Don’t be surprised if the NFL and representatives of Kevin and Pat Williams settle their dispute with a two-game suspension rather than four.
Jerry Burns, who was both an assistant and head coach with the Vikings, admired Brett Favre’s extraordinary performance last season but told Sports Headliners he won’t describe it as the best season ever by a Vikings quarterback. Burns was an assistant coach on three teams that Fran Tarkenton quarterbacked to Super Bowls.
Vikings head coach Brad Childress will be the keynote speaker at the Bolder Options annual Training for Life Dinner tomorrow at International Market Square. The evening will include news about Bolder Options being on public television. The National Medical Report will be publicizing Bolder Options because of its comprehensive approach to mentoring, addressing not only truancy and juvenile delinquency but also obesity, nutrition, physical activity and overall well-being of youth. Former Gophers football player Darrell Thompson is executive director of the Minneapolis headquartered organization.
The Vikings, who will be working with most of their players this week at Organized Training Activity at Winter Park, have signed one of their eight draft choices so far. Seventh round pick Ryan D’Imperio, who was the 237th overall selection, has signed with the Vikings and will switch from college linebacker at Rutgers to fullback with the Vikings.
Former Gophers All-American Bobby Bell, who played professionally for Kansas City, is taking Chiefs sponsors to Cancun, Mexico. Joining him are 31 Chiefs cheerleaders who will have a photo shoot there.
This school year Minnesota retained the “Border Battle” Cup with the most lopsided margin in the brief history of its annual all-sports rivalry with Wisconsin. The Gophers earned 550 points to Wisconsin’s 330 points to even the all-time series with their third victory in the six years of competition. The two schools compete in 22 different sports.
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame announced earlier this month that 30 MIAC football student-athletes have been named to the NFF Hampshire Honor Society. The honor society is comprised of college football players from all divisions who maintained a 3.2 GPA or better and were a starter or significant substitute in their last year of eligibility. MIAC honorees are: Augsburg College’s Andrew Bergeson, Adam Ebert, Tyler Judkins, and Andy Roff; Gustavus Adolphus College’s Jordan Becker, Kevin Geurink, Blake Noennig, Tony Palma, David Randall, T.J. Ridley, and Joe Welch; Saint John’s University’s Blaine Anderson, Ben Dimond, Ethan Eid, Dan Franta, Russell Gliadon, Nick Gunderson, Dominic Haik, Drew Percival, Greg Sowden, and Ryan Wimmer; and the University of St. Thomas’ Jake Friederichs, Joe Herrera, Jeffery Hilliard, Kris Kopp, Reed Mainquist, Tony Margarit, Ryan McCarthy, Sam Moen and Joe Sunnarborg.