Harvin Collapses Due to Migraine, Taken to Hospital

From the “well this isn’t good news at all” department…this migraine situation for Percy just got even scarier. Here’s to hoping Percy is OK, although a headache that lands you in an ambulance is probably pretty serious. Stay tuned for more. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: minnesota vikings, Percy Harvin

The Favre and I: A Tale of Two Marriages

"Hey y'all, I'm back with the Vikings for another shot at the Super Bowl with my boys. But enough about me--did you guys hear that Eric from Vikings Throne is getting married this weekend?!"

So Brett Favre is back at just about the same time he was last year, which is what we I had been saying all along. (Except for that whole “he’s not coming back” scare of course.) Ye Olde Gunslinger and The Beloved Purple are still on for year two. Say what you will about #4 holding the team hostage, being a me-first prima donna, allegedly saying his coach has “no clue”…all of it is probably true to some degree. But the bottom line is that 95% of Vikings fans are happy that the marriage is lasting longer than one year.

Speaking of marriages I hope to last longer than one year, guess what I’m doing this weekend? Yep, yours truly is gettin’ hitched on Saturday right here in Minneapolis.  I’m just glad Favre did it a few days before my big day so he didn’t steal my thunder. I would have hated to have people sneaking out of my ceremony and reception to watch chopper coverage of Favre’s private jet and SUV traveling through the Twin Cities.

Since I’ll be on hiatus from the site until the end of August for my wedding and honeymoon, I figured I’d go out in style by breaking down how my pending nuptials are both similar and different to the alliance between Favre and the Vikes: Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Adrian Peterson, Brad Childress, Brett Favre, Jared Allen, Ryan Longwell, Sage Rosenfels, Sidney Rice, Steve Hutchinson, Tarvaris Jackson

He’s Baaaaaaaack!

August 17, 2009: Brett Favre joins the Vikings. A media circus ensues.

August 17, 2010: Brett Favre appears to be rejoining the Vikings. A media circus ensues.

FINE BRETT, AUGUST SEVENTEENTH IS NOW OFFICIALLY BRETT FAVRE DAY IN MINNESOTA. Just make sure you play as well as you did last year!

Yes, it looks like Brett’s back, according to the folks at ESPN. A Hattiesburg TV station is reporting that Favre is on his way to Minnesota after Steve Hutchinson, Ryan Longwell, and Jared Allen paid him a visit in Mississippi yesterday.

Nothing’s official yet, but all signs are now really pointing to what most of us thought all along: Brett Favre is going to be the starting quarterback for the Vikings in 2010.

I’m just glad he did it before my wedding on Saturday and honeymoon on Monday. I would have hated for this to happen while I was in Jamaica!

(Note: I didn’t actually care when he came back as long as it was before the New Orleans game on September 9. I just wanted to rub it in that I’m going to Jamaica and you aren’t. Neener neener neener!)

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Tags: Brett Favre, Jared Allen, Ryan Longwell, Steve Hutchinson

Where’s Harvin?

Nobody seems to know for sure when Percy Harvin is going to return to Vikings training camp.

He has missed 15 consecutive practices and hasn’t practiced in the month of August since leaving the team after the death of his grandmother. Harvin is apparently in Eden Prairie but isn’t back practicing. Vikings head coach Brad Childress:

I’m kind of flying in the dark a little bit. I’ve talked to people up there, but I’ll let you know when I know something.

There are now grumblings that Harvin is once again struggling with migraine headaches and that might be what’s holding him back from returning now.

Oh, just super.

Anyone who followed last season at all remembers the constant drama surrounding Harvin’s playing status due to migraines. (I’ll spare you the corny “it happened so often, it gave all of us migraines” joke. Oh crap, maybe not.) Childress himself can only wait patiently and hope Harvin doesn’t miss any game time so he can be the multi-faceted threat we drafted him to be. Unfortunately, all we fans can do is sit and wait as well.

My not-so-far-fetched conspiracy theory: Harvin’s fine and he’s just playing possum until training camp breaks. After all, he does have a pretty good example in Brett Favre, amiright?!

“I LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU, OK BRETT?!”

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Tags: Brad Childress, Brett Favre, minnesota vikings, Percy Harvin

Training Camp News & Notes 8/5/10

"This beats training camp every day of the week."

Everybody Favred out yet? Yes? Well too bad, because this story is going to drag out for another week or two at the very least. I’m sure most of you saw Ed Werder’s awkward interview with Brett that needed subtitles because Favre’s diesel truck rumbling drowned out the sound. At least we got a kinda-sorta answer out of it: if his ankle is healthy, he’s coming back. It sounds like he’s visiting the Dr. James Andrews some time next week to get his ailing ankle checked on and he’ll try to make a decision some time after that.

(Note to the completely clueless: this means “I’m going to buy more time before I have to make a decision. Training camp is still going on, and I obviously want no part of it whether or not I decide to play.”)

That’s all I’ll do for Favre-apalooza today. He’s getting all the attention he needs, and he’ll still be there for many days to come. On to the rest of the guys that are actually capable of making decisions in less than a month:

• Adrian Peterson wouldn’t mind talking about a new contract. He still has 2 years left on his deal and it doesn’t sound like he’ll let it become a distraction, but these are the times in the 2010 NFL. I think the looming labor dispute is making more players look to re-up before any potential work stoppage. (Lord help us if there’s any sort of that in 2011. What would we do with our Fall Sundays?!) If AP has another all-world year and cuts down the fumbles, I have little doubt that he’ll see a big ol’ payday in his future.
• The little nagging injuries that seemed like no big deal are slowly starting to become a concern. Brad Childress said that WR Sidney Rice’s hip injury is a “ways” off from him returning to practice. AP is nursing a sore leg and didn’t even don pads yesterday. Let’s hope these boo-boos don’t turn into full-fledged injuries, because those two are obviously gigantic pieces of our offense.
• The running back platoon behind Peterson is still an interesting plot line. As it stands, Albert Young is the #2 back with rookie Toby Gerhart as the third stringer. It sounds like Young’s experience is keeping him higher on the depth chart right now; it will be interesting to see who ends up getting more carries to spell AP. Don’t forget about converted WR Darius Reynaud either–the Vikings certainly have a wealth of talent in the backfield even after the departure of Chester Taylor.

That’s all for now…enjoy your Thursday everyone! Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Adrian Peterson, Albert Young, Brett Favre, Chester Taylor, Darius Reynaud, minnesota vikings, Sidney Rice, Toby Gerhart

It’s Not Just Favre’s Ankle Bothering Him

Head over to the Sports Pickle for a pretty humorous take on Favre’s various “injuries”.

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Tags: Brett Favre, minnesota vikings, Sports Pickle

FAVRE FAVRE FAVRE FAVRE FAVRE (and some training camp stuff)

Brad Childress can't wait to answer even more questions about #4.

So Favre Watch 2010 started with a bang yesterday. Thankfully, the internet didn’t quite explode so I can still post a followup today.

First came the news of Ye Olde Gunslinger calling it quits. But then Brad Childress said that was news to him. And now today…well this might come to a shock to exactly zero people, but it sounds like this story is going to drag out for quite a while.

The latest reports are that the Vikings are offering the Gunslingin’ Grandpa $16 million with an additional $4 million in incentives for this coming year. His current deal is set to pay him $13 million. He also went to the luckiest high school in Mississippi and tossed the ball around for a while. I’m not sure I’d call that a “workout”, but it seems pretty active for someone that just retired, no?

We all know the drill by now, don’t we? In a way, I sincerely doubt that money is much of an issue why we’re mired in the annual “will he or won’t he” saga yet again. But on the other hand, I believe that the amount isn’t important to Brett but the fact that Minnesota would be willing to shell out more just to keep him may stroke Favre’s ego just enough to come back.

Like I said yesterday, and I’ll continue to say until he steps on the field or someone else takes that first snap in New Orleans on September 9: who knows. Is Favre sort of an a-hole for holding the team hostage for the second straight summer? Absolutely. But he’s our a-hole now. I’m sure Favre is well aware that he’s our best option at quarterback in 2010 so he’s in absolutely no hurry to get back to the rigors of football until he wants/needs to. I don’t like it at all, but I’ll take all this nonsense as long as he comes back and plays close to the level he played at last year.

And hey–don’t look now, but there are other Vikings players, and they’re like…doing stuff! Tom Pelissero has a great recap of what everyone else in purple was up to yesterday. Here’s a brief rundown:

• Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, and Percy Harvin missed practice yesterday, but don’t be alarmed–it sounds like everyone should be just fine.
• The quarterback play hasn’t exactly been inspiring in Favre’s absence so far in Training Camp, but Sage Rosenfels had a solid day yesterday.
• Speaking of Minnesota QB’s not named Favre, Tarvaris Jackson is saying all the right things yet again. It’s sorta sad, but he’s used to this by now.
• The Tyrell Johnson vs. Jamarca Sanford bout for starting strong safety still appears to be at a dead heat, with both players splitting time in yesterday’s practice.

That’s it for now, but you and I both know there’s plenty more to come!

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Adrian Peterson, Brad Childress, Brett Favre, jamarca sanford, minnesota vikings, Percy Harvin, Sage Rosenfels, Sidney Rice, Tarvaris Jackson, tyrell johnson

Childress: “WE KNOW NUSSING!”

Vikings head coach Brad Childress just met with the media at Vikings training camp in Mankato. Thanks to Judd Zulgad’s live tweets, here’s what Chilly said:

Zulgad says that Childress HAS talked to Favre in the last 24 hours. He doesn’t know whether or not Favre’s ankle injury is the main stumbling block in his comeback. He isn’t pressing for a Favre decision. He also mentioned that “this is a fluid situation” many, many times.

So in other words, Chilly is doing his best impression of Schultz from Hogan’s Heroes. “I SEE NUSSING! I KNOW NUSSING!”

I wouldn’t dare claim to know what the hell is going on here, but I’ll speculate that one of two things is going on at this point:

1. Favre is just floating the idea out there to see how much the Vikings will grovel at his feet and beg him to come back. Remember, of all the records that Favre holds, the most unbreakable record will always be “Biggest Media Whore”. No matter what he’s actually going to do, you KNOW he loves all this attention.
2. Favre is crying wolf, but this time the wolf is actually there. He’s retiring for real, and the Vikings are simply saying “no comment” in hopes that he changes his mind.

Like I said, I won’t claim to know what’s going on, but this is going to be a story until Favre shows up at Vikings practice or someone else takes a snap on September 9 in New Orleans.

Stay tuned for more Favre-apalooza 2010 coverage.

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Tags: Brad Childress, Brett Favre, minnesota vikings

BREAKING NEWS: Brett Favre Calling it Quits?!

Tags: Brad Childress, Brett Favre, minnesota vikings

Training Camp News & Notes 8/3/10

Let’s take a look around the latest news from Vikings training camp:

• The good news for the Vikings is that they return all 22 starters from last year’s team that made it to the doorstep of the Super Bowl. The bad news of course is that it makes for a pretty boring training camp. But there is one first-team battle remaining at strong safety between incumbent starter Tyrell Johnson and second-year player Jamarca Sanford. It sounds close right now–all I hope is that this competition results in better play out of what was one of our weaker positions last year.
• Remember how I posted yesterday that Cedric Griffin was out for the season opener? Um, maybe not. Brad Childress went against defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier’s earlier statement, saying that he won’t rule out Griffin just yet. I’d still be surprised if Griffin played, but this has to mean that his rehab is at or ahead of schedule.
• Percy Harvin is still out of practice and in Florida due to a death in his family. Our thoughts go out to Percy’s family during this tough time. There is no timetable for his return at the moment.
• The Trib has a feature about one of the many things Darius Reynaud is learning on the fly this year after switching from wide receiver to running back: pass blocking.
• Sidney Rice is still missing practice due to a hip injury, but he claims it’s “nothing serious”. Good to hear, because we definitely need him on the field.

That’s all for now…check back soon for more updates!

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Tags: Brad Childress, Cedric Griffin, Darius Reynaud, jamarca sanford, Leslie Frazier, minnesota vikings, Percy Harvin, tyrell johnson