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.

Venturing Into The Second Round

April 5, 2012, by 4 comments

Up until today, our Vikings Territory mock drafts have been limited to the first round.

Considering the Vikings are set to select near the top of each round, it only made sense to make things more interesting an include a second round.  You can view my mock draft by clicking here, using the tabs to move between the rounds.

As expected, the Vikings had a number of interesting options available to them with the 35th pick.  These options included DT Devon Still, WR Stephen Hill, CB Alfonzo Dennard, and MLB Dont’a Hightower.

I felt that Still was the best player available at this point but still went against my better judgment and pulled the trigger on wide receiver Alshon Jeffery instead.

Jeffery, once regarded as a top ten prospect, has endured criticism from talking heads for a weight and conditioning issue that seemed completely unfounded when he showed up to the Combine and his Pro Day in great shape.

The Vikings have a huge need at receiver, particularly one that can be the top downfield target for years to come, and I think Jeffery has the potential to fill that role.

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:

Vikings To Sign Veteran Cornerback

April 4, 2012, by 22 comments

Jason La Confora reports that former Ravens cornerback Chris Carr will sign a one year deal with the Vikings.

The 28 year old veteran has played in seven NFL seasons after being signed by the Raiders as an undrafted rookie in 2005.  Up until last season, Carr never missed a game in his time with the Raiders, Titans, and Ravens.

Last season, however, Carr fell out of favor when injuries limited his action and younger Ravens cornerbacks emerged.  He was cut earlier this season as a result of being out played by younger and less expensive talents.

He has 27 career starts, seven forced fumbles, 24 defended passes, six interceptions, and is a fairly dependable tackler.  He is a smaller corner at 5’ 10” and 182 pounds.

The return of Antoine Winfield and Chris Cook to the Vikings lineup, combined with the free agent additions of Carr and Zackary Bowman, suggests that the Vikings may not intend on targeting cornerback help early in the Draft later this month.

That doesn’t mean the secondary couldn’t stand to see some more improvement, however.

After all, Jamarca Sanford is currently this roster’s best safety… and I don’t mean that as a positive thing.

Preseason Matchups Announced

April 4, 2012, by 3 comments

While specific dates and times are not yet available, and while none of the games are expected to be televised nationally, it is still worth noting the NFL has announced who the Vikings will play in the upcoming preseason.

The schedule is as follows:

WEEK ONE:  At San Francisco 49ers

WEEK TWO:  Hosting Buffalo Bills

WEEK THREE:  Hosting San Diego Chargers

WEEK FOUR:  At Houston Texans

At this point, there are not any particular storylines that jump to mind as an extra incentive to watch these games.  Interest will mainly center on the progression of quarterback Christian Ponder, a few position battles, and monitoring the performances of the 2012 rookie class.

Reports Fly Regarding Vikings Interest In Parcells

April 4, 2012, by 6 comments

Thanks to a report from the New York Post, the Vikings and Saints are once again intertwined in one of the bigger headlines dominating the news.

The report claims that the Vikings currently want Bill Parcells to run their football team, a dot that was connected by Vikings fans months ago since it is well known that owner Zygi Wilf was a long-time Giants fan prior to owning his own team.

The news was a bit shocking but it didn’t take long for our local beat writers to step up and provide some clarity.

According to Tom Pelissero, yes, the Vikings expressed interest in Parcells to run their football team.  No, that did not happen recently.

Instead, the Vikings approached Parcells prior to hiring Rick Spielman as their General Manager and recommitting to Leslie Frazier as their Head Coach.  The Vikings say that the original report’s suggestion that the Wilf’s told Parcells to “name his price” is erroneous. 

“There is no truth to the media reports,” said public relations director Bob Hagan.

It is fairly evident that Parcells is simply trying to gain some leverage as the New Orleans Saints try to woo him out of retirement as a one-year replacement for the suspended Sean Payton.  After all, this is a terrible time of the year for any head coach or G.M. candidate to try and negotiate a contract.

The news, however, that the Vikings did indeed pursue Parcells prior to promoting Rick Spielman and keeping Leslie Frazier should only increase the pressure applied to their job performances.  The previous appearance that the Wilf family simply promoted from within without looking outside the organization is now dead, and they may be willing to look outside Winter Park once again should the Vikings continue to occupy the last place seat in the NFC North.

Vikings New Uniforms Revealed

April 3, 2012, by 3 comments

Today, the NFL and Nike revealed the new, redesigned uniforms for all 32 NFL teams. Some of the uniform changes were more drastic than others (see: Seahawks), but overall, the uniforms manage to maintain their previous look while becoming more ‘modern’ and ‘sleek’. While most of the upgrades come in the form of performance and ‘uniform technology upgrades’, some of the new ideas are pretty fun. Most noticeably, the new gloves which form the team logo when the hands are laid over each other.

The biggest change to the Vikings actual uniform, apart from it’s performance upgrades, is the redesigned collar. Personally, after seeing the original concepts done by Nike a while back, I was expecting (hoping for) something a little more ‘forward’, but to be honest, the Vikings uniforms were already one of the more progressive ones in the league. I know there are some jersey purists out there, guess I’m just not one of them.

Check out a few shots of the new uniforms below and visit Vikings.com to see the rest of them. To see every team’s redesigned gear, visit NFL.com.

Jerseys will be available for purchase April 26th, the first day of draft weekend. So who’s going to be rocking a brand spanking-new Kalil jersey next year!?

New Vikings Nike Uniforms