Vikings – Page 124 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Winfield May Return Punts for Gophers

Posted on August 15, 2018August 15, 2018 by David Shama

Enjoy a Wednesday notes column.

Safety and post-season Big Ten awards candidate Antoine Winfield Jr. was fielding punts at a recent Gophers football scrimmage open to the public and media. Winfield, who missed eight games last season because of injury, is part of an “experiment” by head coach P.J. Fleck to determine who will have the punt return job when the season opens August 30 at home against New Mexico State.

Fleck is also considering redshirt senior cornerback Antonio Shenault and true freshman wide receiver Rashod Bateman. Winfield is a redshirt sophomore who probably is Minnesota’s best player regardless of position.

No doubt Fleck wants an athlete with sure hands to become his No. 1 punt returner. He will welcome a playmaker at the position who can advance the ball up field when few could. The Gophers, who struggled to score points last season and could again in 2018, didn’t return a punt for a touchdown last season, or the year before.

Shenault shared punt returning last season with the departed Drew Hmielewski. Shenault had four returns for 11 yards. Winfield hasn’t returned punts in college, while Bateman has yet to step on the field for a college game.

Bateman made some difficult catches at last week’s scrimmage open to the public and media. “He’s like that everyday,” Fleck said.

A four-star recruit in high school, per 247/Sports and Rivals, the Tifton, Georgia native has a reputation for speed, explosiveness and big plays. National power Georgia tried to persuade Bateman to change his mind about becoming a Gopher.

The Gophers’ football schedule avoids three of the five Big Ten teams Sports Illustrated has in its top 15 teams in the nation. The S.I. college football issue out last week ranks Wisconsin No. 3 (predicting a national playoff spot), Penn State No. 7, Ohio State No. 9, Michigan State No. 11 and Michigan No. 15. Minnesota plays at Ohio State October 13 and closes the regular season at Wisconsin November 24.

Eden Prairie, defending 6A football state champs, started two-a-day practices this week along with other high school teams in the state. Head coach Mike Grant minimizes tackling in preparation for the season. His best players might only participate in contact for a series or two in a scrimmage before the Eagles open the season against Eastview on August 30. Excluded from any contact will be starting quarterback Cole Kramer.

Grant has won 11 titles at Eden Prairie since starting there in 1992. He told Sports Headliners the Eagles might have won five more if not for injuries.

A pro football source said the Vikings reached out to 59-year-old Mike Tice about becoming offensive line coach after the unexpected death this summer of Tony Sparano. Tice, a former Vikings head coach with a 33-34 record from 2001-2005, is retired from coaching after most recently working as offensive line coach for the Raiders.

Viking veteran Kai Forbath has a history of inconsistency on extra points. New rookie kicker Daniel Carlson will give Forbath a lot of competition for the job of converting extra points and field goals, and kicking off. This could be the most intense player competition in training camp.

Carlson was 4-for-4 on extra points and 2-for-2 on field goals last Saturday night in the Viking opening preseason win in Denver against the Broncos.

Another battle is to see who emerges as the No. 3 wide receiver. Laquon Treadwell, a No. 1 draft selection in 2016, hasn’t caught a touchdown pass in two seasons. In Saturday’s preseason opener he had one reception for three yards. Rookie Brandon Zylstra, injured and not able to play last Saturday, could not only make the roster but perhaps emerge as the No. 3 WR this season.

Legacy statistic for Lindsay Whalen who is retiring from the Lynx after this season: Since 2011 the club’s record is 60-3 when she has seven assists or more.

Former Gopher basketball player Larry Overskei, a three-year starter from 1967-1970, is retired after 47 years of coaching including most recently the boys golf team at Coon Rapids High School. During Overskei’s career he also coached basketball and one of his players was now Baseball Hall of Famer Jack Morris. At Highland Park High Morris helped the team win two St. Paul conference titles.

“Quick as a cat, tenacious, and a wonderful shooter,” Overskei wrote about Morris via email.

It will be interesting to see how center fielder Jake Cave of the Twins hits the rest of the season. Since being recalled on June 25, he is batting .377 (20-for-53) at Target Field. He has a hit in 18 of 22 games at home this season, batting .358 (24-for-67) with 18 RBI.

The 25-year-old Cave enters today’s home game against the Pirates hitting .273 with four home runs and 22 RBI in 139 at bats.

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Zimmer a Vikings Steal at $4 million

Posted on August 8, 2018August 9, 2018 by David Shama

The Vikings are spending aggressively to lock up their players for coming seasons, while pushing for their first Super Bowl since 1977. An August 1 story by the Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling reported that starting in 2019 nine Vikings will have “a contract that carries a yearly average over $10 million in each of its first three seasons.”

For this season Spotrac.com lists six Vikings earning $10 million or more. They are quarterback Kirk Cousins, $24 million; cornerback Xavier Rhodes, $13,400,000; linebacker Anthony Barr, $12,306,000; defensive end Everson Griffen, $11,600,000; offensive tackle Riley Reiff, $11,400,000; safety Harrison Smith, $10,000,000.

Even a grade school NFL fan knows a team can’t deliver on lofty ambitions without talented players. Or as former Golden Gophers national championship coach Murray Warmath once said, “No mule ever won the Kentucky Derby.”

Yet it’s interesting to contrast the compensation of highly paid Vikings players with that of head coach Mike Zimmer. His annual salary is guarded by club officials but media reports have the 62-year-old Zimmer earning $4 or $5 million annually. But for all the talent surrounding Zimmer, he might be the most important individual with the team.

In the competitive and strategic world of pro football, the head coach is far from a figurehead or caretaker. “Coaching is 60 to 65 percent of (team) success,” former Viking defensive lineman Bob Lurtsema has reminded Sports Headliners.

Zimmer will soon start his fifth regular season as Viking head coach and the team is among the favorites to win the NFC. He has won 39 regular season games, more than any other Viking head coach accomplished in his first four years. Zimmer’s teams have won two NFC North titles and were within one win of advancing to the Super Bowl last winter. The only losing season Zimmer has experienced was his first year 7-9 record. The prior season the Vikings’ record was 5-10-1.

Zimmer looked like a career NFL assistant coach until the Vikings gave him his first head coaching job. From day one he let his players know he was on a mission to build a tough, smart football team that gives maximum effort. The process has benefitted immensely from Zimmer’s direction including his widely acknowledged expertise as a defensive guru.

There have been bumps in the road for both the team and Zimmer personally. When the club hasn’t met expectations he can be a difficult character to be around, but his competitiveness sends a message. So does his toughness which Viking fans followed for months when he coached through a series of eye miseries that began with surgery for a detached retina.

It’s the way of the NFL to pay the best players more than the coaches—sometimes much more. A June 12 Street.com story by Scott Van Voorhis reported the NFL’s top paid head coach is New England’s Bill Belichick at between $10 million and $12.5 million. Oakland’s Jon Gruden is No. 2 at $10 million, with Seattle’s Pete Carroll and New Orleans’ Sean Payton making $9 million, according to the article.

Street.com listed the top 10 paid NFL head coaches and Zimmer didn’t make the cut. Coming in at the bottom of the 10 were Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy and Dallas’ Jason Garrett, both reportedly at $6 million.

You might have to search all over Vikingland to find anyone who would prefer McCarthy or Garrett before our guy Zim. Like the headline says, Zimmer is a steal.

Worth Noting

Steve Erban, known to travelling Gophers and Vikings fans as the operator of Stillwater-based Creative Charters, was a thoroughbred horse racing trainer for many years and is still involved with ownership. He’s organizing the “Royal Day Party” on Saturday at Canterbury Park that is part of the “Dress to the Nines” promotion celebrating racing including the Minnesota Derby and Minnesota Oaks. It’s all inspired by the annual Royal Ascot races in England where fans dress up in style. More at Canterburypark.com/racing-promotions.

Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge is celebrating 120 years and its history includes golf, having established the first Minnesota resort golf course in 1921. That course had sand tee boxes. Now the resort has two courses, Alec’s 9 on the site of the first course and Jack’s 18, a scenic course that winds around two lakes.

Pitcher Kyle Gibson appeared among the likeliest of Twins to be traded a couple of months ago but now could be with the club through the season and be a prominent part of the rotation in 2019. The 30-year-old right hander has the second most quality starts on the club behind Jose Berrios. He’s turned his career around since the last half of the 2017 season.

Quoting Twins baseball boss Derek Falvey in a letter sent Monday to ticket buyers reassuring them about the franchise’s future: “…We should all look forward to a strong finish to this season and the continued growth of our players as we build toward sustained, championship-caliber baseball together. Most importantly, thank you for your continued support!”

Condolences to family and friends of Dick Erdall, who passed away this summer after a life that included 1950s youth football coaching in Minneapolis. His coaching contributed to the state powerhouse teams at Washburn High School. He was also a 13th ward alderman in Minneapolis and interim mayor.

Gopher football practice at TCF Bank Stadium is open to the public Friday and begins at 4 p.m.

Next June will be the 30th Bruce Smith Golf Classic at Faribault Golf Club. Organizer Bruce Krinke said the event (named after Faribault native and Gopher Heisman Trophy winner Bruce Smith) hopes to reach a 30-year total of $250,000. Proceeds are annually given to Faribault schools.

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Tales Galore in Jonckowski’s New Book

Posted on July 29, 2018July 29, 2018 by David Shama

A grasshopper goes into a bar. The bartender says, “Did you know we have a drink named after you?”

The grasshopper replies, “You have a drink named Steve?”

That joke and many more are in Dick Jonckowski’s new book It’s All About Me. The well-known Minnesota native has giggled his way through life telling jokes and rubbing elbows with celebrities, most of them sports heroes.

Dick turns 75 in October but he’s still a kid at heart. Still ready to swap tales with a friend or stranger. Still looking to meet a new celebrity, or renew a friendship with an old one. Still ready to add a poster, photo, bobblehead or some other keepsake to the famous memorabilia collection housed in the basement of his Shakopee, Minnesota home. Still going about his day with a twinkle in his eye and ready to have fun because he believes “laugh, and live longer.”

Arlene and Dick Jonckowski in their sports memorabilia-filled basement.

Dick and his wife Arlene dipped into family finances to fund It’s All About Me, Dick Jonckowski: A Minnesota Treasure. It’s a project they talked about for years. As Arlene says in the book: “So I finally told him, ‘Now or never, Dick. You need to do this.’ “

With the help of writer Jim Bruton, Dick wrote a 130-page story about his life as a sports fan who became a field usher at Met Stadium, master of ceremonies for a long list of events near and far, PR man in pro basketball, professional rasslin’ ring announcer, radio host at stations in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and men’s basketball public address announcer for decades as the voice of the Golden Gophers.

There’s not only been a lot of kid in Dick all these years but some “hot dog too.” As a field usher for Vikings games, he liked to return errant footballs to game officials by throwing the balls around his back. When Vikings running back Chuck Foreman slid for about 10 yards on a slick field, Jonckowski rushed over to make the baseball safe at home sign. A video clip ended up on TV’s Tonight Show but Bud Grant labeled Dick a “hot dog” for his antics that played well with Met Stadium crowds but not so good with the Vikings head coach.

Dick’s most infamous incident is still talked about by Vikings fans. In the Vikings-Cowboys playoff game in 1975, Dallas wide receiver Drew Pearson caught a key pass that helped sustain a late drive and soon led to a Minnesota loss. It’s been widely acknowledged that Pearson was out of bounds when he made the catch but the play stood. The Cowboys went on to win the game with another controversial catch by Pearson. Here’s what Dick wrote about the out of bounds incident in his book:

“Drew Pearson was lying there on the ground, and I was so mad I walked up to him and I kicked him—just a little. It was a real sissy kick. I barely hit him at all. I just kicked the bottom of his shoe. I was just so mad and frustrated by the call.”

Dick’s kick was reviewed by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. He told the Vikings Dick couldn’t be a field usher for the next two seasons. “When I came back in 1978, all the fun was gone. They watched me like a hawk,” Dick wrote in his book.

Dick has lived a life a bit like Forrest Gump. He’s been on assignment in various roles at many sports events but sometimes he’s just crashed the party. After the Vikings-Kansas City Super Bowl he and Arlene were walking around New Orleans when they found the Chiefs’ celebration party. Chief players and former Gophers Bobby Bell and Bob Stein asked what the Jonckowskis were doing at the party? “So I told them we were invited,” Dick wrote in the book while mentioning he and Arlene hung around at the hotel victory party for about 90 minutes.

Dick’s mischief once prompted him to sit—uninvited of course—in the owner’s box of the Cincinnati Reds. When Marge Schott showed up, she hit it off with Dick and invited him to stay.

“There is an old saying, ‘If you play like you belong, you can get in anywhere,’ ” Dick says.

Maybe the first time he tried that out was in 1964 when sold-out Williams Arena was hosting a huge Big Ten game between the Golden Gophers and Michigan. Dick didn’t have tickets so he approached Wolverines star Cazzie Russell when he got off the team bus outside the arena. Dick asked if he could carry Cazzie’s bag to the locker room. That not only got Dick into the building, but he watched the game from one row behind the Michigan bench.

There’s a lot of fun in the book but some serious moments too. Awhile back Dick was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and shortly thereafter was dealing with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The chemo treatments four years ago were rugged and at least once Dick wondered whether he would survive. He lost a lot of weight and his voice weakened for awhile but he recovered.

“I have been very lucky,” Dick writes in the book. “I only go in once a year now to be checked.”

Dick has kept his sense of humor through his fight with cancer and other ordeals including a basement flood. I always was confident Dick would keep a positive attitude. Years ago he told me it’s important to laugh in life “because no one gets out alive.”

Dick’s book can be purchased by calling him at 952-261-3013.

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