Posts tagged: jerome felton

Felton Wants You To Know He Is Sorry

June 7, 2012, by 1 comment

If you are here, then you are probably a Vikings fan.  Jerome Felton has apologized to fans for his DWI from last weekend.

Ergo, if you are reading this, then Jerome Felton has apologized to you.

Here is the full comment made by Felton on his McDonald’s DWI situation:

“Everybody on this team and in this organization has been good to me and the fans have been great.  I love it here. I can’t put myself in negative situations that don’t have a positive impact on the team and the community. That’s something that’s very important to me and I just want to sincerely apologize to the fans, No. 1, the organization and everybody around the Vikings.”

Pro football fans do not always get apologies from their players following screw ups, mainly because an apology is an admission of guilt.  Strangely, both Felton and Justin Blackmon of the Jaguars decided to proactively apologize to their teams and their fans for driving while intoxicated.

Felton is believed to have the inside track on the starting fullback position in Minnesota, but he may have a lot of work to do to gain back the trust of the coaching staff.

“We talked about some things when we got together for our first OTAs in our meetings about how we wanted to conduct ourselves,” Leslie Frazier said. “Then when a new guy comes to the club and he’s a veteran guy and something happened like it did over the weekend, it’s very disappointing. It’s something we’ll have to deal with and have to address, but you don’t want that to drown out all of the good things that some of our players are doing and what they’re doing in the community.”

After Midnight, Nothing Good Happens At A McDonald’s

June 4, 2012, by 13 comments

In the post below this one, we passed along the news that Minnesota fullback Jerome Felton was nabbed for a second degree DWI early Saturday morning.

What is otherwise a pathetic story took a somewhat (only somewhat) humorous turn on Monday when Judd Zulgad of 1500 ESPN reported that Felton was busted in none other than a McDonald’s drive-thru line.

According to the report, police were alerted to an intoxicated driver in a McDonald’s drive-thru and were able to respond before Felton received his order of seven big mac’s and a McFlurry (that part is speculation) and drive off.

Interestingly enough, this is not the first time in recent memory that a Vikings player ended up in the headlines due to a late night visit to a McDonald’s.  In January of last year, Adrian Peterson got a McDonald’s worker fired when she let him into the restaurant after hours to use the restroom.

Thus, I think it is safe to say, nothing good happens at a McDonald’s after midnight.

Or strip clubs.

Or Miami nightclubs.

Or boats on Lake Minnetonka.

Felton’s Arrest Provides Another Challenge For Frazier

June 2, 2012, by 6 comments

When Leslie Frazier was promoted to head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, fans of the organization thought they would at least be getting a leader capable of keeping a group of young men out of trouble.

With Chris Cook, Caleb King, Rhett Bomar, Tyrell Johnson, and Everson Griffen all having gotten into trouble under Frazier’s watch it is now fullback Jerome Felton that continues the trend.

Felton, a free agent signing this offseason, was arrested on a second degree DWI charge after refusing to submit to a chemical test.  Felton landed in Hennepin County Jail early on Saturday morning, but was released later in the day after making a $12,000 bond.

“We are aware of the situation and working to gather more information,” a Vikings statement read. “We’ll have no further comment at this time.”  Felton’s agent also declined to comment.

Felton has no prior known incidents with the law and will likely escape punishment from the NFL, but to Vikings fans this is just another case of a completely preventable embarrassment occuring when it shouldn’t have.

According to Tom Pelissero of 1500 ESPN, the Vikings offer a car service to their players to utilize in instances that they should not be driving.  Apparently, Felton had a reason (a good one or otherwise) for not utilizing the service and is now on the hook for embarrassing himself and the team.

Felton was penciled in by many, including myself, as the presumed starting fullback this upcoming season and it remains to be seen if this incident impacts his chances in any way.

All I know is that these guys have to get their act together.

There is not enough talent on this team, or any NFL team for that matter, to have starters sitting in jail cells on Sundays, or sitting at home on suspensions.

Oh, and as if my disgust isn’t making itself known enough:  Driving drunk is a selfish, dangerous, and idiotic thing to do… no matter who you are.

Early Offseason Report Card

March 28, 2012, by 13 comments

Free agency took off like a rocket. We were all anxious for what the Vikings would do. After all, they had a good chunk of cap room available. There were also rumors floating around from the combine that the team was going to be very active. And, let’s face it; there weren’t any shortage of holes to fill.

But nothing happened on that first day. The Vikings were quiet… Eerily quiet. Fans were not. Almost immediately, people were calling for Spielman’s head. How could he not acquire Vincent Jackson. How could he not get Pierre Garcon? How could we just sit on so much money when there so many voids to fill in this team to make it a contender again?

Finally, the Vikings started making some moves. Now, that’s not to say fans pulled back and gave Spielman some breathing room. The acquisitions were questionable… Questionable players signed to deals for amounts that were somewhat puzzling to most fans. We were signing people who were injured (and hadn’t played in a year), fullbacks, and… point guards.

While the offseason is far from over, two weeks in, we now have a fair amount of information to look at and develop more comprehensive opinions on how the team has done. What I wanted to do here is recap what the Vikings have done so far this offseason while giving my personal opinion of each move and an overall grade. If you’re ready (it’s long!), continue reading by clicking the button below.

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Extra Details Regarding Contracts

March 22, 2012, by 13 comments

Outside of tight end John Carlson, the Vikings have yet to commit to any free agent contracts that could potentially make them look uber-foolish, mainly because none of the contracts handed out are of major consequence.

Courtesy of Judd Zulgad, we have some more details regarding contracts for some player signings:

OT GEOFF SCHWARTZ:  A one year deal that has a maximum value of $1.5 million, and contained a signing bonus of $150,000.  Schwartz is expected to use 2012 to prove his health and competence with hopes of signing a longer, more lucrative deal in 2013.

FB JEROME FELTON:  A one year deal worth $700,000, which included a $50,000 bonus for workouts and making the 53-man roster.

RB/FB LEX HILLIARD:  A one year deal worth $615,000.

NT LETROY GUION:  A three year deal that came with a $1.5 million signing bonus.  His base salary this year will only be $950,000.  In 2013 that number jumps to $2.45 million, and jumps again to $3.95 million in 2014.  In other words, Guion will only realize the full value of his deal if he develops into a reliable contributor.

NT FRED EVANS:  A two year contract with an unknown signing bonus.  His base salary this year is $700,000 and jumps to $1.45 million in 2013.

Overall, each of these deals can be classified as “low risk” in terms of finances.  Whether or not any of these players can add value on gameday, however, remains to be seen.

Vikings Announce Felton Signing

March 20, 2012, by 12 comments

The battle for backup running back and starting fullback may not be the most exciting one when training camp rolls around, but the Vikings are making sure there will be plenty of competition.

A couple of days after signing Lex Hilliard to a one year contract, the Vikings have now announced the addition of fullback Jerome Felton. 

A 2008 fifth round selection by the Lions, Felton figures to compete for a roster spot at age 25.  He had spent three seasons with the Lions, playing in 42 games before being waived in 2011.  He was claimed by the Panthers and then later in the season joined the Colts.

Felton joins a running back squad that consists of the following:  Adrian Peterson, Toby Gerhart, Lex Hilliard, Matt Asiata, and Ryan D’Imperio.  It might be safe to assume that no bruising backs are targeted on Draft weekend, and that we should instead keep our eye on any quick, speedy scat backs in the later rounds.

Terms of Felton’s deal are not yet known.

The Vikings also officially announced the re-signing of Letroy Guion on Tuesday, a move that we knew was coming for a week.