Twins – Page 48 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings Earn ‘A’ Grade in Opener

Posted on September 11, 2022September 11, 2022 by David Shama

Describe the first game of the Kevin O’Connell era a rousing success. The Vikings dominated the Packers today in their NFL opener, 23-7, and deserve high marks for their performance.

O’Connell, the new head coach, called an impressive game in a new offensive scheme that included motioning wide receiver Justin Jefferson before the ball was snapped. The Vikings offense played with tempo and aggressiveness against a Packers defense considered one of the NFL’s best. Even the suspect offensive line exceeded expectations, providing time for quarterback Kirk Cousins to throw and also opening holes for Dalvin Cook.

Jefferson, heading into his third NFL season, showed why his NFL peers consider him one of the league’s elite players. He had 186 receiving yards on nine catches, an impressive 20.4 yards per reception. He scored both of Minnesota’s touchdowns during an explosive performance that included his second quarter 36-yard TD reception. It was an A+ day for No. 18 who befuddled Packer defenders in the first half when he scored both of his touchdowns.

Wreaking havoc on the Packers and setting a tone for a physical defense was outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith. He was part of a gang tackling effort in the third quarter that caused Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers to fumble. The Vikings turned that opportunity into a 56-yard Greg Joseph field goal to extend their lead to 20-0.

Smith and teammates came up with the defense’s biggest play of the day in the second quarter with the Vikings ahead 7-0. Green Bay had fourth down on the Minnesota one-yard line but couldn’t get in the endzone. Smith, Jonathan Bullard and Harrison Phillips stopped AJ Dillon’s run and a 79-yard Packer drive.

Smith, the former Packer signed by the Vikings in the offseason, not only earned high marks for his day but is worthy of a game ball along with O’Connell and Jefferson. When those three and the other Vikings and coaches weren’t frustrating the Packers, the boys from Green Bay were doing it to themselves.

On Green Bay’s opening play of the game, rookie wide receiver Christian Watson ran past defenders in the secondary and Rodgers delivered a pass into his hands. Those hands didn’t secure the ball, though, and an almost certain 75-yard touchdown.

The Vikings went on to build a 17-0 halftime lead and the Packers never came closer than when they scored a third quarter touchdown to trail 20-7. Rodgers showed frustration and anger as his depleted offensive line allowed pressure by the Vikings and his inexperienced receivers let him. Give the defending NFC North Division champions a D grade in their opener.

It was smiles all around by Vikings players and their delirious fans who did their best to disrupt Green Bay communications. Yeah, let’s give an A+ to the Purple Patrons, too.

Worth Noting

Don’t worry Gopher fans. Nebraska isn’t going after P.J. Fleck for its next football coach. Hiring coaches away from another Big Ten member school is a “no-no” in the conference.

Andrew DePaola, 35, is the oldest Viking; the youngest is Andrew Booth, Jr. at 21. Harrison Smith has played the most seasons with the team, 11. Blake Brandel and Brian O’Neill are the tallest Vikings at 6-7; Dalvin Cook is the shortest, 5-10. Dalvin Tomlinson is the heaviest at 325 pounds, while Chandon Sullivan the lightest at 189.

Ken Mauer, Jr., the St. Paul native with 37 years of NBA officiating experience, received a two-sentence letter from the league earlier this month notifying him of his termination. The letter wasn’t a surprise after he was suspended without pay all of last season for refusing to be vaccinated for COVID.

Mauer and other referees who took the same anti-vaccine position are suing the NBA in federal court. The league allowed players to decide whether to be vaccinated but mandated referees use the vaccine. “I just don’t think that’s right. I don’t think that’s fair,” Mauer told a luncheon group in Bloomington last Thursday.

The power of the National Basketball Players Association apparently made the league take a different stance with the players than it did with the officials. Mauer is prouder of the stance he is taking in litigation than the NBA career he loved. ”What I am going to win (in court) is that it’s wrong to take anyone’s civil liberties,” Mauer told his audience. “You should be allowed to decide for yourself whether or not you want to put a needle in your arm. …”

A practicing Catholic, Mauer has a strong religious faith. However, he doesn’t criticize others who choose to take the vaccine or wear masks.

Mauer, 67, was hired by the NBA before the 1986-87 season. At 30 years old he was on his way to achieving his life’s dream. He started refereeing in grade school and continued on from there including while on a baseball scholarship at the University of Minnesota. Others scoffed at his ambition to become the first NBA ref from Minnesota.

“Well, they’re doing JV games and I refereed 37 years in the NBA,” Mauer said. “They don’t laugh at me anymore. I am a little bit proud of that.”

Despite physical challenges like broken ribs, Mauer never missed a game during his career including 19 NBA Finals that he worked. He spoke to the CORES group at the Bloomington Event Center. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Bruce Feldman’s August 31 story for The Athletic on 37 college football assistant coaches to watch this year included Minnesota defensive coordinator Joe Rossi (“one of the most underrated coaches in college football”) and running backs coach/assistant head coach Kenni Burns (“recruiting skills and ability to have all his guys ready to perform”).

Former Gophers basketball public address announcer Dick Jonckowski is battling his third round of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and will learn Tuesday whether treatment has made him cancer free.

Steve and Dortothy Erban’s locally-based Creative Charters is offering transportation to all Gophers football away games starting with Michigan State September 24. That game will have customers flying out and back to Minneapolis the same day. The next road game, October 15 at Illinois, will have travelers Amtrak bound for Chicago and Champaign, and then returning home via plane. https://creativecharter.com/about.html

Among reasons to like the chances for the Guardians to win the AL Central Division is they close the season at home with six games against the Royals, a team that is 27 games under .500.

Ouch: Since 2002 the Twins are 38-98 against the Yankees. Since 2027 they are 2-16 at Yankee Stadium.

Word is Pete Najarian, the former Gopher and pro football player who is known nationally as a stock market guru, will continue indefinitely on WCCO Radio’s Sunday “Sports Huddle.”

All five of the Timberwolves preseason games will be televised. Bally Sports North will have the October 4, 9 and 14 games against the Heat, Clippers and Nets. ESPN will televise October 6 and 12 games against the Lakers.

At Cincinnati, where former Gopher administrator John Cunningham is the athletics director, the Bearcats’ home football games are sold out for the season.

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NFL Peers Vote Vikings’ WR Elite Status

Posted on August 28, 2022August 28, 2022 by David Shama

Vikings’ wide receiver Justin Jefferson will hear his name announced tonight on the NFL Network and find himself in elite company. The network has been on a countdown of the league’s 100 best players and names of the top 20 will be announced starting at 7 p.m. Minneapolis time.

This will be a milestone for the third-year star who ranked No. 53 in last year’s annual voting done by league players to recognize the best of their peers. In 2020 the explosive pass catcher was among the NFL’s headline making rookies (Pro Football Focus Offensive Rookie of the Year) and in 2021 Jefferson was even better in key categories including 1,616 receiving yards, the second most in the NFL. He has twice been named AP second team All-Pro.

Best guess is Jefferson was voted into a 10-20 ranking for 2022. At least two wide receivers are certain to be ahead of Minnesota’s late first round draft choice in 2020, Davante Adams from the Raiders and Cooper Kupp of the Rams. Other wide receivers on the top 20 list are Tyreek Hill from the Dolphins and Deebo Samuel of the 49ers, per a Thursday story from NFL.com that didn’t reveal ranking of the players but listed them alphabetically.

Justin Jefferson image courtesy of Minnesota Vikings

Interestingly WR Stefon Diggs, who the Vikings traded away in the 2020 offseason and Jefferson replaced as the team’s big play receiver, was voted No. 26 after being at 11 a year ago. Also of note, WR Ja’Marr Chase, who played at LSU and set Bengals records as a rookie in 2021, was voted No. 24 on the list of top NFL players. Chase claims to be better than his former college teammate.

With new coach Kevin O’Connell known for his offensive expertise, Jefferson is now likely to be even more of a focal point for the Vikings, who had two other players announced in the top 100 voting. Quarterback Kirk Cousins was voted No. 99 after not making the top 100 a year ago. Running back Dalvin Cook was No. 31 after being No. 20 in 2021, a decline due in part to missing four games.

A year ago four Vikings made the NFL players’ top 100, Jefferson, Cook, linebacker Eric Kendricks at No. 70 and WR Adam Thielen, No. 80.

Worth Noting

It will be interesting to see if WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” show continues. Station owner Audacy has been making financial cuts in Minneapolis and with other properties. The Sunday program, featuring Sid Hartman and Dave Mona, aired for about 40 years before ending during the pandemic. It was the longest running program in station history. Then last October the show was revived with new hosts Mike Max and Pete Najarian.

Jerry Kill turned 61 last Wednesday but the week didn’t end well with an opening game loss to Nevada last night. The former Gophers coach, now in his first season at New Mexico State, saw his team lose, 23-12.

The Gophers will practice tonight and Monday evening at Huntington Bank Stadium to acclimate to the 8 p.m. start time for Thursday’s season and home opener against New Mexico State.

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said there is still a three-way competition to win the offensive right tackle position between Quinn Carroll, JJ Guedet and Martes Lewis. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we rotate those guys,” Fleck said.

Look for an announced crowd of 40 to 45,000 for Thursday night’s game.

Jay Sawvell, a former Kill assistant at Minnesota, is defensive coordinator at Wyoming. The Cowboys lost yesterday to Illinois, 38-6.

The struggling Twins, who have lost 12 of their last 21 games and are in second place three games behind the AL Central Division leading Guardians, held first place for 106 days this year. Injuries have been an issue all year and the club has used 56 players, including 32 pitchers.

Former Nationals and Reds front office executive Jim Bowden, now writing for The Athletic, has one Twins’ prospect on his latest top 50 MLB prospects list, while the Guardians have three. Brooks Lee, who the Twins drafted No. 1 earlier this year, is No. 27 with the comment the switch hitting shortstop could proceed “relatively quickly” to the big leagues.

The Hutchinson community will dedicate Rostberg Stadium at S.R. Knutson Field on September 23 prior to the high school football game between Hutchinson and Becker. The father-son coaching duo of Grady and Andy Rostberg have combined for an overall record at Hutchinson of 455-116-1, a 79.6 winning percentage.

Grady coached from 1970-1999, winning three state titles. Andy succeeded his dad and is still coaching the Tigers who have also won three state championships under his direction.

A hockey source, speaking anonymously, believes former Gophers star Sammy Walker received about $1 million in signing bonus to join the Wild. He predicts that Walker, a center, could spend a year or two at the Wild’s Iowa farm team before becoming a 20-goal per season NHL scorer.

Steve LaCroix, president of the esports entertainment company Wisdom Gaming and former marketing boss of the Vikings, is the latest guest on “Behind the Game.” The program is seen on local cable markets and YouTube. It is co-hosted by Agile Marketing owner Patrick Klinger and USHL commissioner Bill Robertson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K083w0Y6NE&t=3s

Baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. will be the featured speaker at the September 10 Morrie Miller Athletic Foundation banquet in Winona. The foundation’s mission is to support and sustain youth sports in the Winona area.

Word is Hazeltine National Golf Club has renewed interest in hosting more of golf’s biggest events, including the Presidents Cup and U.S. Open. The Chaska facility has the 2029 Ryder Cup booked after hosting the event in 2016. Hazeltine will be the first American site to ever host the event twice.

Belated happy birthday wishes to former wrestling coach Paul Ehrhard who is in five halls of fame and coached state championship teams at Albert Lea High school. He turned 89 years old on August 18.

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Morgan Tops Most Viking QBs in Longevity

Posted on August 23, 2022 by David Shama

This upcoming season will be Tanner Morgan’s fifth as the University of Minnesota’s starting quarterback.

Think that’s a lot?

Yup, contrast Morgan with the other team in town that football fans follow with passion. In the 61-year history of the Vikings only four quarterbacks have been regular starters for five seasons or more. The list includes Kirk Cousins who is preparing for his fifth season in Minneapolis, plus Fran Tarkenton, Tommy Kramer and Daunte Culpepper. BTW Morgan, 23, is the same age as second-year Vikings backup quarterback Kellen Mond.

Morgan, who took over as Minnesota’s starter in October of 2018, is the only five season starting quarterback dating back to the end of World War II, per the Gophers’ media guide. He could be the only Minnesota QB to ever have been a starter for five seasons since the beginning of Gopher football in 1882.

Morgan’s unique story is happening because of an extra season of eligibility granted to football players by the NCAA in response to the loss of practice and game opportunities caused by COVID in 2020. Morgan is part of the “encore four” that includes three other six-year players who began careers at Minnesota as freshmen in 2017. Wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell, running back Mohamed Ibrahim, and center John Michael Schmitz are the other members of the group.

All four redshirted in 2017 and then first played in 2018, with Morgan having six starts in the team’s final games, and Ibrahim and Autman-Bell starting in nine games each. Schmitz saw action on special teams.

Morgan has quarterbacked the team to 27 wins, the most ever for a Gopher quarterback. Now he and teammates are getting ready for the season opener at home September 1 against New Mexico State.

He is grateful for his time at Minnesota. “You know, I’ve been here a long time. I’ve been very thankful for that. …Sometimes I pinch myself for having the situation that I am (in). Wake up in the morning, praying and thanking God that he has me where he has me. That I am a member of the University of Minnesota football team. …So it’s a joy to be here every day.”

Morgan holds school records for passing including those set in 2019, his best year as a Gopher when he threw for 3,253 yards and 30 touchdowns (both single season records). That team had an 11-2 record and was ranked No. 10 in the final AP poll.

The Gophers, who had a 7-2 Big Ten record that year, are trying to duplicate similar success in 2022 and are considered a dark horse to win the West Division. “I know he knows the expectation he has upon himself,” said head coach P.J. Fleck. “Nobody is going to put more pressure on himself than Tanner and this football team. He knows what he has to be able to accomplish. … I think he’s better than he’s ever been—to his performance, to his attitude, to his leadership. It’s proactive leadership, not reactive leadership. And I think that’s due to (wife) Sarah probably (and) getting married.”

In pursuit of chasing perfection as a passer, Morgan knows he’s never going to be perfect. “It all comes down to fundamentals and how you use your body to make throws,” he said.

With all his experience, Morgan certainly has the confidence of his teammates. “With Tanner, he’s very smart,” said safety Jordan Howden. “He knows when to throw and when not to throw. …With six years, you can see the growth from him. “

Worth Noting

Want to scout New Mexico State before Jerry Kill’s guys play the Gophers September 1? The Aggies game Saturday night against Nevada from Las Cruces will be televised on ESPN2 starting at 9 p.m. Minneapolis time.

Kill, approaching his first game as Aggies coach, has one Minnesotan on his roster, reserve freshman defensive back Rashad McKinley from St. Paul and Hill-Murray High School.

Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah likes to talk about “evidence-based” decisions. His previous front office experience with the 49ers and Browns came into play yesterday when Minnesota, scrambling to upgrade the talent and depth of its quarterback roster, acquired veteran Nick Mullens from the Raiders. The fifth-year pro has been with both the 49ers and the Browns.

Viking defensive lineman T.Y. McGill Jr., through two preseason games, leads the NFL in sacks at 3.5. The defense is holding opponents to 4.47 yards per play, ranking third best in the NFC during preseason.

A week from today NFL teams must reduce rosters down to 53 players.

A Sports Headliners reader and long-time Twins fan emailed that his friends are challenged to give away tickets to clients because people don’t want to go downtown. “And I have yet to talk to anyone that is happy with the way Rocco (Balldeli) manages his pitching staff. Of course we are all happy to be in the hunt for a playoff spot but many feel we could be seven games ahead if we had managed our starting pitchers and relief pitchers differently.”

The CORES luncheon group welcomes Ken Mauer Jr. as its guest speaker September 8 at the Bloomington Event Center. With 37 years of experience, the St. Paul native is the NBA’s longest tenured referee having worked games in five different decades including NBA Finals. He didn’t officiate last season due to a disagreement with the league regarding COVID directives. Reservations must be made by September 5. For more information contact Jim Dotseth: dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Birthday wishes: St. Paul native and baseball Hall of Famer Paul Molitor turned 66 yesterday and former Gophers women’s Final Four basketball coach Pam Borton had her 57th birthday.

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