Author: David Shama

Will Randy Moss end up in Green Bay or some place other than Oakland in 2007?  Can Daunte Culpepper recover from his devastating knee injury of 2005 to become a productive quarterback for Miami?  I asked Dean Dalton, the former Vikings assistant coach and now a knowledgeable NFL analyst in the media, for his views on Moss and Culpepper, the former Vikings stars who have struggled to find success since leaving Minneapolis.

Moss, 30, hasn’t been as effective in two seasons in Oakland as he was here.  His pass receiving numbers with the Raiders include 1,558 yards and 11 touchdowns in two years.  His last two seasons here: 2,399 yards, 30 touchdowns.

The big play wide receiver, though, has sustained his reputation as a malcontent. “There’s a chance they (the Raiders) will trade him,” Dalton said. “He’s a premier guy.  He won’t bring the premier value he would have even a year ago.   They’ll probably look to shop him. . . .”

There was a report last week the Packers were interested in Moss.  Will Moss’s reputation preclude other teams from being interested?  “Yes, absolutely,” Dalton answered.  “In today’s era, especially after seeing what Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith did with two teams that were built with a core of high character players and the success they had, teams are going to tend to get away from the headaches of the prima donna types and focus on players that put the team first.”

Dalton, who was an assistant with the Vikings for seven seasons through 2005, was enthusiastic about Culpepper who had difficulty rehabilitating his right knee last off-season and only played in four games in 2006.  His numbers included two touchdown passes, 929 yards.

Can Culpepper recover physically and mentally?  “Yes,” Dalton said. “One thing about Daunte Culpepper is he’s one of the most intense competitors I’ve been afforded the chance to work with.  I think strongly that if his knee is healthy enough to play and he’s not premature in his rehab like he was last year, he will come back and come back strong.  And I feel that he once again can get in that upper echelon of quarterbacks in the NFL.”

Joe Mauer quoted in Sports Illustrated:  “I worked hard this off-season to get my legs and core in shape.  This is probably the best I’ve ever felt coming into a spring.”

Harvey Mackay and Lou Holtz are good friends whose friendship began when Mackay sold Holtz on coming here to coach the Gophers in the 1980s.  The two golf together occasionally and recently played in Arizona.

Safety Nolan Brewster, Gopher coach Tim Brewster’s son, will be a high school senior next fall and a coveted college recruit.  Tim said on Sunday no decision has been made on whether Nolan will remain in Denver for his senior season or move here but is “leaning” toward finishing up at Mullen High School in Colorado. The Gopher coach said he and his wife haven’t sold their home in Colorado, nor have they chosen a community to live in here.

Bill Lester, executive director of the Metrodome, was surprised by a report earlier this year from the NFL Players Association ranking the dome’s field surface among the worst in the league.  The dome’s FieldTurf surface, installed in 2004, is the same as used in Tampa Bay’s stadium and Lester said that facility draws praise.  Several years ago the dome’s previous surface was much criticized. “Sometimes it’s just tough to overcome a reputation,” Lester said.

The Minnesota High School Football Coaches Association does outstanding work in promoting and serving the interests of football in the state.  Executive director Ron Stolski and other association leaders are excited to be working with Brewster.  Membership in the association is growing and now totals over 800.  Coaches can find more information at www.mshsca.org/football.  Stolski, 67, has coached high school football for 45 years, 32 at Brainerd.

The MIAC has chosen its men’s basketball award winners and for a second consecutive season University of St. Thomas senior center Isaac Rosefelt is the league MVP. Saint John’s University junior wing Brady Brink was chosen Sixth Man of the Year and Steve Fritz  of St. Thomas Coach of the Year.

Gustavus Adolphus College junior guard Jess Vadnais was chosen the MIAC women’s MVP. Bethel University sophomore center Annegret Nautsch was named the conference’s Sixth Player of the Year. Co-Coaches of the Year are College of St. Catherine coach Gary Rufsvold and Macalester College’s Ellen Thompson.

Dean Dalton doesn’t think the Minnesota Vikings will draft Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn or recruit a free agent quarterback before going to training camp next summer.  The Vikings released veteran Brad Johnson earlier this week, leaving the team with 23-year- old Tarvaris Jackson and 27- year-old Brooks Bollinger as the team’s quarterbacks.  Combined Jackson and Bollinger have 18 regular season games of NFL experience. 

Dalton was an assistant coach with the Vikings for seven seasons, his last in 2005.   He continues to live in this area and is making an impressive reputation in the media business where his NFL assignments include writing about the league for ESPN and air time for FSN North and Sirius Satellite Radio.  He is following the upcoming college draft and free agency market with scrutiny and passion. 

There’s been speculation the Vikings will choose Quinn with their No. 7 pick in the first round.  He worked in a pro style system under quarterback guru and Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis.  Quinn is likely to be the second quarterback chosen in the draft after JaMarcus Russell of LSU. Oakland, with the first choice in the draft, may take Russell. 

Why won’t the Vikings take Quinn if he is available at No. 7?  “Because they invested up in the draft last year (trading two picks to get in position to draft Jackson). . . and they have a lot of confidence in him,” Dalton said in an interview with Sports Headliners on Monday.  “They have high expectations for him.  He has the skills and the intangibles I believe to fulfill them.  He’s just raw and needs time to develop.  Because of that investment and then the trade for Brooks Bollinger, I would suggest they won’t get a free agent quarterback, and they won’t go high profile (for a) Brady Quinn type.” 

Dalton said “there is a pretty big gap” after Russell and Quinn and the next group of quarterbacks available in the draft.  “I would look for them to get someone in that group (second tier) and have three young men in a very important role for this team at the quarterback spot going into training camp,” Dalton said.   

Dalton expects the Vikings to take a “conservative approach” in the free agency market.  He said the talent pool of free agents is without “marquee names” and lacks depth. He predicts the Vikings may try to fill needs, though, at wide receiver, defensive end and perhaps tight end.  In the draft Dalton thinks the Vikings “definitely” will look first for a pass rushing defensive end, with interest also in a wide receiver and inside linebacker.