Lynx – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Murray Project Can Take KOC Closer to Great QB ‘Whisperers’

Posted on March 15, 2026March 15, 2026 by David Shama

The work of Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell with quarterback reclamation projects Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones is well documented. Now comes the opportunity with new arrival Kyler Murray to take another step toward the company of pro football’s all-time elite quarterback “whisperers.”

Both Darnold and Jones had disastrous experiences with other teams before they came under the tutelage of KOC. Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 record in 2024 before bolting in free agency to the Seahawks and playing a huge role in a season and postseason that culminated in a Seattle Super Bowl win over the Patriots last month.

Jones had a shorter time at “KOC U” but like Darnold flourished in Minnesota and joined Sam in leaving in March of 2025. Jones had a comeback season in 2025 with the Colts after his earlier failure with the Giants and Indianapolis reportedly rewarded him this month with a two-year $88 million deal.

Could Murray be the next summa cum laude grad? Although the Cardinals gave up on him, his resume and profile instill optimism among those who want to feel it. In 2019 he was the Pro Football Offensive Rookie of the Year. Twice in his career he was a Pro Bowler.

The 28-year-old Murray, listed at 5-10 and 207 pounds, has quickness of foot and running ability that can bedevil opponents. His ability to turn a potential loss of yardage into a big gain certainly wasn’t lost on the Vikings who picked up the free agent last week on a bargain deal that reportedly has them paying out $1.3 million while the Cardinals are on the line for over $35 million.

Murray, who The Athletic rated as only the 40^th best free agent available this offseason, has his critics. His career passing rating of 92.2 is in the average range. Four times in his career he has thrown for over 3,500 yards. In 2,941 passing attempts he has totaled 121 TD passes with 60 interceptions over seven seasons. He has struggled with injuries including an ACL tear and missed most of last season with a foot injury.

Murray’s critics have questioned his study habits. Beyond his work ethic, concerns have been raised about his short stature and ability to see down field. He’s even been criticized for not running enough.

So the immediate future for Murray, who is on a one-year deal, will be interesting. He grew up a Vikings fan and at his initial presser last week gushed enthusiasm about his new start including being with KOC.

KOC will scrutinize Murray from top to bottom and will tinker with his offense to make it conducive to the new quarterback’s skillset. At the same time, J.J. McCarthy will also have to fit into the overall offense. O’Connell has declared Murray and McCarthy are competing for the starting job. No one has been named No. 1 yet.

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell image by David Shama — Kevin O’Connell

As the process develops, O’Connell can take another step toward the elite names among quarterback “whisperers,” especially if the Vikings become a winning team with Murray or McCarthy who will be in his second season as a potential starter. Toward the top of a list that does not yet include KOC, are names from the present and the past: Andy Reid of the Chiefs and Sean Payton of the Broncos and past icons Bruce Arians and Mike Shanahan.

That would be nice company to join.

Worth Noting

The Vikings could see an old friend wearing dark green, gold and white next fall. The Packers are looking for a backup quarterback with Kirk Cousins a possible candidate.

If the 37-year-old continues his career after being released by the Falcons last week, it presumably won’t be just for the money. He has reportedly earned over $351 million playing for the Commanders, Vikings and Falcons, and is among the highest paid NFL players of all-time.

The Vikings have provided $600,000 to the development of high school flag football in Minnesota. That’s from Minneapolis-based attorney and writer Marshall Tanick who reported details via email about a talk given recently by Vikings top marketing executive Martin Nance to a Florida group. Although not yet sanctioned by the Minnesota State High School League, the girls’ sport is growing fast, and women’s flag football will debut as an Olympic sport at the 2028 games in Los Angeles.

Nance told attendees at the Minnesota Breakfast gathering in Naples that about 45 percent of the franchise’s fan base is women.

Nance, who was a wide receiver with the Vikings in 2006-2007, also shared this nugget: the Vikings “SKOL” chant, entering its 10th year, was derived from the Icelandic national soccer team.

Professional football scouts will have a look at these former Gophers at the University of Minnesota’s Pro Day on Wednesday. Confirmed participants are Nate Becker, Drew Biber, Le’Meke Brockington, Brady Denaburg, Deven Eastern, Jameson Geers, Darius Green, Rushawn Lawrence, Derik LeCaptain, Jalen Logan-Redding, Marcellus Marshall, Jai’Onte’ McMillan, Aluma Nkele, Dylan Ray and Devon Williams.

Football coaches can still register for the acclaimed MFCA Clinic. Headquartered at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park, the clinic will be held March 26-28 and is a partnership with the football Gophers. https://www.mnfootballcoaches.com/page/show/2279758-mfca-clinic-information

Presenters will include Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck and selected Gopher assistants, along with St. Thomas head coach Glenn Caruso, St. John’s head coach Gary Fasching and FCS national championship coach Brent Vigen of Montana State.

A hockey aficionado tells Sports Headliners the on-ice vision of defenseman Quinn Hughes is so special it’s the best of any Wild player ever. The authority added Hughes might be the best team leader in franchise history.

The Twin Cities Dunkers scored a coup scheduling Timberwolves and Lynx owner Alex Rodriguez as a speaker later this month. Wolves and Lynx president & CEO Matt Caldwell is a Dunkers member. The sports focused organization dates back to 1948 when it was the Minneapolis Dunkers.

The field for the 2026 National Invitation Tournament will be announced tonight starting at 8:30 p.m. Minneapolis time on ESPN2. Both the Gophers and St. Thomas men are eligible for consideration, with some fans wishful of a matchup at Williams Arena.

The women Gophers, 22-8, are assured of an NCAA Tournament berth and will host first and second round games at Williams Arena. The NCAA Tournament bracket, matchups, dates and times will be announced tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Kevin Kernan, a renowned national baseball authority and guest last week on Dan Barreiro’s KFNX Radio show, was asked how the Pohlad owned Twins are regarded nationally. He labeled the ownership a “clown show” and said only the Pirate ownership is disdained more.

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Timberwolves & Lynx CEO Says Arena in Minneapolis the Goal

Posted on December 30, 2025December 30, 2025 by David Shama

New majority Timberwolves and Lynx owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez announced the hiring of CEO Matthew Caldwell late last summer. The former front office executive of the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Panthers, Caldwell is tasked with figuring out where the two Minnesota pro basketball teams will play in the future.

Caldwell has a newsworthy 10-year deal from his bosses to lead the Wolves and Lynx. It might take that long to see the doors open on a new home for the teams who play now at the NBA’s second oldest arena.

Target Center opened in 1990 and was privately financed by Wolves owners Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner. The building is now owned by the city of Minneapolis whose citizens recently re-elected Jacob Frey as mayor.

Insiders seem certain Frey’s election kept in play the possibility a new arena can be built within the city limits. Before the election, Frey commented about his support for such a facility if it was privately financed. He values the millions of people Target Center attracts, generating tax and business revenues helping fuel the downtown economy. But he also knows the aging facility still has debt from renovation about eight years ago.

Frey’s primary mayoral foe, Democrat Socialist Omar Fateh, “nixed both direct cash and indirect tax relief types of financial aid” for a new building, according to a Minneapolis Times article by Marshall Tanick in October. Few arena authorities believe a Fateh mayorship, with his emphasis on progressive policies regarding wages, rent, the homeless, transit and the environment, would have been interested in using city dollars even for infrastructure adjacent to a new building.

Asked by Sports Headliners if for certain the Wolves and Lynx want to remain in the city, Caldwell said: “That’s the goal. We’re in a (Target Center) lease right now for 10 more years in Minneapolis. I look forward to working with the mayor and the council and hopefully we can find a good location for everyone.”

Multiple sites for a new arena have drawn speculation including City Center, the Farmers Market near downtown, the Star Tribune printing property in the North Loop and the former Graco site in Northeast Minneapolis. The latter is a potential 40-acre site that could be attractive but there are concerns about traffic flow. It’s not impossible the Target Center site could be under consideration for either a new building or a renovation.

At this early stage of the process, Caldwell said there are many options when asked about the Target Center site. “I am not sure yet. We’re still looking through…different locations but everything is on the table. I just started a few months ago, so I am trying to get to know everyone. We want to take our time and make sure we pick the right site. But at the same time we want to do what’s best for the community and we gotta get a lot of feedback.”

Timberwolves & Lynx CEO Matt Caldwell — Matt Caldwell photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves

Is there a commitment from ownership to financing a new arena privately? “Not yet,” Caldwell answered. “No…like I mentioned earlier all options are on the table. So, we just gotta see. Marc and Alex are fully dedicated to building a new arena, and they’ve committed we’re staying in Minnesota. And we’re just trying to find the right site and see what the best deal is for everyone.”

Ownership’s stance is a new facility is needed to better serve the public and make the two franchises more business viable with the amenities and features already present in new NBA arenas such as the Chase Center in San Francisco and the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. Both were privately financed and the latter reportedly cost about $2 billion.

There has been speculation sites outside of Minneapolis could figure into the puzzle of a new building and location. One intriguing location whispered about is near the Mall of America in Bloomington. That area fits in with the goal of NBA team owners to have surrounding land that can offer additional revenue streams from sources such as lodging, retail and perhaps gambling.

A Bloomington location, seen as a more politically neutral site between Minneapolis and St. Paul, might attract tax dollars not only from that city but also the state which is being pitched for major renovations to Grand Casino Arena, the home of the NHL Wild since 2000. A new arena hosting the basketball teams and the Wild could have considerable public support and political backing from politicians representing areas other than the Twin Cities.

Timeline? Caldwell said the goal is to both work through the arena process “as fast as possible” but also don’t “rush it.” There’s a lot of money at stake for various entities with the project and all kinds of details from site and architectural selection, to financing to infrastructure, from permitting to environmental concerns, and the list goes on. That’s why Caldwell said that even after the first ceremonial groundbreaking occurs, it will probably be three years before the doors open to the public.

Caldwell’s contract with his owners gives him security and confidence to work through the monumental project. So, too, does his personal background with experiences at West Point as a cadet, serving in the Army, working for Goldman Sachs and his successful tenure with the Panthers.

Asked about who he is and his leadership development, Caldwell started talking first about being at West Point: “They kind of break you down and build you back up. …Get rid of as much ego that you have, and then a lot of it is about leading by example. A lot of it is about never tell your people or your soldiers to do something that you couldn’t do, right? …You have high standards, but you care about your people, and people respond to that.

“And that’s always stayed with me, whether I was in finance or sports. Since I left the Army, I’ve always tried to keep that sense of camaraderie. That sense of leading from the front at the end of the day. So, it’s really important and it’s a foundation of how I operate.”

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Most Pressure to Win in This Town? It’s not the WNBA Lynx

Posted on September 26, 2025September 26, 2025 by David Shama

Our town demands little in terms of championships from its pro teams and the Golden Gophers. Maybe that’s part of why the championship cupboard is so bare.

Minnesota fans aren’t so nasty they would threaten a serious boycott of a team, or boo Santa Claus like the City of Brotherly Love once did.

With a population here raised on “Minnesota nice” and minds filled with sensitivity training, I question whether some state natives would even unanimously hiss and jeer Vladimir Putin!

The Lynx are favorites to win the WNBA title this fall but think again if you believe there’s public pressure on the Lynxers to win it all. Nope for a couple of reasons.

The Lynx have already produced four WNBA championships, and they keep exceeding expectations. Then, too, the public interest in the club isn’t as widespread, nor as deeply intense as for several other outfits in town.

The team that should be feeling the most pressure to rise ASAP to an elite level is the Twins. The struggling franchise that passed on the opportunity to take a step forward two years ago after exciting patrons with its playoff run has both pissed off and launched fans into anger and apathy.

The Twins close the regular season on Sunday as a franchise viewed by the public and media as in disarray. David Schoenfield, writing for ESPN.com Wednesday, graded the 30 MLB teams on their 2025 seasons. No one in Twins Territory should be surprised the Pohlad owned franchise was given an F.

Schoenfield wrote: “This is the kind of season that can set an organization back five years, where it kind of feels like the whole organization has given up. Ownership/management punted at the trade deadline, dealing away 10 players. …As always, the Pohlads never disappoint in their willingness to pinch pennies.”

It’s interesting that while the Twins head toward a final record of about 22 games under .500 (after plummeting with a second consecutive late season collapse), the Brewers from neighboring Wisconsin received the best grade of the season from Schoenfield. Playing in a similar size market, the Brewers will finish with close to 100 wins and easily the best runs differential in MLB.

The Vikings, Timberwolves, Wild and Gophers football have no elite hardware to showcase this century, but they don’t face the scrutiny of the Twins who need a massive turnaround and pursuit of no less than an American league pennant.

Measure fan interest by game attendance, TV viewership, merchandise sales and sponsorship, and no one in this town likely comes close to the Vikings in decibel blowing devotion. On Sundays, it feels like only the newborn and comatose among us aren’t following the Purple heroes.

The franchise hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, but there’s not a win it all demand by the fanbase or “we’re done with you.” A competitive team, with entertaining players, is enough for the Skol-mad and beer fueled fans to rock all fall.

The Wolves and Wild claim no league titles in their histories which date back 35 and 25 years respectively. Yeah, Wolves fans would love to see coach Chris Finch hoisting the NBA championship trophy on a parade down Hennepin Avenue. But the fanbase of this mostly forlorn franchise is mesmerized by the last two springs when the club made the Western Conference Finals. Pressure to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy? Nah, not when the fanbase is honeymooning right now in unknown success.

The Wild fanbase is passionate and darn loyal, win or lose. Patrons would love a Stanley Cup but for starters many will welcome a deep playoff run next spring. Past post season success has been too minimal as has goal scoring. Disappointed fans have a way of returning for the next season and for now are preoccupied with seeing the contract of superstar Kirill Kaprizov extended. That’s where the franchise’s public pressure is for now. If Kaprizov departs and the club performs poorly for a season or two, then the pressure will be on like never before in the building we used to call the X.

Gopher football hasn’t shared a Big Ten championship since 1967. Minnesota couldn’t even win a division title earlier this century when it was grouped into the mediocre Big Ten West. Win-some, lose-some results in Big Ten games for a long time has driven away fans. Apathy hangs over this once proud program that during the first 70 years of the last century was a national power. A berth in the 12-team college football playoffs one day would bring a lot of fans out of the closet for the home state Division 1 football.

Not saying there isn’t pressure to win for this town’s teams, but nobody should be feeling it like the Twins! Santa Claus, though, probably wouldn’t get booed at Target Field. Tim Walz or Scott Jensen, maybe.

Worth Noting

Lindy’s Sports College Basketball Magazine is on newsstands and forecasts a 16^th place finish for Minnesota in the 18-team Big Ten standings. Concerns about coach Niko Medved’s first team at Minnesota include how well incoming players from mid-major programs will fare in the Big Ten.

The magazine’s top 10: Houston, Purdue, Florida, Michigan, Duke, Kentucky, St. John’s, Iowa State, Alabama and UConn.

The public is invited to a free men’s basketball Maroon and Gold Open Scrimmage at Williams Arena on Saturday, October 11. Start time will be 2 or 2:30 p.m., four hours before the start of the home football game with Purdue. That game time will be either 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. and decided later. Following the one-hour scrimmage, players will sign autographs near the Williams Arena court.

Fans can enter the arena through the Maturi Pavilion Daily Entrance, located at 1925 University Ave. Tailgate lots for the Gopher football game are scheduled to open at noon or 12:30 p.m. that day

News came yesterday that 6-8 forward Erick Reader, the sophomore forward from Bloomington and New Life Academy who played minimally in the past for the Gophers, is leaving the program to focus on academics. He is replaced by 6-3 walk-on guard RJ Spencer from Blaine and Totino-Grace.

Congratulations to hockey icon Lou Nanne who will be inducted Tuesday into the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame at the JX Event Center in Stillwater. The former Gophers All-American, North Stars player, GM and president, has an impressive broadcast resume.

Nanne’s broadcast experience includes the Stanley Cup, Olympics, NCAA Frozen Four and the Boys’ State High School Hockey Tournament. He offered game commentary for 60 years of Minnesota high school state tournament games. He makes a KFAN radio appearance one day a week with Dan Barreiro.

Saint John’s senior defensive end Zach Frank and St. Olaf senior linebacker Noah Barret are semifinalists for the 2025 William V. Campbell Trophy® which is college football’s premier scholar-athlete award.

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