Kirk Cousins and the ‘Leader’ Treatment
Kirk Cousins’ future was unknown when the Vikings’ ownership decided to hire a new General Manager and Head Coach. A new regime often leads to a new quarterback, as there are no ties between them. Often the new top executive wants to handpick “his guy.”
The second big move of his first NFL off-season, the first was hiring Head Coach Kevin O’Connell, General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah extended the contract of quarterback Kirk Cousins. He is now under contract for two more seasons. As a result of his no-trade clause, Cousins has full control over his future.
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Looking back at his four seasons as the Vikings’ franchise quarterback, his individual performance did not disappoint, as he has thrown for over 16,000 yards, 124 touchdowns, and just 36 interceptions.
Most people agree about the good play on the field, but many of them have questions about his intangibles. It leads to statements like “Kirk Cousins can´t perform in clutch situations” or “Kirk Cousins is not a leader.”
The narrative behind Kirk Cousins’ leadership skills is an interesting one. Fans swear that the Vikings’ signal-caller does not possess the required skills, and it leads to a lot of heated arguments between fans on social media.
Yet, there’s not a single piece of evidence that suggests a lack of leadership qualities. No teammate, former teammate, or coach has ever mentioned anything in this regard.
It is actually the opposite, like when former teammate Vernon Davis came out and talked about Cousins’ leadership skills.
Team Meeting
Now some new evidence of Kirk Cousins being the team leader surfaced. Ben Leber spoke about the subject in his podcast – “Unrestricted.” He reports that he has inside information on the latest evidence that shows “Captain Kirk” as a true leader.
Following the disappointing 2021 season that led to the departure of GM Rick Spielman and Head Coach Mike Zimmer, Kirk Cousins called a team meeting, where he discussed the recent events. Cousins reportedly left his teammates impressed with the notes he took over the course of the season.
“Let me just say this to everybody that says, he’s not a leader. I will agree with you, for the most part. I do think that he lacks some of the intangibles that most people are looking for in that position. But there was a situation this off-season, that I’m privy to the information that has galvanized that locker room towards Kirk in ways, the public does not know. There was a meeting, all of the biggest names at this meeting, and Kirk blew everybody away. How he handled it, the things that were said. It wasn’t just players, other people within that organization were there. Apparently a couple of the guys walked out of that meeting and said “Kirk’s our dog. Kirk’s our freaking dog.” Apparently, Kirk came in very prepared and he was taking notes all season long and laid it all out. I guess the guys were like “Damn. That is a guy, we can ride with, that’s going to have our backs at all times…Kirk’s been listening. And Kirk’s been writing stuff down. And Kirk has the team’s back. I was really excited when they really announced the extension. I want to see this guy does with a Head Coach that really respects him.”
Ben Leber in his pocast “Unrestricted”
Great leadership from the quarterback can be a big part of a team´s success, and hopefully, the meeting was not just the end of the 2021 season but the beginning of a big 2022 season.
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