David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings O-Line? Experience Prompts Optimism

Posted on August 15, 2023August 15, 2023 by David Shama

Ezra Cleveland knows that in the competitive NFL there is no guarantee of having the same teammate beyond one season. The Vikings’ left guard is thinking the return of all five starters in 2023 will translate into the team’s best offensive line in years.

“It’s the same (group),” Cleveland told Sports Headliners. “Each one of us has been getting better every year. I feel like offensive linemen get better as they progress in their career. We’re all getting older. I am excited.”

Cleveland, center Garrett Bradbury and right tackle Brian O’Neill are all about to start their fourth NFL seasons. Right guard Ed Ingram is a second-year lineman, left tackle Christian Darrisaw, a third.

Those five players started much of last season until injuries hit. Ingram played well enough to be a rookie starter, O’Neill and Darrisaw looked like the Vikings’ best pair of tackles in a long time, Bradbury drew praise for his improvement and Cleveland was a solid run blocker.

“Continuity is big, having everyone back,” Cleveland said. “(The) relationships we all have is big. We’re able to coach each other out on the field and stuff like that.

“I feel like we all kind of have our own lingo. The (number) one offensive line is different than the two offensive line just cause how close we all are and how long we’ve been playing together.

“We’re going on four years with Garrett and Brian. Yeah, it’s big and it’s going to help us a lot this season.”

Ezra Cleveland photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings

Cleveland and Bradbury are particularly close, spending time together almost every day the last two years, including the offseason. That gives the two veterans, playing next to each other on the line of scrimmage, a special connection.

“We know each other like the back of our hand and it helps out on the field,” Cleveland said. “I know what he’s going to do and he knows what I am going to do. The o-line is the only spot where five people have to mesh together to make other people’s jobs work, and having that connection is big.”

This will be a second consecutive season under head coach Kevin O’Connell, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips and line coach Chris Kuper. That adds to Cleveland’s optimism about the coming season.

Among offensive linemen, there was some hesitation in a new system last season. “Hemming and hawing” is the way Cleveland described the learning curve and uncertainty. “We always ended up on the right guys but it might have been right at the last second where we figured out what to do. ….When you’re playing fast and not really thinking, that’s when the best football is played I think.”

Cleveland sees another factor that makes him upbeat about the coming season and it’s the presence of new defensive coordinator Brian Flores. The new defense is aggressive and it’s a challenge to figure out what’s coming. “Flo’s defense is very, very difficult,” Cleveland said.

Dealing with last second adjustments in practice should help during the season as well as seeing different schemes in joint practices with the Titans and Cardinals this summer.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins, who threw 29 touchdown passes in 17 games last season, was sacked a career high 46 times. His total passing attempts of 643 was also third highest in the NFL as the Vikings became a more pass-focused offense. So that contributed to the 46 sacks but it’s no secret the Vikings must improve at pass blocking.

“…The whole line is like, okay, we gotta protect this guy,” Cleveland said. “Be firm and he’ll make stuff happen.”

Cleveland’s reputation is that of a better run blocker than pass protector. Does he agree? “Not necessarily. Run blocking is easy because there’s not really that much stress. You just have to go to the guy that is ID’d (to block). And in pass blocking these guys are paid a lot of money to beat us, but, no, I don’t think so.”

Cleveland has played left tackle and right guard for the Vikings. Because he played left tackle at Boise State he feels comfortable playing on the left side of the line and prefers his present position. He said fans don’t understand the difficulty switching from one side of the line to the other, comparing it to “like writing with your other hand.”

Worth Noting

Cleveland, listed by the Vikings at 6-6 and 312 pounds, was born three weeks prematurely but weighed 11 pounds.

Former Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen, 35, is retired, living in a Minneapolis suburb and working on his golf game.

The Gophers play five teams ranked in the Associated Press preseason college football top 25 poll: No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 19 Wisconsin, No. 21 North Carolina and No. 25 Iowa.

Chris Autman-Bell, coming off a knee injury that caused him to miss the last 10 games of the 2022 season, was running fluidly in practice today and made a challenging touchdown catch.

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said after practice he likes the depth and complimentary skills of his running backs roster, and multiple personnel will be used in games. “It’s definitely going to be a committee approach,” Fleck said.

Fleck talking about redshirt defensive lineman Anthony Smith who has been turning heads in practice: “NFL scouts come up (and go), ‘Hey, who is that guy?’ You can’t touch him just yet.”

The 247Sports ranking of the Gophers Athan Kaliakmanis as the worst quarterback in the Big Ten and a ranking of No. 67 out of 69 Power Five at the position is ridiculous. His performance in late season wins over Wisconsin and Syracuse were impressive. BTW, Lindy’s Big Ten preview rates the Gophers’ QB unit as No. 8 in the 14-team league.

The Athletic yesterday named its preseason All-American teams and included Gophers’ safety Tyler Nubin on the second defensive unit. Joe Alt, the Totino-Grace alum and North Oaks resident, is a first-team offensive tackle. In 2022 Alt was named first-team All-American by five organizations.

Casey O’Brien, the former Gopher football player who has courageously battled cancer for years, had clean scans today and is cancer free for the last nine months, according to a post today on X from his father Dan O’Brien. Casey is coaching quarterbacks at Holy Family Catholic High School where his dad is preparing for his first season as head coach.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Noah Hills recently reported that each of the 85 scholarship players on the Pittsburgh football team will receive Name, Image and Likeness money through the Alliance 412 collective. Each player, on average, will receive five figures of compensation for performing charity work, per the story. Former Gophers quarterback Tim Salem is the tight ends coach for the Panthers.

Mike Grimm is approaching his 13^th season as the radio voice of Gophers football and 18^th for men’s basketball. No word yet on who will replace Spencer Tollackson as color commentator on basketball games.

Infielder Royce Lewis, who missed the last 36 Twins games with an oblique strain, was reinstated by the club today and to make room on the 26-man roster put utility player Willi Castro on the 10-day disabled list with a mild oblique strain.

MLB.com’s top 100 prospects, posted last Friday, includes three Twins talents in No. 16 Walter Jenkins, No. 18 Brooks Lee and No. 53 Emmanuel Rodriguez. Jenkins and Rodriguez, both outfielders, are projected to arrive in the bigs in 2026 and 2025 respectively. Lee, already in AAA with the Saints, is predicted to play for the Twins next season.

Former Twins World Series champion manager Tom Kelly turns 73 today.

Weather advisory for the more optimistic of Twins fans planning to attend postseason games at Target Field: the World Series starts October 27 and potentially goes through November 4, so prepare your fall-winter wardrobe.

In a recent YouTube interview with Graham Bensinger, former Minnesota governor and pro wrestler Jesse Ventura said Muhammad Ali was his idol and among his prize possessions are autographed boxing gloves from Ali presented to him years ago by prominent Minneapolis businessman and author Harvey Mackay. Ali and Mackay were close friends for decades until the champ passed away in 2016.

The St. Thomas men’s basketball team will be in Italy August 20-30 to play three games against professional teams. This will be the Tommies’ first international trip as a Division I program.

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U NIL Competitive, Playing by the Rules

Posted on August 13, 2023August 13, 2023 by David Shama

It will be 12 months in September since the launch of Dinkytown Athletes, the name, image, and likeness (NIL) collective supporting student-athletes at the University of Minnesota. What’s the progress report?

Derek Burns, president of DA and a co-founder with Robert Gag, told Sports Headliners he is pleased a “sustainable model” is now in place to benefit men and women athletes at Minnesota. He said between 70 and 90 athletes have been part of over 400 transactions or deals benefiting them. Athletes earn compensation from making ads, commercials, endorsements and appearances for businesses, and for their participation at youth clinics, charity events and the promotion of DA to create more awareness of the entity which is not part of the U.

A major driver of opportunities has been the DA relationship as a vendor with Gopher Sports Properties, the Learfield company that holds radio rights for U games and is engaged in other activities like venue signage, corporate hospitality, and event sponsorships and promotions. Burns, a former Gopher football player and Twin Cities businessman, describes the relationship with GSP as “huge” and a highlight among successes in the first 11 months of DA.

In addition to businesses, DA generates revenues from individuals. “Memberships” range from $10 to $500 per month and provide benefits that include access to athletes and events, exclusive information via video and interviews, and merchandise and memorabilia. Large one-time contributions, of course, are also welcomed along with pledges for ongoing support.

For what Burns calls “competitive intelligence reasons” DA doesn’t make public how many contributors it has, or much much money it takes in and pays out. NIL, including in the highly competitive recruitment of football and men’s basketball players across the country, is a subject of scrutiny by every program and collective. Recruiters will use information about rival collectives to their advantage.

Sometimes part of their wooing process is illegal by NCAA policy. NIL isn’t supposed to be an inducement for athletes to influence their college choice. But there’s a lack of enforcement that even the public is aware of. Yet Burns believes pay-to-play is often a failed strategy because it attracts athletes for money only and not the various reasons involved with making a solid choice for a college decision (academic offerings, rapport with coaches, program success etc.).

Disgruntlement over NIL money can soon lead to athletes transferring to another program as they chase dollars. “We’re squarely focused on the current student-athletes,” Burns said.

In the past year multiple individuals and collectives have made headlines about NIL monies raised and gaudy compensation helping programs and athletes (a few reportedly around seven-figures). “That can provide a misconception about how everyone is doing (around the country),” said Burns, who acknowledged that reports sometimes aren’t verifiable and possibly inaccurate.

While Burns didn’t offer figures as to how much money DA has to potentially benefit Gophers football and basketball players, he said that “maybe in the middle is a good way to put it” in comparison with its 13 Big Ten rivals. Burns said no matter how high or low the numbers are “it will be manipulated and used in recruiting.”

The U athletic department is known as probably one of the strictest in the nation when it comes to enforcing and monitoring NCAA policy for student-athletes. The U is supportive of NIL and devotes staff and resources to ensure that it is administered by the rules. “We have a great relationship with (the) compliance (office),” Burns said.

DA is anticipating new revenue sources soon. One initiative will be to increase the number of memberships. A growth target will be an audience who Burns refers to as the casual fan.

“We’ve made a really good penetration in what I would call the really passionate part of the fan base,” Burns said. “The diehards. They’re on board, a lot of them are members.”

Burns pointed out that the football program sells about 24,000 season tickets and there is a lot of potential within that group. If 10,000 become Dinkytown Athletes members at even $10 a month, that’s over $1 million per year for DA.

Coming soon are announcements about a partnership with an adult beverage company, and a merchandise program involving legendary former Gopher athletes. A portion of sales from beer, hard seltzer and spirits will be donated to DA. So, too, will sales from t-shirts and retro jerseys.

NIL is a new phenomenon and the idea of athletes being rewarded for their success through collectives or directly through businesses is something some fans don’t support. Minnesota football coach P.J. Fleck acknowledged there are past U supporters who are opposed to the new model and liked things “the way it used to be” but he said NIL has changed the landscape of college football.

“Whether you believe in it or not, that’s the wave of college football, and if you want to see players stick around and stay, that’s going to be a huge emphasis. We need people to be involved with Dinkytown Athletes and the other avenues,” Fleck said. “So it’s critical now. It’s critical in having players come here. It’s critical in keeping players because players get to make choices and decisions all the time. …”

Changing beliefs is often difficult and sometimes impossible, but there are big money people who so far have said no to helping DA and Gopher athletes and coaches. If a few step up in the next 12 months, it will be another success story for Dinkytown Athletes. https://dinkytownathletes.com/

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U President Kaler Played Key Role in Big Ten Expansion

Posted on August 8, 2023August 8, 2023 by David Shama

The Big Ten Conference will begin competition with a record 18 schools in 2024. Membership will stretch from coast-to-coast and complete a vision set years ago that former University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler enthusiastically supported, according to Tom Devine.

Devine, a prominent former University regent and tireless volunteer for his alma mater, told Sports Headliners about a meeting long ago in Kaler’s office where then Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany presented his vision for an expanded conference that captured vast TV audiences on the coasts. Kaler was a leader of Big Ten presidents and chancellors, and someone Devine said saw Big Ten expansion as vital to preserving and enhancing the financial strength of athletic departments and the student-athlete experience.

The meeting in Minneapolis, that included Devine and fellow regents Rick Beeson and Dean Johnson, preceded the league’s 2014 expansion from 12 teams to 14 when Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big Ten. Those schools delivered TV markets in Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. In 2022 the conference added UCLA and USC, and then last week announced the Big Ten will become the largest league in the nation with the addition of two more west coast schools, Oregon and Washington.

Kaler, who during his era as U president from 2011-2019 served awhile as chair of the Big Ten Council of presidents and chancellors, was highly interested in athletics. Devine said his friend watched college football, including the Gophers on Saturdays, and the Vikings on Sundays. “Eric is a huge sports nut,” Devine said. That interest and his other skillsets and experiences helped make Kaler influential with Big Ten decision makers at other schools and a key ally of Delany.

The league has leveraged its longtime prestige for excellence in academics and athletics with access to most of the largest TV markets in the country to deliver record TV revenues for college sports. In the near future Big Ten athletic departments may receive $100 million or more annually from TV revenue including the Big Ten Network.

The league has been a leader for years in TV revenue and that source of income has been used by conference schools to help finance facilities. Devine said TV revenue was used as “collateral” for a bond the U secured to help build the $166 million Athletes Village.

The U athletic department is financially self-supporting but most of the 21 sports don’t operate in the black. That’s why TV revenues, mostly from football and men’s basketball, along with monies from gate receipts, sponsorships, licensing and other sources of income are so vital to keep the Gophers and other Big Ten schools at a more than competitive place in intercollegiate athletics.

Devine said Kaler believed in the “best outcomes” for student-athletes. At Minnesota graduation rates, GPAs and job placement have increased significantly in the last 10 years. That was part of Delany and Kaler’s vision for athletics, along with adding Big Ten schools that fit the conference model of success in academics, research and sports while being able to expand the league footprint like no other conference in the country.

Worth Noting

In voting by his NFL peers Vikings’ wide receiver Justin Jefferson is the No. 2 player in the league. Other Vikings who are top 100 vote getters are safety Harrison Smith, No. 97, and quarterback Kirk Cousins, No. 42.

The Vikings are scheduled to practice from 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. tonight (August 8) at TCO Stadium in preparation for their preseason opener at the Seahawks Thursday evening. Kickoff is at 9 p.m. with TV coverage from Fox 9 and the NFL Network.

After the Vikings released their unofficial depth chart yesterday it looks like second-year pro Akayleb Evans is winning the competition to start at cornerback opposite Byron Murphy. The depth chart was for a 3-4 base defense and “21 personnel” on offense meaning a running back, fullback, one tight end and two receivers. The defense consists of two defensive ends, a nose tackle, two outside linebackers, two inside linebackers and four players in the secondary.

The football Gophers have one of the most difficult schedules in the country this year and could find themselves in multiple tight games. They will face those clutch moments with a new field goal kicker, probably 2022 kickoff specialist Dragan Kesich. The 6-4, 235-pound Wisconsin native has a booming leg and two more seasons of eligibility, but he lacks field goal and extra point experience having attempted one FG in his Gopher career.

Ryan Burns from 247Sports and GopherIllustrated pointed out in a recent story the Gophers need to improve in special teams. Examples cited include no kick returns for scores since 2017 and no punt returns for touchdowns since 2018. “Minnesota hasn’t blocked a PAT since November of 2017, hasn’t blocked a field goal since November of 2020, and they’ve blocked one punt in the six years of (the) P.J. Fleck era,” Burns wrote.

Dinkytown, where youth have caused security problems earlier this year, will become a focus August 31 when the Gophers open their season at home. Word is parents of potential troublemakers are “policing” Dinkytown to make it safer.

Warning: coming off the hottest month in the earth’s history in July, authorities supervising outdoor activities presumably are monitoring heat and air quality to avoid potential health issues and even tragedies. It was 22 years ago this month Vikings’ offensive tackle Korey Stringer died after complications from heat stroke.

Ken Mauer Jr., the St. Paul native and former veteran NBA referee, is still involved with litigation against the league. It’s been almost two years since Mauer sued the NBA because the league refused to let him work after he declined to follow protocol on COVID vaccination.

If not for financial assistance from friends and family, Mauer wouldn’t be able to continue the litigation. “It’s all about a waiting game and wait you out, and trying to break you,” Mauer told Sports Headliners. “That’s all they’re doing. Delaying at every possible turn that they can.”

Mauer was an NBA official for 37 years. He built up a sizeable pension but that, too, has become a point of litigation. “Now they refuse to give me my pension,” he said.

Ultimate compliment: Justin Morneau, introducing Joe Mauer last Saturday night at Target Field as part of Mauer’s induction into the Twins Hall of Fame, recalled the two visited Como Zoo earlier this year where a worker told Mauer his parents named him Joe because they were such admirers of the St. Paul baseball legend.

Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, with a .230 lifetime average, is a star at the plate in his last 30 games hitting .320 with six home runs and 16 RBI. The 26-year-old, who is being used part time, homered last night, and drove in three runs in Minnesota’s 9-3 win over the Tigers in Detroit.

Marshall Tanick, the Minneapolis-based attorney with decades of experience in employment law, wrote an opinion piece in the Duluth News Tribune about former University of Minnesota volleyball coach Stephanie Schleuder who died in June. Schleuder is praised for not only being a volleyball pioneer but important advocate for the rights of employees in the workplace, especially women. https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/columns/local-view-umds-schleuder-a-trailblazer-on-volleyball-court-and-court-of-law

The Dutch Course at Cragun’s Resort will host the PGA Canada CRMC Championship August 31-September 3. The course is one of two at the popular Brainerd area resort renovated by Minnesota golf legend Tom Lehman.

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