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Minny controversy Vikings at center of post-draft talks -- againPosted: Monday April 28, 2003 3:48 PM
In my years covering the Vikings, I figured out a tried and true formula for discerning which way Minnesota was going to go on draft day. Whatever scenario created the biggest possible headline or plunged the team into controversy, that's what the Vikings were destined to do. From selecting a tumbling Randy Moss in 1998, to using their infamous "bonus" pick on Dimitrius Underwood in 1999 -- not to mention passing on Warren Sapp in favor of Derrick Alexander in 1995 -- the Vikings have been an organization that knows how to make news. But they've set the bar pretty high the past two years with their draft-day snafus. Yes, they got the player they wanted this time in Kevin Williams -- unlike last year when they were shooting for Ryan Sims and came away with Bryant McKinnie -- but the role of playing league-wide punch line on draft weekend has to be getting old in Minnesota. This much is now clear: Despite all the steps they put in place this year to ensure that things went smoothly in their war room, the Vikings have a "decision by consensus" system that just doesn't work in the heat of the moment. Whether it's scouting director Scott Studwell, V.P. of football operations Rob Brzezinski or head coach Mike Tice, somebody has to be in charge and hold clear-cut No. 1 decision-making authority. A somewhat chagrined Tice told me late Saturday night that the Vikings this year had strict procedures established in regards to making their first-round decision in a timely fashion. At five minutes they would have a card ready for each of their possible selections. At two minutes, they would cut off all trade talks, and so on, and so on. Then they promptly blew through all those deadlines, and took the clock down to 32 seconds before they struck a deal with the Ravens. "You wouldn't believe how much work we did this year to make sure something like last year wouldn't happen again," said Tice, not without a sense of irony. "We just cut it too close. We didn't leave enough time for a deal to get done. It shouldn't have gotten to that point." Tice called Ravens head coach Brian Billick late Saturday night to ensure his friend and onetime fellow Vikings assistant wasn't under the impression that he was blaming Baltimore for the aborted trade. Brzezinski is said to have to called Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome to apologize for the time crunch that his organization put Baltimore in. After last year's first-round foible involving the Vikings, Kansas City and Dallas, the Vikings' longtime and respected vice president of player personnel, Frank Gilliam, was unceremoniously demoted to senior consultant status by owner Red McCombs. Gilliam was in charge of that draft, so he took the fall. Team insiders are wondering if they'll be a similar beheading in the wake of this year's draft fiasco.
And lost amid all the draft build-up was the best news that McCombs has heard in a quite a while: The dismissal Friday of the wrongful death suit that Kelci Stringer, the widow of Vikings offensive tackle Korey Stringer, had brought against the team and several of its coaches, trainers and doctors. The suit is being allowed to forward against the team's training camp physician, and his clinic in Mankato, Minn. But the Hennepin County District court's decision was a clear victory for the team and McCombs, who was gambling that his refusal to settle the case early was the correct move.
That said, the most entertaining three minutes in NFL Draft history came Saturday, from the moment the befuddled Vikings passed on their No. 7 pick until Baltimore slapped down the card for Arizona State defensive end Terrell Suggs at No. 10. Oh, if only the entire 15-hour production could keep us that interested.
The University of Miami saw receiver Andre Johnson (No. 3), defensive end Jerome McDougle (No. 15), running back Willis McGahee (No. 23) and defensive tackle William Joseph (No. 25) picked in that span. The University of Florida had quarterback Rex Grossman (No. 22) and receiver Taylor Jacobs (No. 44) come off the board. Bethune-Cookman defensive back Rashean Mathis went 39th overall, and South Florida linebacker Kawika Mitchell was taken in the 47th slot. All of those players were gone before Seminoles receiver Anquan Boldin became the 54th player chosen, by Arizona. And to think that FSU used to stay step for step with its fellow in-state powerhouses Miami and Florida come draft time.
There are some Saints front office officials -- and they know who they are -- whom I will foreswear playing poker with after this one. The real target, of course, was Georgia defensive tackle Johnathan Sullivan, whom New Orleans took in the No. 6 slot obtained from Arizona. In the days just before the draft, one Saints official insisted to me that the No. 7 Vikings were smokescreening about their interest in Penn State defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy, and that Minnesota actually wanted Sullivan. With the advantage of hindsight, apparently it was the Saints who had zeroed in on Sullivan, and thus were worried about the Vikings taking him at No. 7.
"If Suggs gets past Arizona at No. 6, where he has been rumored to the front-runner for weeks, it's possible he could get passed up by Minnesota, Jacksonville, and Carolina. Baltimore at No. 10 would likely ensure the talented pass rusher didn't fall out of the top 10."
The Bucs this year again had no first-round pick because of the Jon Gruden trade with Oakland. Because they won that Super Bowl thing in January, Tampa Bay's first selection in this draft came with the 64th pick, the end of the second round. Last year, the Bucs had no first or second-round selection, thanks to Gruden. Their first pick in 2002 was 86th overall, in the third round. In 2001, the Bucs traded a second-rounder to Buffalo to get into the first round and select Walker. Tampa Bay had given up its first-rounder as part of the Keyshawn Johnson trade with the Jets in 2000. Thus, the Bucs in 2001 didn't pick again until 84th, after taking Walker. In 2000, the Bucs gave up their first-round slot to the Jets for Johnson, and didn't pick until No. 51, when they tabbed Tennessee guard Cosey Coleman. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but some day, and maybe soon, that kind of inactivity at the top of the draft could prove costly to Tampa Bay's efforts to stay among the league's elite teams.
The assistant went on to say that he had personally worked the prospect out, and he could vouch for the receiver standing 6-4. Only problem was, the coach showed the reporters his scouting report on the player, and under the category of height it read: 6-04. "See," the assistant said, "he's 6-4." Uh, no. In NFL scoutingese, that's 6 foot, and four-twelfths of an inch, or a shade over 6-0. "Oh," said the assistant, non-plussed. "Any way, he's a hell of a player."
Where did that hot tidbit come from? Well, let's just say the team that had the most to gain from such a report was the Lions, who were looking to develop a bidding war for their prime position. I'm not accusing you, Matt Millen, because it could have been anybody in the Detroit front office spreading that story. But I do know Millen was the one taking the phone calls from all interested parties.
But on Saturday night, team sources confirmed that McCombs had given Brzezinski and Tice the edict to get out of the No. 7 slot, even if it meant taking a bad deal to move down a few notches and select Williams. The duress that Brzezinski and Tice were under to cut a deal is a large part of the reason why they violated their own deadlines in terms of when to cut off talks and turn in their selection. To be clear: Williams was the Vikings' No. 1 choice and choosing him wasn't a financially driven decision. But where they wanted to choose him was a call based on the combination of money and board value. The Vikings thought he could be had at No. 10, and they were no doubt correct.
Tampa Bay released Shane Matthews and Greg Zolman on Monday, leaving it with Brad Johnson, Shaun King, Jim Miller (who's still not healthy), Joe Hamilton and Simms. Joe, it's not looking good. I don't want to say you're not in the mix in Tampa Bay, but you only make the team if the league votes to expand rosters to 75. And by the way, whose agent speed-dialed Bucs general manager Rich McKay first in the 10 seconds after Tampa Bay selected Simms? Miller and King are bidding to become the lucky guy who gets to stick around with Johnson and Simms.
Dorsey not only went behind a guy who was projected to play very little quarterback in the NFL -- Iowa State's Seneca Wallace, fourth round, 110 overall -- he went behind a guy who isn't even playing football and has declared he won't -- Houston sixth-rounder, Drew Henson. Shoot, Dorsey lasted nine picks after that household name from Indiana, Gibran Hamdan, went to Washington. That's got to hurt.
Boller also knows he's a quarterback who'll be playing in a city made famous by Johnny Unitas. "It's daunting," Boller said. "Obviously Elway is the guy I grew up watching, and Johnny Unitas, well, you could say it's a rich tradition. Those are big shoes [high tops?] to fill. But it's a great opportunity. If I can live up to those guys, they'll be a lot of people happy, including myself." Kyle, if you can live up to those two guys, they might some day change the name of the city to Bollermore.
Fargas wound up the sixth running back taken, behind less publicized names like Musa Smith, B.J. Askew and Chris Brown. Fargas barely made it into the third round, going 96th overall, to Oakland. Not bad for a guy who didn't even start until midway through last season, but not the stuff that warranted such headline coverage in the two months prior to the draft. Could it be that no one in the media could resist the storyline that his dad was the actor who played Huggy Bear on Starsky and Hutch? Who, us?
Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.
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