Everson Griffen Right at Home in Purple

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Oct 8, 2021
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The story of Everson Griffen never seems to be dull.

His football career to date has been an impressive one. Drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 4th round in 2010, Griffen stayed in Minnesota for ten years. He spent a year away, firstly in Dallas with the Cowboys and then in Detroit with the Lions. Then, he came home back to Minnesota. The story isn’t as straightforward as that. Before leaving Minnesota, Griffen missed five games due to mental health problems.

Thankfully, he was able to come back and resume his career. He came back and played more good football and finished the 2019 season by being named to the pro bowl for the fourth time in five years.

Sack Daddy

Affectionately knows as Sack Daddy due to his celebration dance, which comes out whenever he gets a sack on the opposing quarterback. The veteran defensive end is seventh on the Vikings all-time sack leaders list with 76.5 sacks. The six men ahead of him are a who’s who of Vikings greats: Eller, Marshall, Randle, Page, Doleman, and Allen. During his disappointing year away, he picked up 2.5 sacks in Dallas and 3.5 sacks in Detroit, which is more than anyone playing on the Vikings managed last year. This is a man that was born to terrorize quarterbacks.

Wanting to Come “Home”

During the offseason with Griffen a free agent, he could be seen on Twitter liking and retweeting fans pleas for him to come back to Minnesota. There were even comments asking the Vikings to “come and get me.” The swell of optimism for a return was building, and it seemed to have a chance of coming to fruition.

Then came the long since deleted “Kirk Cousins is ass” tweet. Out of the blue, there was Griffen telling people to ask Mike Zimmer if he ever wanted the incumbent Vikings quarterback. Unsurprisingly, talk of his possible return dampened, and there was a concern for his mental health. After making such an ill-advised tweet, things went quiet for a while and the return seems to be off.

Griffen Signs Again

After a while, the chatter started up again, and eventually on the 23rd of August. Everson Griffen signed for the Minnesota Vikings for a second time. At 33 years of age, he is bound to start slowing down. So far, though, he has been a spark on the opposite side of the line to Danielle Hunter — that no one else has managed to be. Playing in three out of the opening four games, Griffen has two sacks, six tackles with two tackles for loss, and four QB hits. Everson Griffen looks right at home in Minnesota purple.

He missed the second game of the season, due to a concussion after swerving to avoid a deer while driving to the training facility. Again, the story of Everson Griffen is never dull. He only played on 41% of snaps in Week 1 against the Bengals,  but his role increased following his return from concussion with 64% and 55% of snaps against the Seahawks and Browns. With starting right defensive end DJ Wonnum having a poor start to the season, is it time to move the veteran back into his old starring role? Probably. 

To Start or Not to Start?

There has been a clamor among Vikings fans for that to happen, which is understandable. It’s certainly something I’d like to see. Mike Zimmer and co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson moved to put a lid on that idea in the press this week as Patterson talked of remembering the age of the player and getting him through 17 games.

With the amount of rotation used on the defensive line, being named the starter isn’t that important. The days of him being every-down player may well, be over. Whatever way the coaching staff thinks is best to keep him fresh and effective for the whole season is fine by me. As long as the snap count stays comfortably above 50%, then I’ll probably be happy.

The more Everson Griffen we can get, the better for this Vikings defense.

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