David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Justin Jefferson Stays Humble in Spotlight

Posted on December 3, 2022December 3, 2022 by David Shama

Justin Jefferson is receiving a tsunami of recognition and praise but the 23-year-old wide receiver has his ego in check, according to Vikings teammates.

The third-year LSU alum is a game changer, and although no NFL wide receiver has ever been named league MVP, Jefferson’s resume is deserving of consideration. This week he was recognized as the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for November. And just days ago his name led all NFL players in fan voting for the 2023 Pro Bowl.

In November Jefferson’s 480 receiving yards led the NFC and he had the second-most receptions in the conference with 29. With the Vikings going 3-1 during the month, Jefferson’s 480 receiving yards was second in the NFL only to the 487 of the Raiders’ Davante Adams.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Jefferson had eight receptions of at least 20 yards during the month, the second-most in the NFL behind Adams. He led the NFC in yards from scrimmage with 490, over 100 more than Lion Amon-Ra St. Brown’s 385, who ranked second. This is the second time Jefferson has been named NFC Offensive Player of the Month.

Jefferson was also named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Bills November 10. In a Minnesota overtime win for the ages, he had 10 receptions for a career-high 193 receiving yards. That total is the most in an NFL game this season.

“He’s always played at a really crazy high level,” Harrison Smith told Sports Headliners. The Viking veteran safety is in his 11th NFL season and appreciates not only Jefferson’s talents but his character, too.

“…He’s such a big superstar (but) he doesn’t have like a standoffish personality. He likes to just be one of the guys.”

When tight end T.J. Hockenson joined the Vikings in early November after a trade with the Lions, Jefferson welcomed him. “He gets to know everybody. He builds a relationship with everybody,” Hockenson said. “It’s cool to be on the same team as him and be in the same locker room.”

Justin Jefferson image courtesy of Minnesota Vikings

Teammates describe Jefferson as a friendly, smiling, talkative and energetic person who is having so much fun with the game he loves. “He is one of the best people I’ve been around,” Hockenson said. “Just very fun-loving guy. Loves the game. It’s like he gets to go out at recess every day when we step onto the field. …”

Amen to that says running back Alexander Mattison. “Just a kid having fun, playing the game. And he hasn’t changed his ways since he came in (the NFL). Just that kid in love with the game and it’s rubbed off on us.

“I think he keeps some of the older guys…everyone around him, keeps everyone young. So yeah, his energy is always having fun, laughing, and enjoying the game, enjoying the life we live.”

Fans, not just in Minnesota, but across the country are on board with Jefferson. The NFL announced on Monday that his 90,313 votes leads all players in balloting for the 2023 Pro Bowl Game. He is in prestigious company with other top vote getters like Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, followed by RB Saquon Barkley of the Giants and WR Tyreek Hill from the Dolphins.

Some may consider Hill the NFL’s top wide receiver but there are plenty of observers who think Jefferson deserves that spot. The Jefferson hysteria, that includes raves over his ability to make the most difficult of catches, has led to speculation he will one day rank with the greatest ever to play at his position.

Mattison was told Jefferson is having his name mentioned in the same breath with legendary receiver Jerry Rice, considered by many the best ever WR. “It’s crazy to think about, just within three years to be having these conversations. But you just kind of take a step back and look at the facts,” Mattison said. “And they’re realistic conversations to have which is crazy to actually think about. …”

Hockenson knows how revered Jefferson is already. “I think he’s one of a kind. He’s a special player. He’s one of the best to do it in this league. I am sure at the end of this (his career) he’ll be one of the best to do it ever.”

Hill is the NFL’s highest paid receiver, reportedly with a four-deal of $120 million. Jefferson is a lock to receive a new contract from the Vikings in 2023 paying him much more, perhaps over $150 million for five years.

Mattison doesn’t expect the payoff to change his friend. “Somebody like him he’s not going to have that conversation with you (about money)…as humble as he is, but he definitely is well deserving of that.”

Worth Noting

Offensive right tackle Christian Darrisaw (concussion) and tight end Ben Ellefson (groin) have been ruled out for Sunday’s Vikings and Jets game at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Smith (ankle) indicated Thursday it’s likely he will play. “It sure seems like it. I don’t know, though. We’re not there yet.”

Fourth-year Vikings center Garrett Bradbury has often been maligned in the past but Pro Football Focus notes the former No. 1 draft choice has given up just two sacks and is responsible for only four penalties in 741 snaps. PFF gives him a respectable grade of 71.

“…With the relationship with Kirk (Cousins), their communication throughout games and in-game has been huge for us,” said head coach Kevin O’Connell. “And I think physically he’s done a lot of good things in the run and pass game, kind of fitting with what we want to do. So, I’m really happy with the type of season Garrett’s had so far, and I’m hoping to continue to just get that consistent play out of him.”

Since Kene Nwangwu’s rookie season of 2021, he leads the league in kickoff return touchdowns with three including Thanksgiving night when he scored on a 97-yard return against the Patriots. The Vikings’ specialist has the third most kickoff return touchdowns in team history behind Cordarrelle Patterson and Percy Harvin, who both had five. Nwangwu is averaging a touchdown every 13.7 return (41 career kick returns).

Disappointing news for Gophers’ fans that record setting senior Mo Ibrahim wasn’t among the three finalists announced this week for the Doak Walker Award recognizing the nation’s best running back. Juniors Chase Brown, Illinois; Blake Corum, Michigan; and Bijan Robinson, Texas; are the finalists.

Many friends and admirers attended the wake in St. Paul this week for legendary former University of St. Thomas and Cretin Derham-Hall baseball coach Dennis Denning, 76, who recently passed away. “The line was out the door to get inside, and I got to the funeral home when it started at 4 p.m. An amazing tribute to coach Denning,” per an email from former Cretin baseball player Bill Robertson.

The Wild gets a stamina challenge this weekend playing Saturday afternoon at home against the Ducks and then facing the Stars in Dallas starting at 2 p.m. Sunday. Former teammate Ryan Suter, 37, has no goals and four points for the Stars who haven’t played a game since Thursday night. The Wild is 8-7-2 in its last 17 games in Dallas.

The Golden Gophers men’s hockey team has outstanding speed on the roster and has scored five or more goals in four of their last five games including 5-0 over the Spartans last night in East Lansing.

Canterbury Park will likely have a later start to the season in 2023 than normal because of redevelopment and improvements in the stable area. The Shakopee racetrack’s expected schedule will be from May 27-September 16, as proposed to the Minnesota Racing Commission.

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Fleck Contract Extension Seems Likely

Posted on November 29, 2022December 2, 2022 by David Shama

Emptying out the University of Minnesota and college football notebook in today’s column.

Does P.J. Fleck soon receive a contract extension? The Minnesota head coach has been rewarded with additional years on his contract every year except the COVID- shortened season of 2020.

Fleck, named head coach at Minnesota in January of 2017, received his most recent extension about a year ago. The deal reportedly not only gives him security through 2028 but raised his compensation to $5 million annually.

Athletic director Mark Coyle, who hired Fleck and initiated the multiple extensions and raises, must make the call about a revised contract. On the one hand, Coyle might view the past season as disappointing because of preseason expectations the Gophers could win their first ever Big Ten West Division title, but they came up short despite a very favorable schedule. Minnesota’s strength of schedule ranked No. 126 out of 131 FBS teams, per NCAA statistics.

On the other hand, the Gophers finished 8-4 overall and 5-4 in league play. The winning record in Big Ten games is the third straight for Fleck in a full season (2019, 2021 and 2022). A win in the upcoming bowl game will give Minnesota a nine win year, equaling last year’s record and following the 11-2 mark in 2019.

The Gophers have defeated Wisconsin in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1993-1994. Last Saturday’s win left Fleck with a 28-10 overall record in the three last full seasons. The last four years his conference record is 21-13, the best such run by a Gopher coach since Murray Warmath in the 1960s.

Contract extensions are frequently made as a gesture of faith in the coach, sending an important message about job security that gets out into the recruiting world. Not giving Fleck an extension now, even if it doesn’t include a raise, will raise eyebrows a bit.

It’s not like the Gophers, as a member of the TV revenue rich Big Ten, don’t have money in the athletic department. While Fleck’s compensation could remain the same next year, raises for at least some assistants will be appropriate.

Deserving contract adjustments are defensive coordinator Joe Rossi and running backs coach Kenni Burns. Word is Rossi almost left Minnesota for Notre Dame last offseason. His defenses consistently rank among the best in the Big Ten and statistically stand out nationally. Burns also excels as a coach and his recruiting would be missed if he were to go elsewhere. If either is offered a head coaching job, they likely would be gone from Fleck’s staff.

With the regular season over, meetings with players are being held to evaluate future plans. Fans think about recruiting high school players and players from the transfer portal but in today’s college football it’s necessary to recruit players on the existing roster.

“You always have to constantly be recruiting your own players in a day and age that tampering is rampant,” GopherIllustrated.com recruiting authority Ryan Burns told Sports Headliners. “The NCAA doesn’t do anything about it (tampering) and so that’s the most important job. P.J. is well aware of that, his staff is well aware of that, but it’s incredibly important in the NIL (and transfer) era where it’s legal to an extent to pay players.”

The transfer portal opens next Monday and don’t think there isn’t backchanneling already from schools and players. “You’re going to see some eye-opening moves in those first 48 hours when the portal opens,” Burns predicted.

The transfer portal, allowing athletes to switch schools and have immediate eligibility, debuted four years ago. The upcoming period is predicted to have more action than ever. The portal period starts December 5 and closes January 18, before opening again for a couple of weeks in May.

“…It will be more wild than it’s ever been, I promise you that,” Fleck said last week. “Not just here, just around the country.”

The Gophers could use talent and experience from the portal at most positions. “We have a general idea of what we want to do and how we want to attack that (the portal),” Fleck said. “We’re still going to be a mixture of high school kids and the portal. ..”

Eventually impacting recruiting in a big way could be Dinkytown Athletes, the new collective that facilitates Name, Image and Likeness opportunities and financial compensation for Gopher athletes including football players. Fans, boosters and businesses can benefit athletes through activities such as endorsements and personal appearances. Gophers’ All-American running back Mo Ibrahim has a NIL deal with Gushers, the fruit-flavored snack from General Mills.

Dinkytown Athletes launched earlier this fall. “They’re off to a good start but if they’re going to sustain (success)…there’s not going to be a big booster that’s going to save them like at Michigan State, like the Rocket Mortgage folks,” Burns said. “It’s got to be the common fan (giving money) that’s got to be able to save them.”

Co-founders of Dinkytown Athletes are Rob Gag and former U offensive lineman Derek Burns. The two are guests on the latest Behind the Game show and talk in-depth about their collective with co-hosts Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson. https://youtu.be/jneDiCjYCkY

The Gophers will need to upgrade their talent to be competitive in the near and more distant future. Next season Minnesota will play two of the best teams in the nation, hosting Michigan in Minneapolis and playing Ohio State in Columbus. The Gophers also play ACC power North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

It’s likely next year will be the last for two divisions in the Big Ten. The West has been inferior for years and expectation is that in 2024, with west coast powers USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten, the conference will eliminate divisions and have a 16-team race for the league championship. The Big Ten has the potential to seriously rival the SEC as college football’s best conference.

Right now the best thing the Gophers have going for with personnel is redshirt freshman quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. At the game’s most important position, Kaliakmanis could be the best QB talent at Minnesota since All-American Sandy Stephens played his last game in the 1962 Rose Bowl.

Without Kaliakmanis’ arm, legs and poise last Saturday, the Gophers likely wouldn’t have defeated the Badgers who were superior in line play on offense and defense. Kaliakmanis won the day against Wisconsin junior Graham Mertz, setting career highs in completions (19), attempts (29), yards (319) and touchdowns (2). Kaliakmanis completed nine passes of 15 yards or more and averaged 16.8 yards per completion.

With the college football regular season over for many teams, multiple national stats stand out for Minnesota. Ibrahim is second nationally in average rushing yards per game at 144.9, third in points per game at 10.4 and fourth in total rushing yards with 1,594.

Minnesota is No. 2 in the country in time of possession, with an average of 35.14 minutes per game. The Gophers’ defense is No. 5 in scoring defense, allowing 13.3 points per game. Minnesota is No. 3 in fewest penalties per game, allowing 3.67.

The Gophers averaged 45,019 fans per home game, compared to 46,159 in 2021.

The Vikings, BTW, might want to draft Michigan placekicker Jake Moody to replace Greg Joseph. Moody is second in the country in scoring per game at 10.9, converted 26 of 32 field goals and is a perfect 53 of 53 on extra points.

The Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game will be played December 10 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Eight players headed for the Gophers’ program have been announced as participants: Ethan Carrier, Detroit Lakes; Alex Elliott, Hutchinson; Greg Johnson, Prior Lake; Garrison Monroe, Shakopee; Martin Owusu, Prior Lake; Max Shikenjanski, Stillwater; Reese Tripp, Kasson-Mantorville; Jerome Williams, Osseo.

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’62 Gophers-Badgers Game Unforgettable

Posted on November 27, 2022November 27, 2022 by David Shama

It’s 60 years ago this month that the Golden Gophers lost to Wisconsin in Madison in probably the most controversially officiated game in University of Minnesota football history. The Badgers and Gophers, both with 5-1 league records and top 10 ranked, played for the Big Ten championship on November 24, 1962, before a capacity Camp Randall Stadium crowd of 65,514.

For Minnesota fans old enough to remember the 14-9 loss, the game still prompts anger and regret. For those who don’t know about the debacle, and bleed maroon and gold, this review should be required reading.

The Badgers led 7-6 at halftime, setting up one of the most bizarre final two quarters in Big Ten history. In the second half Minnesota running back Bill Munsey had a touchdown nullified after the officials ruled he was illegally pushed by teammates into the end zone. The Gophers settled for a field goal and a lead of 9-7 that they were still trying to hold on to with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Badgers started a long drive and were in Minnesota territory when Wisconsin quarterback Ron Vander Kelen dropped back to pass. Gopher All-American tackle Bobby Bell rushed Vander Kelen hard and the ball fluttered away into the waiting arms of Minnesota linebacker Jack Perkovich. With less than three minutes to play, the Gophers were ecstatic they had the ball and seemingly on their way to a second Big Ten title in three years and third consecutive Rose Bowl trip.

Elation was fleeting because referee Robert Jones, a dentist by profession, threw a flag and penalized the Gophers 15 yards for roughing the passer. It was a bad call and one that lives in infamy in Minnesota football history.

In a December 1962 Sports Illustrated story Vander Kelen said he didn’t know if he had been roughed while passing. “I just remember being mad that I had made a bad pass,” he told Sports Illustrated.

Bell (right) with Warmath seated at his 2010 jersey retirement. Former Gopher Judge Dickson at Warmath’s right and ex-AD Joel Maturi behind. Photo courtesy of Minnesota athletics communications.

Bell, who won the 1962 Outland Trophy given to the nation’s outstanding lineman, was on a junket honoring All-American players after the season when he encountered President John Kennedy. Bell recalled the two of them meeting in the Murray Warmath book, The Autumn Warrior. The president said to him: “Bobby Bell! You’re the one who got that really bad roughing call against you a couple of weeks ago in that big game against Wisconsin, right?”

Warmath, the Gophers coach from 1954-1971, was incensed at the call by Jones. In his biography Warmath admitted he tugged at the sleeve of an official, asking about the roughing call. The response was a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on Minnesota.

Back-to-back 15-yard penalties and the Badgers were in business on the Minnesota 13-yard line. A couple plays later Wisconsin was in the end zone, and with an extra point conversion led 14-9.

As if feeling guilty, the officials made calls in Minnesota’s favor during the last two minutes of the game, author Mike Wilkinson wrote in The Autumn Warrior. Three consecutive major penalties were called on the Badgers and the Gophers found themselves at the Wisconsin 14 with about a minute remaining. The penalty aided drive, though, ended with an interception by the Badgers in the end zone.

Earlier in the game the Gophers thought they had a touchdown on a recovered fumble in the end zone. In Ross Bernstein’s book about Minnesota sports, Sixty Years & Sixty Heroes, he recalled that the Gophers punted and the ball hit a Badger, with U players thinking they had recovered it in the end zone for a score. “The officials didn’t see it that way, however, and returned the ball to Wisconsin out on the 20-yard line,” Bernstein wrote.

At the end of the game the Gopher coaches, players and fans were furious. Wilkinson wrote that incensed linebacker Julian Hook hit one of the officials with his helmet and later heard rumors he would be suspended from school. Minneapolis newspaper columnist Sid Hartman, at the game and convinced the Gophers had been robbed, told Hook he would cover for him by reporting a fan hit the official.

Warmath was enraged and when he went to the door of the officials’ dressing room he found it locked (with the crew apparently hiding out). Finally, the door was opened and in went Warmath who told Wilkinson he grabbed one official by the throat and pushed him up against the wall. Then he let go and went around to each official telling them what he thought of their work. Warmath said they all sat in silence, and most wouldn’t look him in the eye.

“I told those guys that they had just stolen the Big Ten championship from the finest group of young men I had ever known and I would never forgive them for the fact they had been so incompetent and so unfair.”

For years after Warmath kept a large dart board in the image of an official in his U office. Knowledgeable visitors couldn’t help but wonder if it was supposed to Robert Jones.

It was about 30 years after the bizarre game in Madison when Wilkinson interviewed Warmath for the book. “I can’t help but think there was something fishy about the officiating,” Warmath said. “It was almost as if the game was rigged. I watched films for years afterward and was amazed at how ineptly the game was handled.”

To the last man, the Gophers coaches and players knew they had outplayed the No. 3 ranked Badgers. With a legendary run defense No. 5 Minnesota held the Badgers to 83 yards, per Sports Illustrated. Overall, the Gophers outgained their border rival 353 yards to 219.

The game marked the end of a dominant era for Minnesota football. From 1960-1962 the Gophers won Big Ten and national championships. They played in two Rose Bowls, winning the 1962 game 21-3 against UCLA. In a three year stretch the team’s record was 22 wins, 6 losses and 1 tie. Minnesota lost only four conference games from 1960-1962.

Well, Warmath and other witnesses would make that three league losses.

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