Time for Players to Get back to Work amid Summer Break Woes for Vikings

The summer break in the NFL, between the end of June minicamp and the opening of July training camp, is always a good news-bad news period for team execs and coaches.
Time for Players to Get back to Work amid Summer Break Woes for Vikings
I always relished having a couple of weeks of vacation before the seven-day-a-week grind of training camp and on into the busy, pressure-filled regular season. But even amidst vacation time with my family, there was the fear of getting a call in the middle of the night about a player having an accident or getting jammed up.

Such has been the case for Vikings’ execs and coaches in the past couple of weeks. First, on July 6, the horrible news broke that fourth-round rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson was killed in a car accident in his home state of Maryland when he was out with two of his high school friends who were former teammates. Jackson was a passenger in their car that was hit from behind by a passing car changing lanes at high speed, and investigators reportedly believe alcohol played a role in the crash. It took place in the middle of the night.
Coach Kevin O’Connell said he was “absolutely crushed,” and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said he was “heartbroken by the loss of Khyree.”
I never dealt with a situation of this nature with a player then on our roster, but I received several calls over my years as GM and team president about players getting arrested for DUIs.

In my team exec years, we constantly talked with our players about making good decisions, being careful with whom and where they hang out when they go back home or are in the city with the team, and trying to make them understand that it’s a bad idea to be out late at night. In my work with my agent firm, IFA, we talk with our player clients about these same things.
I know the Vikings said the same thing to Jackson and the other team members when minicamp ended. Unfortunately, with some players, it doesn’t register. Maybe now it will.
Except there was second-year wide receiver Jordan Addison getting jammed up last Friday night in Los Angeles. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI when police found him asleep just before midnight, behind the wheel and blocking a lane on an L.A. freeway. That could easily have resulted in a terrible rear-end collision with serious injuries to Addison. He also was cited in July 2023 for driving 140 miles per hour on a Minnesota freeway.
Again two incidents—with Jackson and Addison—late at night during the summer break for NFL players.
I was recently reminded that it had been 15 years since I got an awful call on July 4, 2009, as I was at a dog park that the quarterback of our Titans Super Bowl team in 1999—Steve McNair—had been murdered, allegedly by his girlfriend. It seems like yesterday that I attended his funeral in Nashville with so many players and coaches from our Titans years. I was retired from the NFL at that time, and Steve had been retired for one year when he died at 36 years old, leaving behind his wife and young children.

I’ve always said 98% of NFL players are doing the right things on and off the field. They do great things in the community, visiting schools and hospitals, holding football camps for underprivileged kids, and holding charitable events for their foundations. A handful of players make bad decisions and get caught up in bad situations.
I hope the NFL and its teams continue to emphasize the dangers players can face when they make poor choices. Especially young players just a year or two out of college who have more free time than in the past and believe they’re invincible.
With what’s happened in the past two weeks with Jackson and Addison, training camp can’t come soon enough for the Vikings team execs and coaches. They’ve all had their vacation time, and next week, it will be time for the players to get back to work as they prepare for the season ahead. But they’ll do it with a heavy heart when they think of Khyree Jackson and his grieving family.

Next Week: My Vikings training camp preview that will focus on the key position battles for starting spots and backup roles. It, of course, starts at quarterback, where vet Sam Darnold will try to hold off first-rounder J.J. McCarthy. I’ll also discuss the top position battles around the NFL.
Jeff Diamond is a former Vikings GM, former Tennessee Titans President and was selected NFL Executive of the Year after the Vikings’ 15-1 season in 1998. He now works for the NFL agent group IFA based in Minneapolis and does other sports consulting and media work along with college/corporate speaking. Follow him and direct message him on Twitter– @jeffdiamondnfl
You must be logged in to post a comment.