Vikings Will See 7 Old Friends on Bears Roster
A sports family reunion is on the way this weekend when the Minnesota Vikings travel to Chicago for a Week 18 date with the Bears.
The Bears are 3-13 through 16 games, likely focused more on April’s draft positioning than climbing to a 4-13 record. The Vikings, on the other hand, maintain a puncher’s chance at the NFC’s No. 2 playoff seed, a spot the team bungled last week at Green Bay. Minnesota needs a win and a San Francisco 49ers loss to the Arizona Cardinals to earn back the two-seed. So, you know, unlikely, as the 49ers are two-touchdown favorites.
Vikings Will See 7 Old Friends on Bears Roster
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But the Vikings will have familiarity on their side as they pursue an end-of-season win at Soldier Field. Seven former Vikings live on the Bears active roster, an astronomical figure considering there are no real ties between the teams’ front offices.
Meanwhile, a couple of Vikings players will also get a shot at their former team. Cornerback Duke Shelley — arguably the biggest surprise of Minnesota’s 2022 season — faces his ex-squad, while nose tackle Khyiris Tongs will do the same. Shelley and Tonga played a combined 45 games for the Bears, probably because of ties to Vikings defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, who was employed by Chicago from 2014 to 2018.
On the Bears end of business, the list is longer than an anaconda. These former Vikings players will be on the field in some capacity, barring pregame deactivation:
- Khari Blasingame (FB)
- DeMarquis Gates (LB)
- Harrison Hand (CB)
- Jalyn Holmes (DE)
- Elijah Lee (LB)
- Riley Reiff (LT)
- Armon Watts (DT)
Armon Watts, who played in all 16 games for the Bears in 2022, was the most shocking-and-recent. Many Vikings obsessionists penciled the defender in for a starting job on the Vikings 2022 defensive line, but the new coaching staff, led by Kevin O’Connell, had other plans, promoting little-known Jonathan Bullard to start while trading for Ross Blacklock in the summer from the Houston Texans. Minnesota released Watts in mid-August, and it was quite the headscratcher.
Other names — Blasingame, Gates, and Lee — were nothingburgers per impact on the Vikings, but all three were a part of the organization before joining the Bears.
Reiff, an offensive tackle, had the longest-standing ties to Minnesota from the family reunion list, spending four years with the Vikings and starting 58 games. Reiff was a bonafide starter in Minnesota and only left after the 2020 season. He played for one season with the Cincinnati Bengals and landed in Chicago in 2022.
Harrison Hand, a cornerback, was a once-promising Viking in 2020 and 2021. Minnesota was ravaged by injuries and defensive ineptitude, and Hand received some playing time. He even made quite the splash in a Christmas game two years ago against the New Orleans Saints.
Finally, Jalyn Holmes wore purple and gold clothes for three years and saw action in 25 Vikings games. Like Hand, he received substantial on-the-job training when Danielle Hunter missed all of 2020.
If that’s not enough, the Bears also employ Trevor Siemian, who was backed up Kirk Cousins in 2018, and offensive lineman Dakota Dozier. But both men are on Injured Reserve.
Bears-Vikings kicks off at noon CST on Sunday, and Minnesota is favored by 7.5 points.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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