Brad Childress: Randy Moss “vomited” on Vikings’ locker room Posted by Anthony Stalter (08/12/2011 @ 9:11 am) Minnesota Viking wide receiver Randy Moss smiles during team warm-ups before their NFL football game against the New York Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey, October 11, 2010. Moss was playing in his first game with the Vikings after being traded by the New England Patriots earlier in the week. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL) Brad Childress has admitted in the past that acquiring Randy Moss from the Patriots last year was a mistake. But he took the Moss situation a step further this week when he criticized the receiver for “vomiting on” his locker room. “We had good guys, by and large, [but Moss] walked in the locker room and vomited on it.” Regular readers know that I’m not a huge Moss fan. I think he was blessed with elite talent and if he had Jerry Rice’s work ethic, he could have been the best receiver to play the game. Instead, Moss picked his spots to be great. He was motivated when he first came into the league because so many teams passed on him in the 1998 draft, so he worked his ass off in Minnesota. Then he was traded to Oakland and completely shut it down. When he was sent to New England in 2007, he was hungry again to prove his worth and wound up being an MVP candidate for the Patriots. When he wanted a new contract at the start of last season and didn’t receive one from the Pats, he shut it down again and became a distraction in Minnesota and Tennessee. But despite my feelings about Moss, I find it interesting that in the same breath Childress didn’t mention how big of a distraction Brett Favre’s situation was last year. Now, don’t make this a race thing – it’s not about race. My point is that there were tons of things that went wrong in Minnesota last year, most of which happened before Moss even arrived. So why didn’t Childress speak out about that while he was busy pointing the finger at Moss? It’s not hard to believe that Randy Moss was a distraction and now that he’s not associated with the organization any more, Childress has the right to speak his mind. But if he’s looking to point the finger, he might as well point it at more than just Moss. Favre was a distraction from Day 1; first, nobody knew whether or not he was going to return to Minnesota because he did his annual song and dance routine for months, then he became a distraction again when the Jenn Sterger story broke. Funny how Childress says he has no regrets getting on his knees and begging Favre to come back, yet Moss “vomited” on his good-guy locker room. Please. Childress was the root of the issue in Minnesota. The players didn’t respect him, he never had a handle on how to manage the different personalities in the locker room and he allowed guys like Favre to do whatever he wanted. The head coach sets the tone for the rest of the team and very few players in that Vikings locker room were ready to march to the beat of Brad Childress. The Vikings may not make the playoffs this year under Leslie Frazier but I can almost guarantee you that it won’t be because the players don’t respect the head coach. And for that, the franchise is in much better shape now than it was at this point last year. Jared Allen One-on-One: Vikings DE talks lockout, Brett Favre & “Homes 4 Wounded Warriors” Posted by Anthony Stalter (06/13/2011 @ 3:53 pm) Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen stands on the field during warm-ups before the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago on November 14, 2010. UPI/Brian Kersey Even if you’re a Green Bay Packer fan, it’s hard not to love Jared Allen. That’s because the Minnesota Vikings defensive end plays with a fierce relentlessness, isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and is a guy that if you spent an hour with him you wouldn’t have the slightest idea he was a million dollar athlete. Jared will be hosting his 2nd annual charity golf tournament called “Night-Ops II” on Saturday, June 18, which is an event that benefits his foundation “Homes 4 Wounded Warriors.” As Jared explains in the interview, the root of the foundation is that you “should feel your most comfortable at your most vulnerable state.” Thus, “Homes 4 Wounded Warriors” is about helping wounded soldiers by remolding their homes so that they’re handicap accessible. For someone who also has family members and friends that have served in the military, it’s a truly touching cause. Jared also shared his thoughts on the lockout saga, whether or not Brett Favre’s situation was a major distraction for the 6-10 Vikings last year, and what quarterback he loves drilling the most. It would be an understatement to say that his answers weren’t entertaining. For more on Jared Allen, including details and information on his “Homes 4 Wounded Warriors” foundation, check out his official website. Jared Allen: Hey Anthony! The Scores Report: Hey Jared! How are you? JA: I’m doing well. TSR: Is your schedule busy today? JA: Not really – I’m actually just being lazy. I was supposed to play some golf and go for a mountain bike ride, but I’ve got the wrong size tube on my tires so…you know. (Laughs) TSR: So here you are stuck talking to me. (Laughs) JA: (Laughs) Yeah! TSR: Your annual charity golf tournament goes to a fantastic cause. Can you fill readers in on how your foundation “Homes 4 Wounded Warriors” got started and what it’s all about? JA: Absolutely. First of all, my family is all military. My grandfather spent 26 years in the Marine Corps, is a retired Marine Corps Captain, and my little brother is in the Marines. I think two of my uncles were Marines in ‘Nam and another one was in the Air Force for 30-some-odd-years. So I have a family lineage of military members, but I got to go on the USO tour and while it wasn’t exactly what my grandfather or uncles went through, I got a look into what our military services go through during the time of war. To be able to see first hand the sacrifices that they make on a daily basis was so humbling. It makes you realize how much we take for granted. After hearing about the multiple trips that these guys have made overseas, when I got back from the USO tour I realized I wanted to do more. I wanted to help and give back to our men and women that serve in the military. So I talked with an Army buddy of mine that’s been over to Iraq three times and we came up with the Jared Allen’s “Homes 4 Wounded Warriors” foundation. We based it on the idea that when you’re at home, you should feel your most comfortable at your most vulnerable state. I know that when I come home from a bad day, a tough practice or whatever it may be, I can breathe a sigh of relief. I know that I’m home and for that time, I’m relaxed and everything like that. So the one thing that we thought of was that the last thing that these soldiers should have to worry about is not being able to get around their house because they’re missing an arm, or a leg, or are blind, or whatever it may be. So that’s where we come in. We remodel an existing home or, if necessary, we completely build a new home so that it’s handicap accessible and fits the specific needs of our wounded vets. So that’s how we started and we just finished our first house in Minnesota for a staff sergeant up there. Now we’re focusing on building a couple of homes for some people down here in Arizona. We work directly with the V.A. so everyone is 100-percent medically discharged and I’ll tell you what, it’s been a cool thing. Read the rest of this entry » Childress says Moss tried to get him fired Posted by John Paulsen (12/03/2010 @ 6:30 pm) In an interview with the Pioneer Press, Brad Childress gives his version of his departure from Minnesota. “If you pull a couple of quotes from a locker room, it all gets exacerbated a bit,” Childress said. “By and large, I know the support I had. It’s a good group of guys in that locker room.” Regarding Moss, Childress heard late in the process that Moss was lobbying to owner Zygi Wilf for Childress to be fired, but he was already set on waiving him. Childress did not consult with upper management about the move. Not every Viking was against parting with Moss. “Some players came up to me afterward and said, ‘Coach, we would have been disappointed if you didn’t do something,’ ” Childress said.
Sure, Childress’s stories are anecdotal and he’s probably overstating the support he had in the locker room, but with the way Moss was reportedly acting, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were several players who understood why Childress put him on waivers. Whatever the issues, Childress will receive $5 million total through the 2012 season, which isn’t a bad severance package. If Childress wants another job, he’ll have to change his approach with players Posted by Anthony Stalter (11/22/2010 @ 4:36 pm) My guess is that it’ll be a while before Brad Childress finds another head coaching job in the NFL. And if he doesn’t change his philosophy on how to mange relationships with players, then he may never have another chance. One of the main reasons Vikings’ owner Zygi Wilf hired Childress in 2006 is because he thought Childress would help restore order off the field. The “Love Boat Scandal” was still fresh on everyone’s minds and Wilf fell for Childress’ harden approach with players. The problem is that Childress didn’t have much coaching experience at the time. He had never been a head coach at any level and while he was the offensive coordinator for the Eagles before arriving in Minnesota, head coach Andy Reid called most of Philadelphia’s plays over that span. Thus, Childress’ football resume was highly barren of legitimate experience. There were also warning signs about the way Childress handled players. It was highly reported that Terrell Owens had asked Childress not to speak to him during the 2005 season. When he did get to Minnesota, several veteran quarterbacks including Brad Johnson and Gus Frerotte didn’t see eye-to-eye with Childress because they weren’t allowed to go off-script during games. Childress also got into a spat with Brett Favre last year because he didn’t appreciate the veteran quarterback’s freelancing. More recently, he’s gotten into spats with receiver Percy Harvin and cornerback Antoine Winfield. Out of the handful of articles that I read so far on his firing, not one player has defended or stuck up for him. That says a lot. All of this leads to the obvious: Childress doesn’t know how to handle NFL personalities. He desperately wanted Favre to be his quarterback, but he didn’t know how to handle Brett’s massive ego. He wanted Randy Moss to save his fleeting passing game, but the first time the receiver gave him any guff he waived him on the spot. Some coaches can get away with being a disciplinary. Bill Cowher made his mark in Pittsburgh with that approach, although he also knew how to strike a rapport with players. He knew he couldn’t constantly belittle them or they’d eventually turn their backs on him, which is exactly what happened to Childress. Vikings players put up with him last year because they were winning. But now that this has become a lost season, they had no problem giving marginal effort for a guy whom they don’t respect. All this leads to is this: if Childress doesn’t change his ways then he might as well drop down to the college ranks where players are easier to mold. While he’s down there, he may want to learn how to maximize his players’ strengths, too. It never ceased to amaze me how much he misused Adrian Peterson throughout his years in Minnesota. But that’s a topic for another time. For now, “Chilly” might want to work on his people skills. Vikings finally fire Brad Childress Posted by John Paulsen (11/22/2010 @ 12:26 pm) On the heels of a humiliating loss to their bitter rivals, the Minnesota Vikings have fired Brad Childress and named defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier interim head coach, per Adam Schefter. I’m sure Anthony will have something more to say on the matter, but as a longtime Packer fan, I’m a little sad to see Chilly go. It has been fun to watch the Vikings’ downward spiral starting with their disappointing last-minute loss in the NFC championship game to the cluster#%&* that is this season. Childress lost the locker room a while ago, and since he’s not winning, there’s no point in keeping him around. It’s possible that owner Zygi Wilf saw how the Cowboys suddenly became respectable once they made a head coaching change and decided to follow suit after the Packers took his team behind the woodshed on Sunday. Or maybe he just wanted to see what Frazier could do with this team for the rest of the season before potentially committing to him long term. (Though with the way the defense played — and bickered — against the Packers, the defense definitely has its issues as well.) So let the speculation begin. Even before this news, there were already rumors that Wilf might tag Bill Parcells to come in and change the team’s culture. There are a number of other good candidates out there as well, including Tony Dungy, Jon Gruden and Bill Cowher. And — gasp! — what if a new coach meant that Brett Favre might want to come back for another go-around!?! Buckle your seat belts, people! |