Character Matters

As with any rule in the NFL, including the one that tells us what is and isn’t a catch, there are plenty of exceptions to the rule that says “character matters” when a front office decides to add a player to their roster.

Vikings fans are plenty familiar with exceptions to this rule. In modern history you can point to guys like Cris Carter, Randy Moss, Jared Allen, and even current Viking Everson Griffen as examples of young men that were able to overcome their early personal struggles to make a significant impact at the NFL level.

Despite all of those exceptions, however, NFL teams expend many resources to try and figure out what exactly exists between the ears of hundreds prospective players. The idea is that a player that is successful off the field is more likely to be successful on it.

“Character” is not something that can be measured by any drills at the NFL Scouting Combine, with the Wonderlic coming closest and yielding mixed results. Leadership is far closer to a sense than it is any sort of statistic. Being a good teammate, a positive influence on other players, is as intangible as anything a scout has to try and determine.

Despite all of the difficulties in defining a player’s character, their drive to succeed, it is perhaps one of the most important attributes that make up an NFL prospect or player. Some might view that as a bold (or even inaccurate) statement, but there is no denying that it is as true today as it has ever been throughout the NFL’s history.

One misstep could potentially land a player a hefty suspension, a spot on the Commissioner’s exempt list, or permanently unemployable. Nothing makes it more difficult to produce on the field than not being able to be on it, and we are now in an age where it is more likely to return from an ACL injury than a string of horrible decisions.

Despite a storied history of embarrassing police blotter appearances, Minnesota has managed to find themselves on the right side of history regarding a somewhat recent and and long-lasting decision.

While many will not admit it, I would comfortably say at least 51% of Vikings fans wanted to see this team select Johnny Manziel over Teddy Bridgewater in the 2014 NFL Draft. You won’t find many willing to admit it these days, but I’ve got a fairly good memory for such things.

Putting Teddy Bridgewater ahead of Manziel is crazy…

Kids spent every off season in crazy camps, he eats and sleeps it. He’s super famous, and rich, so he’s going to get noticed. Lebron James was driving a hummer to high school and he has a fantastic work ethic.

This kid is going to light it up, and if we pass on him when we’re this high up in the draft, we’ll be sorry.

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit… Carr over Manziel?! Johnny Football is the man, Carr is a product of a system… I love Manziel for his playing style and more for his big game ability.

These are just a few comments from the 2014 archives of VT to illustrate the point.

Manziel is an interesting case in that all of the film study, all of the passing charts, all of the on-field analysis turned out to be a complete waste of time because he essentially sabotaged any opportunity to prove that any of it was real in any way due to his personal antics which most recently have him being indicted on assault charges.

Cleveland’s investment of a first round selection (22nd overall) was rewarded with 14 games played, 147 completions, 1,675 yards, eight touchdowns, seven interceptions, and seven fumbles, and plenty of overtime for a public relations department that had to have been already overworked thanks to Josh Gordon.

Now, two years later, they are once again scouring the free agent market and mulling their Draft options in search of a dependable starter.

Conversely, the Minnesota Vikings are preparing to baptize their new stadium in a wave of victories under the guidance of their ever-calm and studious franchise quarterback. Whether or not it works out for them remains to be seen, but it is nearly impossible to argue that the Vikings would be better off had they chosen Manziel.

There has been some speculation that some, possibly even Rick Spielman himself, preferred Manziel to Bridgewater. Regardless of possible disagreements that led to the selection, however, the Vikings traded back into the first round (32nd overall) to grab Bridgewater and are better for it.

The Vikings have thus far received 29 games played, 551 completions, 6,150 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, 21 interceptions, and 11 fumbles in return for their investment in Bridgewater. And the story doesn’t end there for this team and quarterback.

The current NFL Draft class seemingly features far fewer high-profile character concerns compared to those of the recent past. In fact, somewhat amazingly to anyone that has paid attention for the last decade, the NFL told their teams that zero prospects (none!) failed their drug tests at the NFL’s Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

The case of star Baylor defensive end Shawn Oakman sticks out as one of the most severe in this year’s harvest of NFL-level talent. Oakman, a first round talent, was recently arrested for sexual assault and allegations of 2013 domestic violence incident have surfaced and given the Baylor Athletics department a healthy share of criticism in the media.

Plenty should care greatly about how these incidents are handled at the collegiate level, but there is little question that Oakman will be considered toxic by each NFL team (well, maybe not the Cowboys, I suppose) and he’ll go undrafted. He’ll also likely be left in the unemployment line unless he can somehow clear his name. When this becomes fact, and I fully expect that it will, it will say a lot about how NFL teams view character concerns in the modern age of a 24-hour news cycle and the always-watching social media networks.

Rick Spielman has minimized Minnesota’s exposure to known character concerns in recent drafts, and there is a good chance that history will look very favorably at his last two classes. To what extent targeting “good character” guys played a role in these two successful drafts will always be an unknown, but it isn’t a horrible trend to take note of.

The Vikings have a very well-rounded roster and can afford to take some risks in this week’s Draft. In fact, some hack bloggers have called the Vikings a “Wild Card” capable of going in completely unforeseen directions throughout Draft Weekend.

That same hack blogger, however, hopes that Spielman takes true character concerns off his Big Board altogether and sticks to selecting football players willing to do everything it takes to bring home that elusive trophy in February.

Everything it takes… including staying out of trouble.