Golden Gophers – Page 250 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Tommy Kramer All in on 2016 Vikings

Posted on October 10, 2016October 10, 2016 by David Shama

Former Vikings Pro Bowl quarterback Tommy Kramer told Sports Headliners he believes his former team can beat any club in the NFL and Minnesota could end up in the 2017 Super Bowl.

“Oh, hell, yeah,” Kramer said. “I think they could beat anybody, any time they want, if they’re playing up to their speed (abilities).”

Kramer made that statement in an interview last week before yesterday’s Vikings-Texans game. It’s not likely Kramer has changed his admiration of the 2016 team after its 31-13 win.

The Vikings, 5-0, are the NFL’s only undefeated club. They dominated the Texans in the first half, jumping out to a 24-0 second quarter lead. The Texans didn’t get a first down until about four minutes into the second quarter—and then only by penalty. The defense was at its usual NFC-best, allowing one touchdown and two field goals in the game at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Kramer isn’t ready to rate the unit the equal of the famed “Purple People Eaters” of the 1970s but he is impressed with a defense that hard-nosed and creative head coach Mike Zimmer has shaped in his image. “Zim is a hell of a coach, trust me,” Kramer said.

Kramer appreciates how that defense helps quarterback Sam Bradford who threw two touchdown passes yesterday and has yet to be intercepted in four starts with the Vikings after joining the team just several days before the regular season started.

“He’s got talent and now he’s got a good defense to play with,” Kramer said about Bradford. “It makes a big damn difference to you (as quarterback). You don’t have to take so many chances. You don’t have to try to score every possession because you know your defense is going to score for you too.”

The last time the Vikings got off to a 5-0 start the Bart Favre led 2009 club went all the way to the NFC title and almost advanced to the Super Bowl. That Vikings went 12-4 in the regular season and that group rates with the franchise’s best teams. Ranking with the best, too, is the 1998 team that was 15-1.

No Vikings team has been to the Super Bowl, though, since the group led by the “Purple People Eaters” defensive line of the 1970s. Could the Vikings make it all the way to Houston for the February 5, 2017 Super Bowl? “If all of them (the players) stay healthy, their chances are good,” said Kramer who played 14 seasons in the NFL from 1977-1990 but never quarterbacked a Super Bowl team.

Bradford’s health will be one of the team’s big concerns. Yesterday, the Texans landed some hard hits on Bradford including when Vikings second-year offensive left tackle T.J. Clemmings couldn’t stop Texans pass rusher Whitney Mercilus. The offense, of course, is already without major contributors Teddy Bridgewater, Matt Kalil and Adrian Peterson.

Too many injuries could turn the direction of this season to horns down. “You never know,” Kramer said. “Each injury could be each player’s career. He might not ever come back.”

But for now the Vikings are on an exceptional run, partly because of their attitude in every game. Through about the first one-third of the schedule the Vikings have played with exceptional focus and intensity.

“If you have ever been around coach Zimmer you don’t have any other choice,” said Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph. “That’s what he expects from us, whether it’s on Sundays, Mondays, or out on the practice field. If we don’t give that intensity and effort, and put that work in each day, then he points it out. He makes us aware that’s not good enough. So that’s the standard that he has set around here, and we just try to live up to that.”

Worth Noting

The Vikings were a seven point favorite to defeat the Texans. Bruce Marshall, writing online for the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Saturday, said Zimmer’s teams were 18-2 covering the spread going into yesterday’s game.

Kramer’s sixth annual charity golf tournament to raise funds for cancer research will be on Friday, August 11 at Mississippi Dunes Golf Links in Cottage Grove. Recognizable names who have played in the tournament include many ex-Vikings. “We’re never short on celebrities playing in it,” Kramer said. More at tk9charitygolf.com.

A franchise source said about 25 percent of Vikings fans are using light rail to attend games at U.S. Bank Stadium. Rail platforms have been cleared in less than an hour after games, while last year at TCF Bank Stadium waits were over 60 minutes.

The stadium will be open two and one-half hours before all home games this year to accommodate fans as they become more familiar with gameday travel and the new facility.

Last Friday a CNN crew was in town to produce a report likely to air around Super Bowl time next year. The segment is expected to talk about the 2018 game being at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Prescott Line, the younger brother of Vikings fullback Zach Line, is a graduate transfer at Michigan State from SMU and has been the starting fullback for the Spartans.

It’s not certain but it appears that J.D. Spielman, son of Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, will be redshirted this fall at Nebraska. The 2015 Minnesota Mr. Football and former Eden Prairie High School player is a freshman receiver for the Cornhuskers and hasn’t seen game action.

The Hawkeyes team that defeated the Gophers 14-7 on Saturday has 51 players on the roster that are Iowa natives. Among players not from the state is true freshman Amani Hooker of Minneapolis and Park Center High School. He is a reserve safety who has been playing on special teams for Iowa.

The Gophers roster has 33 Minnesotans.

The remaining opponents on the Gophers’ schedule are 21-11 in all games, but only 6-9 in the Big Ten. Minnesota, 3-2 overall and 0-2 in conference games, is at Maryland on Saturday. The Terps have 4-1 and 1-1 records.

Concordia alum and Spicer, Minnesota native Brandon Zylstra is a rookie wide receiver with Edmonton of the Canadian Football League. His position coach is Carson Walch, a former St. Thomas assistant. Walch was part of Montreal’s Grey Cup winning team in 2010 as an assistant coach on the staff of Marc Trestman, the ex-Vikings assistant and former Gophers quarterback. Carson’s brother Travis is a nine-year St. Thomas assistant.

Gophers head basketball coach Richard Pitino will bring junior guard Nate Mason and sophomore forward Jordan Murphy to Thursday’s Big Ten Basketball Media Day in Washington, D.C. The Gophers open with an exhibition game against Bemidji State on Thursday, November 3 at Williams Arena.

The Timberwolves basketball staff is giving more fans the opportunity to attend the WNBA Finals tomorrow night at Target Center. The Wolves coaching staff purchased 500 upper level tickets and this morning fans could visit Lynxbasketball.com to obtain seats (two per customer). The Sparks lead the finals series 1-0 after winning yesterday afternoon.

Condolences to the family and friends of former Gophers assistant football coach Bruce Vandersall who died last week. Son Mark is married to NBC TV’s Michelle Tafoya.

Comments Welcome

Bumpkins vs. City Slickers at U Saturday

Posted on October 7, 2016October 7, 2016 by David Shama

As a kid growing up in Minneapolis, I never thought about crossing Minnesota’s southern border and venturing into Iowa City without an army helmet. My parents were ardent Gophers football fans and they warned me about the dangers Minnesotans faced if they dared visit Kinnick Stadium.

Mom and Dad lectured me that the stands in Iowa City were filled with nasty folks. Many Hawkeye crazies behaved wildly after consuming adult beverages. The Iowans hated the Gophers players and didn’t much like Minnesota fans either. The warning for visitors to Kinnick Stadium was be ready to duck a pointed insult, or wayward whiskey bottle.

My parents’ perceptions had their roots in the 1930s and 1940s, and while exaggerations influenced their feelings and words, so did the facts. The Gophers, playing in Minneapolis in 1934, roughed up Iowa rusher Ozzie Simmons so badly he had to leave the game. The next year it was Iowa’s turn to host the annual game and Iowa governor Clyde Herring aroused Hawkeyes fans with this message to the Gophers: “If the officials stand for any rough tactics liked Minnesota used last year, I’m sure the crowd won’t.”

Wow!

Minnesota governor Floyd Olson responded with diplomacy by sending a telegraph to Herring: “Minnesota folks are excited over your statement about Iowa crowds lynching the Minnesota football team. I have assured them you are law abiding gentlemen and are only trying to get our goat. …I will bet you a Minnesota prize hog against an Iowa prize hog that Minnesota wins.”

Détente.

The 1935 game came off without any major incidents on the field or in the stands. The Gophers won and also claimed a live pig from Rosedale Farms in Iowa. Olson later commissioned a bronze statue of a prize pig that to this day is known throughout the country as Floyd of Rosedale.

Tomorrow the Gophers and Hawkeyes play for possession of Floyd at TCF Bank Stadium. The pig is one of the iconic trophies in college football, and while Floyd eased tensions back in the 1930s, emotions, strong words and memories still characterize the Minnesota-Iowa rivalry.

Gophers 2016 captain and senior quarterback Mitch Leidner was born 103 years after the first Minnesota-Iowa game was played in 1891. But he has the attitude about the rivalry to play the Hawkeyes during any era.

“I wouldn’t say I like them one bit,” Leidner said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of hatred between the two states and the two teams. I think everyone on this team understands that. Hopefully the freshmen understand that, but if they don’t by Wednesday they will. I am pretty excited for this one, and to be able to bring the pig home (my) senior year is everything you want.”

Growing up in Minnesota Leidner was wired about the rivalry. As a Lakeville South High School senior he attended the 2011 game at TCF Bank Stadium. He was so excited about the Gophers winning 22-21 that he went on the field after the game to celebrate with Minnesota fans and players.

That was a far more pleasant day for Minnesota fans than the 2002 Iowa win at the Metrodome. Hawkeye fans made national news by storming the field after the game and tearing down a goalpost. Then they tried to carry pieces of the goalpost out through the Metrodome doors.

Black and gold dressed rubes? Yeah, that’s the way some Gophers fans have long viewed their neighbors to the south. Chad Greenway, who was on that 2002 Hawkeyes team, is aware Minnesotans can have a superior attitude toward Iowans. “We’re the country bumpkins coming from Iowa without the big city,” said Greenway, who has played for the Vikings since 2006. “You get that feeling a little bit, but it’s a good rivalry. It’s been back and forth over the last 10 years.”

The Hawkeyes have won six of the last 10 games including last year’s 40-35 victory in Iowa City. The Gophers lead the all-time series against Iowa with a record of 62 wins, 45 losses and two ties.

There’s not been a coach on either side who didn’t feel the intensity of the rivalry but perhaps no one was more locked in than Minnesota’s Joe Salem. He had been a key contributor as a spark plug quarterback on the Gophers’ 1960 national championship team. The run to the title included a matchup on November 5, 1960 in Minneapolis between No. 1 ranked Iowa and No. 3 Minnesota. The Gophers won 27-10 before a delirious crowd of 65,610 at Memorial Stadium.

Salem took over as Minnesota coach for the 1979 season. Although Salem never had a winning Big Ten record in five years at his alma mater, he defeated Iowa three consecutive seasons from 1979-1981. Salem wanted badly to beat the Hawkeyes and during Iowa week he was on a mission.

“He was very focused on the rivalry,” said former Gopher lineman Jon Lilleberg via email. “One thing he always did was wear OshKosh B’gosh Bib Overalls to practice a couple days that week (Iowa week). But he was never mean or demeaning; (he) just made the week fun and dialed in on the rivalry.”

A friend said Salem told Iowa jokes like this one: A Hawkeyes fan comes to Minneapolis with a $20 bill and his underwear—and never changes either one. Salem also joked that Iowa fans became frustrated trying to get their tractors into big city parking ramps.

Okay, timeout. Minnesota jokes told by Iowans are just as bad. Try this one: Several Gopher football players are riding down the highway. What kind of a vehicle are they in?

Answer: A police van.

Hayden Fry took over as Iowa coach the same year Salem arrived at Minnesota. Fry was not only a superb coach who revived Hawkeyes football but he was a psychologist, too. He had the visiting team’s locker room walls painted pink with the intent that visiting teams like the Gophers would play passively.

Fry had defeated the Gophers four consecutive seasons when the Hawkeyes lost at home to Minnesota in 1989. A mediocre Minnesota team beat Iowa 43-7 and after the game Fry was tardy in doing his radio show. Finally he went on the air and the interviewer asked about the coach’s postgame delay. Fry explained he wanted to share some personal thoughts with his seniors about playing their last college game.

What did Fry reportedly tell the boys? “I just told them that they were all fine, upstanding young men…but that they just weren’t very good football players!”

Darrell Thompson, the Gophers all-time leading rusher, almost found Fry’s straight talk and charms too much to resist when he was being recruited out of Rochester, Minnesota. Fry was a terrific recruiter and the Hawkeyes had just been to the Rose Bowl in 1986, but Thompson stayed home and played for Minnesota from 1986-1989.

Now the Gophers radio analyst, Thompson pays homage to Floyd of Rosedale every year during Iowa-Minnesota game week. He eats bacon—lots of it—each day. “In honor of Floyd, in honor of the University of Minnesota and in honor of the Hawkeyes,” he said.

Former Gophers defensive back Tom Sakal recalled a story about tomatoes in an email to Sports Headliners. In the 1965 game at Kinnick Stadium the former schoolboy star from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania broke up a pass in the end zone in front of the Hawkeyes student section. “As I was getting up to my feet, I lifted my head only to see a huge tomato coming straight at my face. It hit squarely in my facemask, smashing into a hundred pieces all over my face and uniform. The student section went wild hollering and laughing.

“I thought to myself, ‘Welcome to Iowa’…and then proceeded to give them the Aliquippa hand gesture for ‘thank you.’ Ha! That was not the thing to do because then the tomatoes really started flying. I hurried back to the huddle.”

Sakal, then a sophomore, had actually been introduced to rambunctious Iowa fans about 13 hours prior to kickoff. “Around midnight or later the night before the game, hundreds of students in cars were outside our hotel blowing car horns and singing the Iowa fight song until the police arrived to send them on their way,” Sakal remembered.

The Gophers won that game in 1965, and two years later were back in Iowa City where Sakal, the team captain, helped Minnesota win again. The 1967 Gophers went on to win a share of the Big Ten title.

That was Minnesota’s last Big Ten championship. Since then Gophers fans, young and old, have had to look for glory in rivalry games and upsets of Big Ten goliaths. “I really can’t stand Iowa and will take great joy if we beat them on Saturday,” a Gophers fan said. “I have to admit that part of my feelings towards them stems from jealousy. In my lifetime, 41 years, the Iowa football program has been better than the Gophers, and that hurts.”

Tomorrow the Gophers and Hawkeyes play for the 82nd consecutive time to determine 12 months of bragging rights to Floyd of Rosedale. Yes, the Minnesota students will yell themselves hoarse, chanting “Who hates Iowa? We hate Iowa!” There may also be groan-inducing jokes from fans of both teams —and probably a lot of good football. Sportsmanship will likely prevail on the field and in the stands.

Enjoy.

Comments Welcome

Leidner Not in McShay’s 1st Round Now

Posted on October 5, 2016October 5, 2016 by David Shama

Todd McShay made news in Minnesota last spring when he projected Mitch Leidner as a No. 1 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The ESPN college football authority has revised his opinion this fall.

McShay overrated the Gophers senior quarterback and no longer projects him as a first round draft choice. Last month a Sports Headliners reader told me he heard McShay on ESPN Radio in September predict Leidner as a possible fifth rounder in 2017.

Leidner hadn’t dazzled during his junior season at Minnesota but did show improvement in final games. He ranked 10th in Big Ten efficiency among passers, with a rating of 121.2. In 13 games he completed 59.5 percent of his passes and threw 14 touchdown passes. But in early May McShay wrote that the 6-4, 230-pound Minnesota native had “ideal size” for a quarterback, and labeled him a “late riser.”

McShay used a disclaimer in his “Way-too-Early NFL 2017 Mock Draft”, writing on the ESPN website that he hadn’t “studied tape” on the players he projected 1-32. In fairness to McShay he had just finished his assignments with the recently completed 2016 draft.

In his May 5 article this spring McShay had two quarterbacks, Deshaun Watson from Clemson, and Brad Kaaya of Miami, projected as the first two picks in next year’s draft. Leidner, projected as the No. 25 pick, was the only other quarterback in McShay’s mock first round.

McShay offered a revised mock draft for ESPN late last month. The top projected quarterback was Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer at No. 18. The other first round quarterbacks were Watson at 24 and Kaaya at 30. …

It’s time for another Sports Headliners Big Ten power rankings—and Gophers fans should brace themselves. Minnesota is no longer deserving of the No. 7 listing in the last rankings of 14 conference teams. Not after an unimpressive 3-0 nonconference start and last Saturday’s 29-26 loss to Penn State in Minnesota’s league opening game.

It’s far from a perfect process comparing scores, but the Gophers didn’t earn any bragging rights last Saturday when a couple of interesting scores from out West became finals. Wyoming, with a 3-2 record, defeated Colorado State 38-7 and Colorado, 4-1, beat up on Oregon State 47-6. Minnesota, playing at home, won games against Colorado State, 2-3, and Oregon State, 1-3, by a touchdown.

Coach Tracy Claeys’ team has some strengths, including the kicking game. Placekicker Emmitt Carpenter made four field goals in the loss to PSU and is nine-for-nine in his career. He leads the Big Ten in points with 43. Punter Ryan Santoso ranks sixth in Big Ten punting with a 41.9 average and he has shown touch in booting balls inside the opposition’s 20-yard line.

Leidner’s senior experience and leadership is a major asset. Shannon Brooks, recovered from a broken foot, is one of the Big Ten’s most explosive running backs. Defensive tackle Steven Richardson has been called “unblockable” by a rival coach. But this team has issues including an inconsistent offensive line that too often can’t open holes for runners like Brooks, and is flagged for false starts and holding. The defense is vulnerable to big plays because of mistakes in the secondary and not enough pass rush.

Put the Gophers at No. 11 in the power rankings. Ohio State is an easy choice for No. 1. It’s not a layup, though, to rank Michigan No. 2 and Wisconsin third. The Wolverines won 14-7 against the Badgers last Saturday in Ann Arbor. Both teams have elite defenses, lesser offenses.

Here’s how the rest of the Big Ten teams rate: No. 4 Nebraska; No. 5 Maryland; No. 6. Northwestern; No. 7 Iowa; No. 8. Michigan State; No. 9 Penn State; No. 10. Indiana; No. 11 Minnesota; No. 12 Illinois; No. 13 Rutgers; and No. 14 Purdue. …

The Gophers hockey team opens its season with Alaska-Anchorage in Anchorage on Friday and Sunday. Minnesota goalie Eric Schierhorn is from Anchorage and his parents will host a dinner in their home for the Gophers travel group on Saturday night.

The nonconference game against Alaska-Anchorage is likely to be Minnesota’s last with the Seawolves. Budget cuts in the Alaska university system may end the men’s college hockey programs at Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska-Fairbanks. A source said the hockey programs account for about five percent of the university system’s budget.

Eden Prairie forward Casey Mittelstadt, who is expected to sign with the Gophers in November, is highlighted by NHL Central Scouting as a player to watch in rankings released earlier this week. He received an A rating. …

Vikings rookie wide receiver and 2016 No. 1 draft choice Laquon Treadwell has only been on the field for a few plays through four regular season games but receivers coach George Stewart has a message for worrisome fans. Don’t fret because the Vikings like what they see of the 21-year-old who was the 23rd pick in last spring’s draft.

“He is fine. He is a smart kid,” Stewart told Sports Headliners. “The problem is Rick Spielman, our GM, has assembled a lot of talent (among receivers) in that room.

“He’s a rookie. Just because you are a first round pick, doesn’t guarantee you’re going to come in and play. He’s the future of our football team. We have a lot of guys right now that are playing at a high level (like)—Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. We just have one football now, too. …It’s hard to spread that thing around.”

Treadwell, 6-2 and 215 pounds, has yet to catch a pass in a game and part of his very limited playing time has been on the punt coverage team. Stewart praised Treadwell’s attitude and willingness to work.

He said Treadwell’s limited game action shouldn’t be interpreted as the Vikings being disappointed in the former Ole Miss star who gave up his final season of college football to enter the draft. Treadwell, Stewart explained, is getting a how-to on life in the NFL as a receiver including adjusting to a different offense than the one he knew in college and learning about defensive coverages.

Could Treadwell some day be a Pro Bowler? Achieving that honor will have a lot to do with desire, and Stewart talked about how Thielen has progressed from an undrafted free agent to a playmaker for the Vikings. “…If you would have told me that Adam Thielen from Minnesota State would be the player he is four years ago I wouldn’t have said so. It’s the want-to. He (Treadwell) has to want to. So hopefully if that’s a goal of his, hopefully he gets a chance to attain it.”

Treadwell broke his leg as a junior at Ole Miss and it’s a fair question to ask if that has diminished his speed. NFL.com reported that Treadwell ran a 4.63 40-yard dash at his Pro Day before the draft last spring. Stewart said the Vikings weren’t concerned about Treadwell’s speed when they chose him and aren’t now. “I believe it’s healed now because he’s out doing good things,” Stewart said.

Comments Welcome