Former Vikings Guard Joe Berger Talks Sparano, Decision to Retire on KFAN

Image courtesy of Vikings.com

Former Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Joe Berger appeared on KFAN radio Wednesday. Speaking with radio host Dan Barreiro, Berger talked about his late coach Tony Sparano as well as his decision to retire earlier this offseason. The following are highlights from the interview.

  • DB = Dan Barreiro
  • JB = Joe Berger

DB: You’ve made your opinion and love for Tony Sparano quite clear given how far back you go. This was your third team with him. The relationship between coaches and players sometimes can be professional, but not necessarily emotional. It seemed to me in this case that with a lot of players… that it was more than just professional. What was it about him, from your perspective…. the made so many players, and even coaches, seem to feel that way?

JB: Early on when I got to Dallas I learned that [he was] a hard, outer-shell guy. He’s got those dark glasses… you know kind of intimidating as a young player. But it didn’t take me long, even as a second year guy, to realize that he cares about you as a person and you as a player and if you’re willing to work hard for a guy like Tony Sparano, he was going to go to bat for you and do whatever he could to keep you on the roster.

DB: How shocking was the news for you?

JB: Yeah it was… super shocking. When you get news like that you don’t really know what to think. You go back to all the conversations you had. To me… this weekend I was going to go thank him in person for his part in my career. I hadn’t had a chance to do that yet – just over the phone.

DB: In your time with him, his greatest strength… was it X’s and O’s guy, a technical guy, was it a guy who was good at getting the best of his players on the mental side and even the emotional side? What, from your perspective, were his strengths as an offensive line coach?

JB: I think maybe his best strength would be game planning. I felt like he could get us in the right spot in the run game. And in pass pro, be able to keep the quarterback up. Times that there were mistakes it was usually user error, not the game plan.

Tony was a football coach and he was good at it.

We didn’t always see eye-to-eye on everything like any relationship, but he knew what he was doing and he got us in the right spot.

DB: You played for him in Dallas and Miami and of course here in Minnesota as well. Is the quote right? Is that true that he once teased you “you’re like a bad penny I just can’t get rid of you?”

JB: Yeah and I think he followed that up with “or maybe I’m the penny.” So… I was with Tony throughout every part of my career. The young player trying to find his spot in the league, he gave me my first starts in Miami, and then he came here for the last couple years of my career where I was a little more established and he gave me a couple of seasons to start. I know he went to bat for me at all three stages.

DB: The decision to ultimately [retire]… by all accounts, I think people that I’ve talked to felt that you had a good season last year… was it difficult at all? Was it an agonizing period of time? OR was it pretty clear-cut in your mind that this was the right time?

JB: No, it was an agonizing process. I mean, to give up something you love doing, to give up a job as great as what playing in the NFL is, and with a team that we had in Minnesota that’s set up — it was a tough decision for me. But at the end of the day, at 36 years old, with a family and 13 great years in football it was just the time. I didn’t feel like I could give to the team what they need from me anymore. I needed to take the time and step away from the game healthy on my own terms. And looking back, I’ve been at peace since the decision was made and haven’t second-guessed it. It was tough though, especially when you go through the offseason and you really don’t have to make the decision. I was [originally] a free agent and nothing had to be decided. Then it gets down to that week and it’s like ‘ok, you need to either sign with them or they gotta move on, so make a decision.’ And it was a tough four days to make the phone call and say ‘listed I’m done.’ It was hard.

DB: Did you have to call or did your agent call or how does that procedure go?

JB: I called Tony [Sparano] first out of respect for him. Just as the position coach to let him know that this is it for me. I felt like he needed to know from me. And then I let my agent deal with the front office people. It’s kinda that line between personal relationship and coach relationship. So I made that phone call and the agent took care of the rest.

DB: What was Tony’s reaction?

JB: He wanted me back, but he also respected the decision. Family was important to him and he understood that part of my life as well. I think he respected the decision, I don’t think he liked it. But we had lots of great conversation about it.

DB: Did you feel like [the Vikings] wanted you back? Did you have the feeling that you could have come to terms if you were mentally still in a place to say ‘yeah, I’ll strap it on again.’

JB: Yeah, I think we could have come to terms. They had an offer that was fair. It was a fair offer. But I wasn’t going to sign an offer if I didn’t feel I could give to them everything that they needed. It’s a huge commitment. What these guys are about to put themselves through in the next six months, I don’t think people know — there’s no way you know unless you do it — the mental and physical commitments that it takes. And at some point you know when you’re wore out. I could give them one last year, but it wouldn’t have been what they deserved.

DB: Are you worried that with Pat Elflein starting training camp on the PUP list and you soon visiting this world-class facility and the ‘this could be the year’ hype that it could play to your emotions a little bit?

JB: No, I’m not too worried about it. I’ve spent the last four months doing construction work building a garage and sitting in an RV, so the thought of getting back out there and playing with Linval [Joseph]… Linval would snap me in half the first practice. So, I’ll pass on that and I’ll enjoy seeing it from this side of the field.

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