On The Edge

The handwritten letter, on Notre Dame stationery, arrived on the desk of embattled Minnesota Vikings coach Dennis Green a few days before Thanksgiving. Of all the strange events in this Strange Vikings season, Green thought this one took the cake.

"Dear Denny," the letter read. "I am resigning the coaching job at Notre Dame because it is the right thing to do.... I know how frustrating it must be for you to read that I am waiting in the wings for your job. This is unfair to you and totally untrue.... I have not spoken to owners for any NFL team since last March...." On it went, in a tiny scrawl, for a full page. It was signed by Lou Holtz.

Holtz had been tied, through his longtime relationship with some of the Vikings' 10 owners, to the Minnesota job before he announced on Nov. 19 that he would quit his Notre Dame post, effective at the end of the season. And even before he received the letter, Green, 47, believed that Holtz was angling for his job through owners Jaye Dyer and Wheelock Whitney. But the letter gave Green new reason to wonder why his job security was even an issue. Minnesota is 9-6 this year, and in five seasons under Green it has never finished with a losing record. With their 21-10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Metrodome on Sunday, coupled with the Washington Redskins' 27-26 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Vikings locked up a playoff spot for the fourth time under Green. Not bad for a team many expected to finish at the bottom of the NFC Central.

As the clock wound down on Sunday, Minnesota defensive end Fernando Smith handed Green a game ball. "This is for you, Coach," Smith said. "You deserve it, with what you've been through this year."

In September the Vikings seemingly had cause to replace Green. Citing a copy of a sealed lawsuit it obtained, the Twin Cities' KSTP-TV reported that in 1992 Green paid for an abortion for a woman he'd had an affair with, and that $5,000 had been put in her bank account by the Vikings' chief of security. A team investigation followed to determine the origin of the funds, and the club found no evidence that its money was used to pay the woman. (Green, citing a confidentiality agreement with the woman, refuses to discuss the episode.) Then came Holtz's resignation, at about the time Minnesota's record slipped to 6-6, and Whitney said to the press that Holtz would be a fine candidate if the Vikings were going to be shopping for a coach in the off-season, reigniting speculation about Green's job status.

On the field Green's fortune hasn't been much better. Starting running back Robert Smith was lost for the season after suffering a knee injury in an Oct. 28 loss to the Chicago Bears. Quarterback Warren Moon, plagued by ankle injuries, gave way to the untested Brad Johnson on Nov. 10. Johnson is a fifth-year player who was a backup at Florida State and who had never started an NFL game until this season. He plays behind a line that in the past four years has lost Gary Zimmerman, a seven-time Pro Bowl player, Brian Habib and Kirk Lowdermilk through free agency or trades. Star running back Terry Allen and defensive line starters Roy Barker and Henry Thomas have also left through free agency since Green arrived. Defensive end Chris Doleman was traded. Nevertheless Minnesota is 47-35 during Green's tenure.

"And they say this guy's job is in jeopardy?" middle linebacker Jeff Brady asked after Sunday's game. "Why should it be? It's a joke. I've played for six coaches in the NFL, and I don't want to play for anyone else. The grass is greener here."

Not in every sense. Green is 0-3 in the playoffs, including two home losses. He won't win any popularity contests in Minneapolis either. The extramarital affair was Green's second alleged incident involving a woman while he was still married to his first wife, Margie. In a '93 lawsuit in which a woman accused assistant coach Richard Solomon of sexual harassment, the Vikings' director of team operations, Dan Endy, contended in an affidavit that two women said they were sexually harassed by Green. The charges against Green were never substantiated.

Now he is trying to put his life in order. He married Marie Law in December 1995, and the couple is expecting their first child. "Baby Green is coming Feb. 6," says Dennis, "and I'm happy as can be about that."

But there's no doubt Minnesota fans have become disenchanted with the Vikings, and Green's personal life has likely been a contributing factor. His weekly TV show was canceled after Minnesota went 8-8 last year. Season tickets are down from 56,000 in 1991, the year before he arrived, to about 41,000 this year. With a playoff spot on the line, there were 14,733 empty seats for the home finale on Sunday. "In this town, you're better off being accused of murder than sexual harassment," said longtime Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Sid Hartman on Sunday. "Denny's done a terrific job, considering that the Vikings have 10 millionaire owners who won't spend any money."