try To Answer

March 17, 2012, by 5 comments

Friday evening I solicited questions from the audience and I will try to hit as many as I can in this segment.

A few of them were too silly to answer in this post, but I’ll try and match the silliness and reply to them in the comments section.

Here we go.

NORSEMAN66:  Is there going to be a live chat during the draft (each day)?

ADAM:  Yes!  Brett and I plan to host live chats here at VT for every selection of the 2012 NFL Draft and we are way excited!  Barring any last minute major changes, you can consider this a done deal.  One thing I might be interested in, though, is recruiting one or two of you to be a moderator during the chats to help out with the work load.  If you have interest, click the “Contact Us” tab at the very top of the page and let me know your availability that week.

BJOHNNY:  What are your thoughts on Speilman? Is he in over his head, clueless or a crafty genius?

ADAM:  Where is the “other” option, Johnny?  I think Spielman’s approach to free agency makes this year’s Draft even more important to him.  Building through the draft is regarded by almost everyone as the best way to put together a winning football team, but you still have to draft well to see those results.  Let’s wait and see how the Draft and the next few waves of free agency go (and maybe even a football game or two) before judging the approach too harshly.

Continue Reading →

Links Of The Week: Bounty Hunter Edition

March 2, 2012, by No comments yet

Normally I try to do this feature on Wednesdays.  On Wednesday there wasn’t enough news floating around to make it worth.

Something changed.

I can’t remember what exactly that was.

But if you give me $10,000 I might suddenly be able to recall.