DR. DAN BLOWS THE DIAGNOSIS: I like Star Tribune sports columnist Dan Barreiro an awful lot, especially on the radio, but I've got to admit that his column yesterday was way off the mark. Barreiro writes of the "Ex-Viking Curse," afflicting such former Purple People as Steelers cornerback Dewayne Washington (who committed a game-losing running-into-the-kicker penalty in Saturday's loss to the Titans); Browns lineman Dwayne Rudd (whose unsportsmanlike conduct penalty cost the Browns a win in Week 1), and of course Cris Carter, the Hall of Fame-bound receiver who made a disastrous comeback with the Miami Dolphins.
But what Barreiro forgets was that for many other ex-Vikes in the NFL, 2002 was a banner year. Now since the Vikings changed starting quarterbacks almost every year of the '90s, there are all kinds of ex-Minnesota QBs running loose all over the NFL. One of them (Rich Gannon) was the league's MVP this year. Another (Brad Johnson) got Tampa Bay into the NFC title game for only the second time in franchise history. And a third (Jay Fiedler) led the Dolphins into first place for most of the season before he was injured. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) Jeff George didn't make it off the bench for Seattle.
And coaches too! Former defensive coordinator Tony Dungy led the Colts into the playoffs, something his predecessor Jim "Playoffs?" Mora was of course unable to do last year. Former Vikings LB Jack Del Rio today accepted the Jacksonville head coaching job, beating out another former Vike, Mike Mularkey. And the frontrunner for the now suddenly-vacant 49ers job? None other than Dennis Green. This is in addition to former Vikings assistant Tyrone Willingham's astonishing success with Notre Dame.
Now if only the current Vikings could perform as well as the ex-Vikings...
PICKS FOR SUNDAY: Eagles, Raiders. It's the battle of the drunken, hostile, strangely costumed fans!
Posted by Stephen Silver at January 16, 2003 07:47 PM