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Speaker 1: A what's going on?

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Speaker 2: Welcome to Indianapolis, Indiana, and this is nine to noon

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Speaker 2: Boom Combine Show number two is in the air. I'm

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Speaker 2: Paul Allen, joined to buy Vikings in booth analyst for

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Speaker 2: the KFA and Minnesota Vikings Audio Network. Pete Persich Nordo

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Speaker 2: produces again in second to none fashion and we have

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Speaker 2: a big interview coming up here shortly. But first from yesterday.

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Speaker 2: What a whirlwind. It was so much fun yesterday. What

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Speaker 2: did you enjoy I.

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Speaker 3: Mean enjoyed getting the opportunity to talk to the new

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Speaker 3: would you say power the power figures structure structure over

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Speaker 3: with the with the Minnesota Vikings and oh yeah, you

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Speaker 3: feel you feel really good walking away from that. You

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Speaker 3: forget sometimes how how long Razinski's been involved in all

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Speaker 3: the areas. I mean, he sat in the draft rooms

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Speaker 3: back in the day, back in when I was coaching

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Speaker 3: with Mike Tyson in two thousand and two. Uh, so

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Speaker 3: he's been through, He's been through all these different things

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Speaker 3: to hear his philosophy. Yeah, on draft, develop and retain. Uh,

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Speaker 3: you know, those are all all very good things to hear.

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Speaker 3: And I, you know, I feel much more confident about

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Speaker 3: about what they're trying to do and what the and

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Speaker 3: whether or not they'll get it done.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and Rob Razinski is the acting general manager for

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Speaker 2: the Minnesota Vikings. You will hear that interview in segment

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Speaker 2: number two, but we begin with Minnesota Vikings head coach

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Speaker 2: Kevin O'Connell, and the interview started discussing the organization grieving

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Speaker 2: the loss of wide receiver Rondel Moore, who recently died

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Speaker 2: in Indiana at age twenty five.

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Speaker 1: Ko.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's been it's been a tough few days, Pa,

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Speaker 4: when you you think about, you know, losing you know,

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Speaker 4: such a such a young person, you know, a light

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Speaker 4: that in his short time with the organization, was a

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Speaker 4: guy we loved, you know, having a part of the

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Speaker 4: Minnesota Vikings family. And you know, it's just so incredibly

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Speaker 4: tragic too to lose somebody like Rondell and and the

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Speaker 4: impact that not only he's had on organization, our organization,

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Speaker 4: but the previous organizations he's been a part of as

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Speaker 4: a successful.

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Speaker 5: NFL player his college journey.

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Speaker 4: Inevitably, you know, when you have certain things that come

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Speaker 4: up and and these are the hardest parts of the

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Speaker 4: job that you know, you you find yourself PA in

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Speaker 4: many ways asking how could we have avoided something like this?

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Speaker 4: And and sometimes those answers are are very very difficult

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Speaker 4: to to come to and find. But I do know this,

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Speaker 4: I do know that that Rondell will be will be missed.

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Speaker 4: He was beloved by his teammates, and not only, like

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Speaker 4: I said, in our organization, but other organizations as well,

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Speaker 4: and and meant so much to me. Any player that

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Speaker 4: I ever get a chance to coach be you know

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Speaker 4: immediately he reserves some space in my heart that you know,

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Speaker 4: I fall in love with these guys. I fall in

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Speaker 4: love with getting to coach them and form relationships with them.

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Speaker 4: So in many ways, that's the type of depth you

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Speaker 4: feel when something as tragic as this happens. And we've

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Speaker 4: got to continue, you know, to to do our part.

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Speaker 4: We have an unbelievable organization resources for these players that

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Speaker 4: have been built from the idea of making our organization

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Speaker 4: the best organization to play for in the NFL, and

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Speaker 4: we got to continue to do as much as we

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Speaker 4: can to support these guys, love these guys and be

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Speaker 4: there for them even when the times of year where

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Speaker 4: they are apart from us, which seems to be circumstances

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Speaker 4: that are it's easier said.

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Speaker 2: Than well said. And may God rest the soul of

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Speaker 2: Rondelle Moore. Now to the lesson at hand. Kevin has

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Speaker 2: joined the NFL's Competition Committee, and you know, being at

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Speaker 2: Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center as frequently as I am

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Speaker 2: during the season, every so often on Fridays there will

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Speaker 2: be like a little confab with the media and rules

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Speaker 2: will come up and you'll talk about things. So I

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Speaker 2: know this has been very important to you. You care

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Speaker 2: a lot about the rules obviously, but why did you join?

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Speaker 4: Well, in many ways it's more of a it's more

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Speaker 4: of a you get asked okay, and you start showing up.

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Speaker 4: But I will say it's an incredible honors. I love

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Speaker 4: this game so much, the future of not only the NFL,

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Speaker 4: but the game of football, the growth of our game

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Speaker 4: throughout the different levels, whether it's flag football, tackle football,

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Speaker 4: at the lower levels, high school football, all those things

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Speaker 4: like feeling like you've got a part in maintaining the

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Speaker 4: greatest game in the world, but trying to do whatever

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Speaker 4: small part that may be to collectively come together with

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Speaker 4: a lot of great people on that committee and a

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Speaker 4: lot of great folks within the NFL family. That helps

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Speaker 4: to you know, as we navigate the future, you know,

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Speaker 4: whether it is you know, technology, whether it is the

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Speaker 4: evolution of our game, the ways of making it safer

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Speaker 4: for our players will only enhance the ability of our

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Speaker 4: game to kind of continue to grow and continue to

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Speaker 4: be a mainstay as the greatest, you know sport in

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Speaker 4: the world. And I take a lot of pride in

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Speaker 4: that this game has done so much for me and

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Speaker 4: my family. I feel very strongly that any chance you

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Speaker 4: can give back to it in any way, shape or form,

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Speaker 4: you should be all in on that.

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Speaker 2: Viking's quarterback JJ McCarthy heading into his third year, so

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Speaker 2: now at age twenty three, physically, he's going to mature. Mentally,

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Speaker 2: he's going to mature the off season for McCarthy, what's key.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the starting point is, you know, outside

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Speaker 4: of some you know, some bumps and bruises here, he's

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Speaker 4: going to have a healthy off season, which you know,

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Speaker 4: obviously with his journey up until this point, you know,

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Speaker 4: he's gotten ten starts where we've been able to see

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Speaker 4: see a lot of the things that we really really

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Speaker 4: liked about JJ when we drafted him. We've seen some

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Speaker 4: growth seen some of that development time over you know,

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Speaker 4: time over time. But we're still talking about, you know,

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Speaker 4: quite a few opportunities of that development phase and growth

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Speaker 4: phase missed. So he knows it's a big off season

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Speaker 4: for him. He didn't need anybody to tell him that.

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Speaker 4: He certainly didn't need me to tell him that. But

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Speaker 4: what I've really enjoyed about our conversations early on is

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Speaker 4: he is hungry.

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Speaker 5: He is you know, he's.

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Speaker 4: Out in California right now working with you know, John

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Speaker 4: Beck and some of the guys that he worked with

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Speaker 4: pre draft, very detailed and what he you know, he

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Speaker 4: really wanted to, you know, decompress after the season and

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Speaker 4: really go through layer by layer. Hey, what do I

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Speaker 4: need to individually work on to make sure that I

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Speaker 4: come back and I'm ready to roll in April. And

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Speaker 4: he's working on those things. His continued growth in our

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Speaker 4: in our offense, and in our schemes will be a

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Speaker 4: natural thing. He's a really smart, really you know, really

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Speaker 4: smart player that I think he's going to be able

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Speaker 4: to use a lot of that experience of those ten

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Speaker 4: games and the journey so far to get himself in

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Speaker 4: position to have the best twenty twenty six.

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Speaker 5: He can. We've talked about it.

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Speaker 4: We want him to be in a competitive situation because

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Speaker 4: of some of that time lost. We've really got to

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Speaker 4: push the push the gas pedal down and and not

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Speaker 4: replace development and coaching and teaching with anything, but really

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Speaker 4: enhance it with a really competitive situation that I think

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Speaker 4: our whole team will benefit from. And what that looks like, Pa,

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Speaker 4: It's obviously pretty early in that process, but I am

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Speaker 4: excited about it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, in my experience, it's the consistency comes before the leadership.

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Speaker 3: What message do you have do you think for the

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Speaker 3: entire team, Like the one takeaway that you when you

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Speaker 3: when you maybe last spoke with them a few weeks

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Speaker 3: ago going into next year, the number one thing that

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Speaker 3: you want to see out of this whole team coming back?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you know, it's important when you're you know,

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Speaker 4: when you're pinpointing your sites on the future and where

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Speaker 4: you want to get to. We always want to be,

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Speaker 4: you know, an ultra competitive organization. We want to compete

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Speaker 4: and have success so that we can find our way

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Speaker 4: into you know, into that postseason dance and however you

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Speaker 4: get there. It's about attacking that one game when you

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Speaker 4: get there. But when you inevitably get there, you're gonna

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Speaker 4: lean on a lot of the experiences you've had up

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Speaker 4: until this point. And what I mean by that is,

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Speaker 4: you know, we've basically had twenty twenty two and twenty

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Speaker 4: twenty four where whether it's consistency and having the same

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Speaker 4: quarterback in the game for the better part of all

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Speaker 4: of those snaps, we won thirteen and fourteen games, didn't

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Speaker 4: get it done in the end.

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Speaker 5: What did we learn from that?

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Speaker 4: Let's take those lessons and apply them twenty twenty three,

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Speaker 4: going seven and ten, having massive amounts of injuries, coming

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Speaker 4: off of a year where maybe we elevated the expectations

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Speaker 4: with year one, but we didn't meet those in year two,

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Speaker 4: we come back year three, have that fourteen and three year,

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Speaker 4: and then here we were in twenty twenty five with

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Speaker 4: you know, in many ways, you know, some questions that

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Speaker 4: came up put us into a spot where you never

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Speaker 4: want to be in a season which was four and

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Speaker 4: eight at one point. But I think the ultra lesson

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Speaker 4: we learned this year was, in addition to winning differently

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Speaker 4: than maybe we've won in the past, really leaning on

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Speaker 4: our defense, trying to run the football, not turn it

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Speaker 4: over play smart football. We went from four and eight

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Speaker 4: to nine and eight learning some of those lessons, But

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Speaker 4: I think what we learned about each other, the culture

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Speaker 4: that's been built in our building. We weren't There was

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Speaker 4: no participation trophy, PA, there was no Hey, you know,

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Speaker 4: guess what the secret thing is. You actually did sneak

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Speaker 4: into the playoffs because you've won five in a row

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Speaker 4: to end the season. There was a lot of work

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Speaker 4: that was done without any reward. There was a lot

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Speaker 4: of goals that were set to pull ourselves out of

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Speaker 4: the doldrums of where we were at at four and eight,

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Speaker 4: without any gift, without without any special anything other than

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Speaker 4: us looking at each other in the eye and organization

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Speaker 4: and within that team meeting room Pete and deciding we

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Speaker 4: were going to go do something, do something for each other,

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Speaker 4: and when the team was able to accomplish that. I

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Speaker 4: think we can use that moving forward. It's not gonna

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Speaker 4: you know, I'm sure fans are going to sit there

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Speaker 4: and say, hey, you know, we didn't we didn't get

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Speaker 4: anything out of that, But I promise you we're going

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Speaker 4: to use that for when we inevitably get to where

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Speaker 4: we want to get to and that's part of what

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Speaker 4: makes this job fun is you're constantly recalibrating, you're reassessing,

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Speaker 4: but you're using this experience to apply layers of depth

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Speaker 4: to your team. And I'm not just talking about depth charts.

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Speaker 4: I'm talking about who we are as a team in

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Speaker 4: the fabric of our ability to go attack this thing

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Speaker 4: moving forward together, and I'm excited about.

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Speaker 2: It now here at the combine where there are a

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Speaker 2: lot of rookie driills, but it's free agency season, and

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Speaker 2: you know, Kevin O'Connell and former general manager Quaisiodopo Mensa

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Speaker 2: won a lot of games together. Rob Razinski is the

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Speaker 2: acting general manager who's been with the team nearly thirty years.

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Speaker 2: What's it like working with Rob in the early stages.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, Rob is fantastic.

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Speaker 4: But let me first and foremost just start out and

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Speaker 4: just you know, I haven't had a chance to say

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Speaker 4: a whole lot, but you know, Quacy and I and

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Speaker 4: our relationship both professionally and personally was and we'll always

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Speaker 4: be very strong.

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Speaker 5: We care about each other.

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Speaker 4: We built, like you said, a team that was able

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Speaker 4: to win, you know, sixty something percent of our game

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Speaker 4: since we've been here, and that will never be lost

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Speaker 4: on me. The impact of not only the friendship built,

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Speaker 4: but you know, the the working relationship that that we

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Speaker 4: were able to build. And you know, I'm very thankful

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Speaker 4: for my time yes with Quacy and inevitably, you know,

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Speaker 4: the ownership decision to make a change there and getting

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Speaker 4: an opportunity to work with Rob in this capacity. Now

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Speaker 4: we're really leaning on Rob's experience. Rob has been a

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Speaker 4: tremendous resource for me since I got this job as

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Speaker 4: the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in so many

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Speaker 4: ways over the last four and a half plus years,

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Speaker 4: and we'll.

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Speaker 5: Continue to do that.

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Speaker 4: But now Rob is really entrusted to bring together a

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Speaker 4: lot of layers of our organization, whether it's a really

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Speaker 4: talented personnel staff, a coaching staff that I believe is

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Speaker 4: you know, evaluating to fit our schemes, and how do

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Speaker 4: we have that.

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Speaker 5: All come together.

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Speaker 4: It's going to be from Rob's leadership and working in

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Speaker 4: conjunction with not only myself but those other folks in

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Speaker 4: his leadership team to help make our team better, to

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Speaker 4: make good decisions, stack good decisions on each other, and

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Speaker 4: you know, get ready for a really good twenty twenty.

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Speaker 3: Six season and along those lines, I guess my my

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Speaker 3: point asking this question is is that the evaluation you

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Speaker 3: guys might be in free agency right now, but the

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Speaker 3: evaluation of college talent being at the combine these guys

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Speaker 3: that are coming in. Coaches have been doing this and

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Speaker 3: you have been doing this. Now the impact might change

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Speaker 3: depending on how the whole scene. I'm asking to give

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Speaker 3: away family secrets, but how it's all set up. But

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Speaker 3: you guys evaluate talent every year, so this is not

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Speaker 3: anything new, no.

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Speaker 4: And I think it's important to note that our scouts

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Speaker 4: on the road doing this year round of evaluating talent,

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Speaker 4: and really, you know, going into year five of understanding

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Speaker 4: how do we kind of take all of that information

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Speaker 4: and the collection of that information and the expertise of

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Speaker 4: a lot of talented people, and then working in conjunction

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Speaker 4: with the coaching staff, with the personnel department that is

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Speaker 4: in house at our facility, you know, under Rob's leadership,

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Speaker 4: and how do we bring all of that together to

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Speaker 4: find the best fits, find the best fits within how

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Speaker 4: do we improve our team both in the present but

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Speaker 4: also as we project into the future. And then how

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Speaker 4: does that addition impact the guy that may be playing

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Speaker 4: next to him? You know, we've got a lot of

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Speaker 4: talent on our roster. We feel really good about the makeup.

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Speaker 4: You know, guys who are smart, tough, love football, I

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Speaker 4: love being great teammates and our competitive you know.

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Speaker 5: In everything that they do.

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Speaker 4: We find a lot of guys like that to fit

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Speaker 4: in with the guys we already have on our roster.

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Speaker 5: I think we're going to be in a really good spot.

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Speaker 2: And one of those guys you found last year was

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Speaker 2: Eric Wilson. I mean they played out as well. What

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Speaker 2: you know, what are you guys planning to do with

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Speaker 2: Eric with free agency season approaching?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, Eric was phenomenal for us.

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Speaker 4: When you think about bringing him in returning back to

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Speaker 4: the Minnesota Vikings, you know, he started out his career

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Speaker 4: here and just the feelings of a lot of the

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Speaker 4: folks that were around him when he was a Viking,

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Speaker 4: it made it a really easy decision to get you

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Speaker 4: will back. What he did from there was spectacular. I

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Speaker 4: mean he's one of our most consistent players, did so

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Speaker 4: much for our team. Versatile, you know, consistently showing up

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Speaker 4: every single week doing different jobs, but playing at a

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Speaker 4: really high level and demonstrating a lot of those things

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Speaker 4: from a play style standpoint.

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Speaker 5: He's incredibly smart.

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Speaker 4: He's, you know, a guy that loves playing the game

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Speaker 4: of football and enjoys it every single day. He makes

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Speaker 4: your team better, he makes your building better. You know,

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Speaker 4: I would you know, I know I speak for you know,

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Speaker 4: everyone in our organization when we're excited about the possibility

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Speaker 4: of bringing Eric Wilson back. But obviously we're not the

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Speaker 4: only ones that watched his tape from last year, so

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Speaker 4: it'll be competitive and and ultimately what we're going to

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Speaker 4: try to do is do what's best for our organization

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Speaker 4: and you know, hopefully that means Eric Wilson's.

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Speaker 5: A part of it.

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Speaker 3: What do you think the ceiling on a Jalen Naylor

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Speaker 3: would be a very very good football player. You've been

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Speaker 3: with them, You've kind of raised them, Yeah, you know

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Speaker 3: from a kid.

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Speaker 4: It's a great example of player development, you know, is

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Speaker 4: you bring in a guy, you know, not a necessarily

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Speaker 4: an early round pick, but a guy that comes in

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Speaker 4: and early on Jalen. You know, the biggest question mark

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Speaker 4: with Jalen and we've had this with maybe some other

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Speaker 4: players on our rosters.

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Speaker 5: Can they be available enough.

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Speaker 4: To consistently continue to grow through great coaching from Keenan McCardell.

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Speaker 4: Congratulations to Tony Sorrentino, by the way, taking the receiver

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Speaker 4: position with the Cardinals. A great, great coach for us

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Speaker 4: that has worked underneath Keenan. But Jalen Naylor is a

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Speaker 4: guy that's just been, you know, the ultra example of

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Speaker 4: what you can be in this league when you can

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Speaker 4: consistently attack getting better. You have the skill set that

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Speaker 4: Jalen has, which is as a complete receiver, he can

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Speaker 4: play all three spots and.

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Speaker 5: He's speedy, right, And yeah, he's speedy. You know, he's

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Speaker 5: he can he.

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Speaker 4: Can do a lot of different things, and he's willing,

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Speaker 4: you know, as a guy that's smart and he's tough

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Speaker 4: and he loves football to go have an impact on

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Speaker 4: our offense. So once again another player that you know,

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Speaker 4: we're not the only ones watching the tape. We feel

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Speaker 4: incredibly strong about what Speedy's been able to do in

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Speaker 4: our building and we'll see how these next three weeks

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Speaker 4: play out.

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Speaker 2: So so, Kevin, if you were considering bringing in a

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Speaker 2: veteran quarterback to compete with McCarthy, amplify him, or whatever

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Speaker 2: two parts it would, Carson Wentz be in the equation

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Speaker 2: and Secondly, what are some traits you're looking for in

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Speaker 2: a veteran quarterback.

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Speaker 4: Well, I think we were incredibly fortunate to have Carson

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Speaker 4: join our team when he did last year. You think back,

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Speaker 4: I mean, we saw some of the things Carson did

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Speaker 4: during that season when he stepped in for JJ when

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Speaker 4: he had his high ankle injury. Carson Wentz showed up

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Speaker 4: about five days before the season started. He was not

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Speaker 4: a part of our off season program. He was not

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Speaker 4: a part of the greater, the greater sum of training camp.

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Speaker 4: And for him to come in the way he did,

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Speaker 4: uh and and be ready to step in and uh,

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Speaker 4: specifically in regards to that, you know that Cincinnati game,

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Speaker 4: and we were coming off of losing our home opener,

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Speaker 4: and and you know, we win our opener on the

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Speaker 4: road in the division against a team that inevitably won

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Speaker 4: the division. We lose the Atlanta you know, you don't

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Speaker 4: like losing at us Bank Stadium. It's important for us

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Speaker 4: to win. He steps in and played a phenomenal game

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Speaker 4: against Cincinnati and his real first exposure of getting to play,

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Speaker 4: And to me, that is a veteran quarterback that has

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Speaker 4: done a lot of things at at a high level.

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Speaker 4: Throughout his career, UH, and ultimately was was impactful for us.

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Speaker 4: Wish we could have had Carson available and healthy all

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Speaker 4: season long, but he absolutely is a guy that you know,

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Speaker 4: made our quarterback room better even with his late arrival.

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Speaker 4: And definitely somebody that we're thinking about. But I think

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Speaker 4: traits in general, Pa, I think it's one of those

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Speaker 4: things where you know, you look at it from a

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Speaker 4: standpoint of what has helped our offense go throughout our

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Speaker 4: time horizon here has been consistent quarterback playing.

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Speaker 5: When I think about that.

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Speaker 4: It's being accurate with the football, It's it's being smart, uh,

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Speaker 4: with your decision making, with how you run the show

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Speaker 4: to inevitably allow Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and Hawk

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Speaker 4: and and and Jalen Naylor and and you know, our

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Speaker 4: our group as a whole to feel like they can

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Speaker 4: then impact the game at a high level, not only

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Speaker 4: just in the past game. It's how it all works

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Speaker 4: together in the run phase as well. And and I

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Speaker 4: think there's other things toughness and and obviously the ability

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Speaker 4: to to fit with not only how we want to play,

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Speaker 4: but you know, we're going to fit things to what

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Speaker 4: our players do best. But how they fit in with

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Speaker 4: that huddle, how they fit in with that group to

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Speaker 4: enhance the all eleven feel of that huddle is is

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Speaker 4: massive to to what we're looking for.

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Speaker 2: And lastly, just the way you laid that out with

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Speaker 2: the fact that the team wins nine games. Yeah, you

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Speaker 2: use three quarterbacks, got a fair amount of injuries, certainly

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Speaker 2: to the offensive line, but you're a ninety five percent

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Speaker 2: chance to sweep the Bears. Didn't work, but you were

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Speaker 2: right there. You swept the Lions. And the division is

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Speaker 2: just rock solid. I mean, this division is so tough, isn't.

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Speaker 5: It really good?

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Speaker 4: I mean the coaching, the playing, the competition. I know,

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Speaker 4: we've got the greatest fans in the world. I know

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Speaker 4: there's incredible passion for all the teams in our division.

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Speaker 4: It feels like that when we go on the road.

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Speaker 4: It certainly feels like that when we host those teams

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Speaker 4: at US Bank Stadium. We are in, you know, if

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Speaker 4: not the most difficult, we're in the most We're right

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Speaker 4: up there at the top as far as the NFC North,

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Speaker 4: and every Sunday in our league matters. Every single Sunday

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Speaker 4: in your NFC schedule and your non conference schedule, it

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Speaker 4: all matters. We get seventeen of them. We've got to

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Speaker 4: put everything we have into, you know, to get as

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Speaker 4: many wins as possible. Consistency, the continued growth and development

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Speaker 4: of a lot of our players on our roster, and

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Speaker 4: also making really smart decisions to add the right guys,

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Speaker 4: add the right kind of players to our team, and

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Speaker 4: then roll it out there and go compete. It's the

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Speaker 4: best thing about our league, Pas. No matter all of

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Speaker 4: these things that happen at these events, the Combine and

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Speaker 4: you know, the draft, all the different things around, you know, the.

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Speaker 5: Schedule really blah blah.

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Speaker 4: We do a lot of things, but nothing more important

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Speaker 4: than rolling that thing out there seventeen times and trying

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Speaker 4: to do everything you gotta.

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Speaker 5: Do to win.

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Speaker 1: Enjoy Indianapolis. Thank you very much for the chat.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, thank you, guys, appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: Nordo PA.

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Speaker 2: If you were hero, it would be start the show

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Speaker 2: with Ko, Start the show with Start the show with Ko.

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Speaker 1: That segment number one courtesy September Tech.

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Speaker 2: What's on Deck nine to noon includes next segment acting

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Speaker 2: general manager Rob Brezenski. Then after that the scribe Ben

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00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:04,520
Speaker 2: Gasoline from Indianapolis, then Kevin Stefanski, coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

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Speaker 1: That takes place at.

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00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:10,000
Speaker 2: About ten twenty Cornfields, followed by Courtney Cronin a ESPN,

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00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:13,560
Speaker 2: she covers the Bears. She'll be here with us in Indianapolis,

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00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,760
Speaker 2: and then former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Jeff George is going

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Speaker 2: to be with us here in Indianapolis, and that'll be

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Speaker 2: a We promise a live wire related conversation with the

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Speaker 2: Gunslinger Jeff George about eleven fifteen marathon segments nine to

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00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:33,119
Speaker 2: noon or courtesy of Steve's Appliances and Steve's Appliances dot Com,

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00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,960
Speaker 2: go to the website, hit shop deals and get paid

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00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:40,280
Speaker 2: onto some fantastic appliances, or stop by the beautiful showroom

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00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:44,320
Speaker 2: in Mounds View. Brian and Sarah everybody with Steve's Appliances

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00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,240
Speaker 2: thank you wholeheartedly. Steve's Appliances dot Com. The man they

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00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,280
Speaker 2: call Briz, acting general manager for the Minnesota Vikings, joins us. Next,

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Speaker 2: It's Indianapolis Combine day two for Pete Bursich. I'm Paul

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Speaker 2: Allen Nordo produces and this is one hundred point three kPa.

439
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:15,800
Speaker 6: NI nine to noon.

440
00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:22,440
Speaker 2: Just Lessen, Just Lessen, Hey, welcome back to Indianapolis, Pete

441
00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,439
Speaker 2: versage Paul Allen and Rob Razinski. He's the acting general

442
00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,640
Speaker 2: manager for the Minnesota Vikings. In his eyes, he's spent

443
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,520
Speaker 2: twenty seven years with the Minnesota Vikings. So I think

444
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,560
Speaker 2: we're all going to smile right now a little bit.

445
00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:38,760
Speaker 2: We're here on this couch at the J W. Marriott

446
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,400
Speaker 2: in Indianapolis with us somebody that those of us who.

447
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:43,960
Speaker 1: Have known Rob for quite some time.

448
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,720
Speaker 2: All right, he's known as a capologist and he works

449
00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,200
Speaker 2: with the salary cap But we've always known, without exactly

450
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:56,040
Speaker 2: knowing the roots to team building, that you have philosophies

451
00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:59,399
Speaker 2: with building a team, and you know, you you have opinions,

452
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,320
Speaker 2: and you have ideas when it comes to a roster

453
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:06,560
Speaker 2: building that go beyond just the salary cap First of all, congratulations,

454
00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:07,280
Speaker 2: and what.

455
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:07,680
Speaker 1: Do you think of that?

456
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:11,240
Speaker 7: Well, I mean, I just finished my thirty third year

457
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:14,280
Speaker 7: in the NFL, you know, and I've been I've been

458
00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:17,359
Speaker 7: in every meeting. I've seen a lot of roster cycles,

459
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:20,280
Speaker 7: and I you know, I certainly have my own, you know,

460
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:23,119
Speaker 7: team building philosophy, and I've studied every other team in

461
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,000
Speaker 7: the league as well. But I think when you talk

462
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,680
Speaker 7: about a philosophy, it has to be a philosophy that's

463
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:33,360
Speaker 7: ultimately coming from ownership and what the Minnesota Vikings are

464
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,320
Speaker 7: doing as an organization. What's our philosophy, what's our vision?

465
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,320
Speaker 7: You know, how do we want to build you know,

466
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,160
Speaker 7: our football team? And that's bigger than me, that's bigger

467
00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:45,399
Speaker 7: than coach O'Connell. It involves all of us. But ultimately,

468
00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,440
Speaker 7: you know that rest with ownership as well.

469
00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:51,440
Speaker 3: You know, and you're kind of you're You're the Jeff

470
00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:54,120
Speaker 3: Baxter of the NFL. You know, Jeff Skunk Baxter is, Yeah,

471
00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,680
Speaker 3: the guitar player for Steely Dan. What people don't realize

472
00:23:57,720 --> 00:23:59,880
Speaker 3: is that he worked at the Skunk Works with Lockheed

473
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:02,119
Speaker 3: and he was a brilliant engineer. But everybody knows him

474
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,840
Speaker 3: as a guitar player. You're known as a contract guy,

475
00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:09,959
Speaker 3: but I know you from twenty years ago, being in

476
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,320
Speaker 3: the meeting rooms for the for the draft and being

477
00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:15,840
Speaker 3: involved in the draft. I mean, it feels great that

478
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,200
Speaker 3: I can finally blame you for Brian McKinney's draft member

479
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:20,080
Speaker 3: being put in there.

480
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:23,440
Speaker 8: Late, right, yeah, right, right in a day holdout.

481
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:26,359
Speaker 3: Yeah exactly, So come on, man, But no, I'm just saying,

482
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:30,320
Speaker 3: I guess people aren't aware that you've been so successful

483
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:34,320
Speaker 3: at the contract side of things that the other part

484
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:35,960
Speaker 3: of it, all the other things that you've done over

485
00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:37,959
Speaker 3: the years, has been not overlook but you're just not

486
00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:40,800
Speaker 3: known for him, but you I want, it made perfect

487
00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:42,960
Speaker 3: sense to me when that when they announced it, and

488
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,119
Speaker 3: I'm like, this guy has been in draft rooms. I

489
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:49,639
Speaker 3: mean you managed to Mike Tice right, Scott Studwell trying.

490
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,040
Speaker 3: I mean that was that was that you had to

491
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 3: have learned a ton from back in those days.

492
00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:56,239
Speaker 7: I've seen a lot, you know, And I also I

493
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,720
Speaker 7: love the team building aspect of it, and that's you know,

494
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:01,560
Speaker 7: that's that's how I've grown.

495
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:02,280
Speaker 8: Up in this business.

496
00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:05,199
Speaker 7: And and you know, over the years, the game has

497
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,600
Speaker 7: become much more of a business. Right, none of no

498
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:12,879
Speaker 7: decisions can be made in personnel or otherwise without considering

499
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,840
Speaker 7: the financial implications. And so you know, literally, you know,

500
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:21,000
Speaker 7: it's a it requires organizational alignment. You know, there's a

501
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,480
Speaker 7: there's a head coach, there's a head administrator, and there's

502
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:27,480
Speaker 7: a head personnel person and everybody needs to work in

503
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:30,320
Speaker 7: tandem and in alignment, you know, to make good decisions

504
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 7: for the organization.

505
00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:34,280
Speaker 2: All right, So you know, moving forward, whether you're the

506
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,600
Speaker 2: active GM, you become the full time GM capologist. We're

507
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,560
Speaker 2: going to talk about Matt Thomas, a new hire here momentarily.

508
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,640
Speaker 2: Does this mean at like home games at us Bank

509
00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,440
Speaker 2: Stadium two booths down from where Pete and I call

510
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,639
Speaker 2: the game? Does this mean if we have like a

511
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,080
Speaker 2: Minneapolis miracle moment, that you no longer are going to

512
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,840
Speaker 2: jump up on the table and cheer.

513
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:56,840
Speaker 1: And high five fans? I mean, do we have to

514
00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:57,879
Speaker 1: be more buttoned up?

515
00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 8: I think we're all fans And.

516
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,359
Speaker 7: Gosh, that was that was some memory?

517
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:05,040
Speaker 5: Was Yeah.

518
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 2: I looked over to the right, Jonathan Gannon's banging on

519
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,200
Speaker 2: the glass Tofanski's ruffling papers, being nice and calm, and

520
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:13,600
Speaker 2: there's the capologist on top.

521
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 1: Of a table cheering with fans. I'm like, yes, yeah,

522
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:18,520
Speaker 1: you love this team.

523
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:19,639
Speaker 8: I do love this team.

524
00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:23,280
Speaker 7: And like I was just talking to some other people

525
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 7: and like in my years here in my time realizing

526
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,879
Speaker 7: what the Minnesota Vikings mean to our fans. It's really

527
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,679
Speaker 7: really special and I just want to be a small

528
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:39,440
Speaker 7: part of helping deliver a championship to our fans. They've

529
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,280
Speaker 7: been waiting a really, really long time, and it's going

530
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,160
Speaker 7: to mean so much to them when it finally does happen,

531
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:44,680
Speaker 7: and it will.

532
00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:48,840
Speaker 2: We mentioned the name Matt Thomas. He recently was hired.

533
00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:51,479
Speaker 2: For those who are not familiar with Matt, who is

534
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:52,480
Speaker 2: he and what does he do?

535
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,840
Speaker 7: Matt Thomas, Well, he and I, first of all, were

536
00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,720
Speaker 7: both trained by a gentleman by the name of Brian

537
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:03,000
Speaker 7: Weidmeyer who hired both of us. Actually, Brian hired me

538
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,760
Speaker 7: in nineteen ninety three out of law school. When I

539
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:09,720
Speaker 7: came to the Vikings in ninety nine, he hired Matt

540
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,680
Speaker 7: Thomas to take my place in Miami.

541
00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:14,280
Speaker 8: So I've known Matt forever.

542
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 7: Our our our team building, values and philosophies are completely aligned.

543
00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:21,439
Speaker 4: You know.

544
00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 7: He won a Super Bowl with Seattle, participated in two,

545
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:32,040
Speaker 7: retired two years ago and offered to move to Minnesota

546
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,000
Speaker 7: for three months to help out.

547
00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:35,359
Speaker 8: That's what kind of friend he is.

548
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,159
Speaker 7: And he is one of the most talented people in

549
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,480
Speaker 7: this business. And then of course we have Emily Betis

550
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,800
Speaker 7: internally too, who's who's a rising star, and so we're

551
00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,400
Speaker 7: we're well equipped on the business side of football.

552
00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:51,280
Speaker 2: So when you say that you study all the teams,

553
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:55,240
Speaker 2: is that something that's new for you now? From a

554
00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:59,280
Speaker 2: personnel standpoint, and what are some things that you see

555
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:01,760
Speaker 2: that maybe other teams are doing. Shoot, we can talk

556
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:05,040
Speaker 2: about the champion Seahawks or whatever in John Schneider, but

557
00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:07,919
Speaker 2: what are some things that you see that you like?

558
00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:10,400
Speaker 7: Well, I would say number one, like I've always kept

559
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:14,800
Speaker 7: my own roster building, team building philosophy. You know, I

560
00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:18,199
Speaker 7: have a file, I have a document, and then I study.

561
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:21,240
Speaker 7: You know, I've studied going by I originally started working

562
00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:23,320
Speaker 7: with Don Shula. You know, he was the head coach

563
00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,479
Speaker 7: of the the Dolphins when when I started my career.

564
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:30,760
Speaker 7: And from what Ron Wolf to Bill Parcells to you know,

565
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,240
Speaker 7: any any any anybody that I can study and learn from.

566
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:38,240
Speaker 7: You know, I try to do that with respect to

567
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:42,320
Speaker 7: you know, you mentioned John Schneider. John came up the

568
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:46,840
Speaker 7: traditional way right of being a traditional college scout. But

569
00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:51,000
Speaker 7: what people don't realize is his superpower is bringing people together,

570
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:56,280
Speaker 7: having a shared vision, have an alignment. And that's what

571
00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,360
Speaker 7: makes him so special. I mean, people think that this

572
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,680
Speaker 7: business is out a general manager identifying players on his

573
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:04,400
Speaker 7: or her own.

574
00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:05,880
Speaker 8: It doesn't work that way.

575
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 7: It's we have ten or twelve scouts looking at every player,

576
00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,280
Speaker 7: and you're building a consensus and that's how you make

577
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:11,920
Speaker 7: good decisions.

578
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, now that was gonna be My next question was

579
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,680
Speaker 3: just you mentioned all the team building things that you've

580
00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:22,320
Speaker 3: learned along the way. What are some of those? Yeah,

581
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:24,200
Speaker 3: and I'm not you know, you have to be specific,

582
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,600
Speaker 3: but just what have you learned and what are the

583
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 3: main potholes that you are mistakes that you've seen teams make.

584
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:36,400
Speaker 7: I think you have to build through the draft, so

585
00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:41,800
Speaker 7: be draft develop, retain your core supplement a free agency,

586
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:46,720
Speaker 7: but you also have to find players that are Minnesota

587
00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:50,480
Speaker 7: Vikings fits from an intangible standpoint, I think those are

588
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,760
Speaker 7: the key tenants. And then from there you have to

589
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:58,000
Speaker 7: have guardrails in place to make good decisions in the staff,

590
00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:01,160
Speaker 7: good decisions and not try to form something that's not there.

591
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 8: You know, you see that happen a lot.

592
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:07,320
Speaker 7: Because there's this desperation of phil holes and needs and

593
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:08,200
Speaker 7: make things happen.

594
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:09,600
Speaker 8: Well, if it's not there, you can't do that.

595
00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 5: You just have to.

596
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:14,040
Speaker 7: If you stack good decisions, then ultimately you will have

597
00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:16,760
Speaker 7: built a team because we're not picking players right where

598
00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:18,440
Speaker 7: we're building a team.

599
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,920
Speaker 2: If you are the salary cap guy, the contract guy,

600
00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,600
Speaker 2: and we're sitting here doing this interview in Indianapolis, February

601
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,840
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. We're probably not going to ask you

602
00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:31,400
Speaker 2: this question, but as acting general manager, whether it's interim,

603
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:35,520
Speaker 2: full time, or whatever is next, JJ McCarthy and the

604
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:39,320
Speaker 2: season he just had and heading into his third year

605
00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:41,760
Speaker 2: as a twenty three year old young man who has

606
00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,760
Speaker 2: a right to physically and mentally mature, what are your

607
00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:45,360
Speaker 2: thoughts on that.

608
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,760
Speaker 7: I know coach O'Connell has talked a lot about JJ McCarthy,

609
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,840
Speaker 7: and we have the utmost confidence in JJ. You know,

610
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,600
Speaker 7: he's been through some adversity and it's it's very, very

611
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 7: hard to play this position in the NFL, and so

612
00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:03,840
Speaker 7: sometimes I just feel like people are a little bit

613
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 7: unfair to him. They don't know, in addition to his talent,

614
00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,320
Speaker 7: what a great person he is, what a great leader

615
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:13,760
Speaker 7: he is, how much he cares, how much he works

616
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:14,080
Speaker 7: at it.

617
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:15,680
Speaker 8: He's gifted.

618
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:20,320
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, obviously, you know he's had some difficulties,

619
00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:22,920
Speaker 7: you know, staying healthy, and hopefully that'll be in his

620
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:27,120
Speaker 7: rear view mirror. But this JJ has got everything it

621
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 7: takes to be successful in this league.

622
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:31,640
Speaker 9: You mentioned building through the draft.

623
00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:35,440
Speaker 3: I think just your thoughts on Donovan Jackson, who I

624
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:38,720
Speaker 3: thought had a pretty sneaky good rookie campaign, and then

625
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,560
Speaker 3: the emergence of Dallas Turner. And what do you expect

626
00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:43,680
Speaker 3: to see out of those two guys going forward.

627
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:49,000
Speaker 7: Well, again, you know, draft develop and then the next

628
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:52,120
Speaker 7: step will be with those core players to hopefully retain them.

629
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:53,360
Speaker 8: And you're going to.

630
00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:57,320
Speaker 7: See those guys continue to take a step each year

631
00:31:57,360 --> 00:31:58,040
Speaker 7: and get better.

632
00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:00,800
Speaker 8: And part of that is a baseline talent, and then.

633
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:03,800
Speaker 7: Part of that is is developing, which our coaches do

634
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,160
Speaker 7: such a great job, you know, getting the best out

635
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:07,760
Speaker 7: of our players, but it takes time.

636
00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:09,120
Speaker 8: It doesn't happen overnight.

637
00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:13,760
Speaker 2: The combine is always a double edged sword, so to speak,

638
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:17,880
Speaker 2: or a conundrum in that it's identified as rookies heading

639
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:19,000
Speaker 2: into the draft.

640
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,600
Speaker 1: Being here and doing interviews and drills and things like that.

641
00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:25,920
Speaker 2: However, free agency is next, you know, so therefore there

642
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:28,719
Speaker 2: are a lot of conversations I would imagine, you know,

643
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:32,000
Speaker 2: within personnel departments about free agency, what kind of cash

644
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,160
Speaker 2: we have to spend, what the next two, three, four

645
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:35,000
Speaker 2: years looks like.

646
00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:41,920
Speaker 1: So this is so the the post is so new still, I.

647
00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:44,360
Speaker 2: Mean you've had to dive right into that, right with

648
00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:47,680
Speaker 2: your salary cap and you know your free agents Eric Wilson,

649
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:51,640
Speaker 2: Jalen Naylor players like that, and also analyze the landscape

650
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,560
Speaker 2: of what you may want. And that's a tricky balance,

651
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:55,200
Speaker 2: isn't it. Yeah.

652
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:58,480
Speaker 7: I mean, the last three weeks we've evaluated our own roster,

653
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 7: gone through a new draft meetings, free agent meetings, strategy meetings.

654
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:06,920
Speaker 8: You know, we know the areas where we'd like to improve.

655
00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:09,320
Speaker 7: And so right now we have a general idea in

656
00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,560
Speaker 7: the draft where we could get some help in the draft,

657
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,160
Speaker 7: where we could get some help in free agency. But again,

658
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,440
Speaker 7: all you can do is identify targets and do your

659
00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:23,200
Speaker 7: best to acquire them responsibly. And you can't force you know,

660
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:25,360
Speaker 7: it's not there. And so we're going to have a

661
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:28,240
Speaker 7: discipline process to how we do things and make decisions,

662
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:29,680
Speaker 7: and we're going to do that.

663
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:33,040
Speaker 2: Together well with linebacker Eric Wilson. I mean, this is

664
00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:37,240
Speaker 2: you know, another fantastic one of many to have Rob Razinski,

665
00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:39,840
Speaker 2: the acting general manager for the Vikings year with us,

666
00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,520
Speaker 2: because Rob's been here almost three decades, so he was

667
00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:46,760
Speaker 2: here when Eric Wilson got here from Cincinnati undrafted. I

668
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,240
Speaker 2: think his first signing bonus was ten thousand dollars or

669
00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:50,760
Speaker 2: something like that, and he was on a series of

670
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:54,040
Speaker 2: one year deals. Well, Eric just played out of his

671
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,360
Speaker 2: skin last year, So forget the contractual part of it

672
00:33:57,480 --> 00:33:59,560
Speaker 2: or the commitment as to whether he'll be here or

673
00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:04,360
Speaker 2: somewhere else. Stories like that. You know, seeing guys undrafted

674
00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,160
Speaker 2: come into the league and then do what he did

675
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:08,839
Speaker 2: last year, that's phenomenal.

676
00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:12,040
Speaker 7: You know what, though, you're you're exactly right, but he

677
00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:15,680
Speaker 7: is a phenomenal human being. He loves to play the

678
00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:21,040
Speaker 7: game of football. He's a great leader, and he's extremely talented.

679
00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:24,280
Speaker 7: And you've put all those things together. It's it's it's

680
00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:26,759
Speaker 7: you know, you've got a great football.

681
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:29,040
Speaker 3: Player and you got even a better person, right, I'm

682
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,120
Speaker 3: sure with with all when you talk about decisions with

683
00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:36,239
Speaker 3: free agency and college, uh, leaning on coaches is important.

684
00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,960
Speaker 3: Retaining Brian Flores and what does that mean in that

685
00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:42,680
Speaker 3: in that regard, because I think it was just a

686
00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:46,520
Speaker 3: huge part of the of the development and continuation of

687
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:47,640
Speaker 3: what you talked about earlier.

688
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:50,400
Speaker 7: Yeah, and like with respect to flow, we get the

689
00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:53,319
Speaker 7: questions a lot with flow, like how evolved is flow

690
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:54,000
Speaker 7: and personnel?

691
00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:54,560
Speaker 5: Right?

692
00:34:54,640 --> 00:35:00,200
Speaker 7: And you know, typically the coaching staff knows what type

693
00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:03,080
Speaker 7: of players they need to execute their scheme. So it's

694
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:07,040
Speaker 7: their responsibility to communicate that to the personnel department to

695
00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:11,160
Speaker 7: create alignment. But who knows better the players that fit

696
00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:14,680
Speaker 7: a scheme, you know, then the coaches or Brian Flores.

697
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,160
Speaker 7: Now what happens is, you know from being a former coach,

698
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:19,200
Speaker 7: you don't have time to evaluate.

699
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,239
Speaker 8: But Flow loves it. Flow loves to evaluate. He puts

700
00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:25,239
Speaker 8: the time in. He he loves the process.

701
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:29,800
Speaker 7: And so you know, again, as long as we're operating

702
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:33,040
Speaker 7: with our within our team building philosophy and our guardrails,

703
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,560
Speaker 7: and we have alignment, you know with coaching and personnel,

704
00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:38,400
Speaker 7: why would we not lean on Flow?

705
00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 2: Yeah for sure. And then you know Pe touched on

706
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 2: something a little bit earlier. But you know, equity is

707
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:46,160
Speaker 2: extremely important to all of us. And you know you've

708
00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:50,280
Speaker 2: done work with the Vikings from Denny Green through Mike Tye,

709
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:55,440
Speaker 2: Brad Childress, Leslie Frasier, Mike Zimmer and then into Kevin O'Connell.

710
00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:58,680
Speaker 2: So I would imagine that you know, if you sat

711
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 2: back and thought about the way things went at certain times,

712
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,479
Speaker 2: you can pull. There's so much from which you can

713
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:10,200
Speaker 2: pull that has worked that chances that have been taken

714
00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:13,600
Speaker 2: that haven't worked and put that into a melting pot

715
00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:15,560
Speaker 2: and move forward doing what you're doing.

716
00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:21,920
Speaker 7: And I think there are there are common themes, you know,

717
00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:26,120
Speaker 7: and it's always about having the right people, people being aligned,

718
00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:32,440
Speaker 7: caring about each other, challenging each other with constructive, uh

719
00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:35,759
Speaker 7: hard conversations at times, no different than you know with

720
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:38,279
Speaker 7: our partners, right you Sometimes you have to have a

721
00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:42,000
Speaker 7: hard conversation, you know, like with my wife. But hopefully

722
00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:44,280
Speaker 7: you do that and then it brings us closer together

723
00:36:44,320 --> 00:36:46,120
Speaker 7: and it makes us stronger. And that's the kind of

724
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:51,080
Speaker 7: that's the kind of environment that really makes you special,

725
00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:55,480
Speaker 7: I think, and brings you closer not just as colleagues.

726
00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:58,120
Speaker 8: But as people. And then you can just do some

727
00:36:58,440 --> 00:36:59,560
Speaker 8: crazy special things.

728
00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:01,880
Speaker 2: But you have to love and you're not going to

729
00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:05,240
Speaker 2: say this about yourself. That's what everybody says about you,

730
00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:07,680
Speaker 2: you know, and everybody says that you know, God gifted

731
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,880
Speaker 2: him in a way he naturally galvanizes things. And your you,

732
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:14,719
Speaker 2: We've always known you as a calm person, very competitive

733
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:18,520
Speaker 2: and very excitable during games, but a calm person. And

734
00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:21,640
Speaker 2: that you know, with with Kevin O'Connell being a former

735
00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:24,960
Speaker 2: coach of the year and a well respected coach in

736
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:27,359
Speaker 2: the National Football League, specifically when he has the same

737
00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:29,200
Speaker 2: quarterback for more the next amount of games.

738
00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:30,319
Speaker 5: Uh.

739
00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:34,279
Speaker 2: Working with Kevin and and not only as salary cap guy,

740
00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:38,080
Speaker 2: but now acting general manager, what's your relationship like with

741
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:40,320
Speaker 2: Kevin and what do you like working.

742
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:44,520
Speaker 7: With I mean, he's just a fabulous person. You guys

743
00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:48,880
Speaker 7: know him well. You know, we're in such good hands

744
00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:53,680
Speaker 7: having him be the Kevin. Kevin O'Connell is our leader

745
00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 7: in football, right He's he's he's the face of our franchise,

746
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:02,480
Speaker 7: you know, from the standpoint being forward facing, setting our culture.

747
00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:04,719
Speaker 8: You know, he's the guy that's out there every day.

748
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:08,160
Speaker 7: Now it's our job to work together, to bring together

749
00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:11,080
Speaker 7: the coaching staff and the personnel staff and have checks

750
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 7: and balances in a philosophy and you all those things.

751
00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:17,080
Speaker 7: But I just I feel really blessed about the way

752
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:21,160
Speaker 7: that coach O'Connell has welcomed me into the position that

753
00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:24,560
Speaker 7: i'm in now and in the confidence you know that

754
00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:27,759
Speaker 7: he hasn't everybody and it's going to be a really

755
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:29,040
Speaker 7: fun process moving forward.

756
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:29,640
Speaker 5: That's awesome.

757
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:32,759
Speaker 9: Twenty seven years. What do you want your legacy to be?

758
00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:36,800
Speaker 7: I want to be a small part of delivering a

759
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:42,040
Speaker 7: championship to our fans. I just try to envision what

760
00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:45,759
Speaker 7: that would look like. I can see it, I can,

761
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,960
Speaker 7: and it's just this is a special Everybody talks about

762
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,040
Speaker 7: the cliche fan, how we the best fans in the world,

763
00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:56,320
Speaker 7: But this this the Minnesota Vikings are in the being

764
00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:59,279
Speaker 7: of our fans. It means so much to them. Just

765
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:02,520
Speaker 7: want to be a small part of finally delivering that Lombardy.

766
00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:07,600
Speaker 2: Let's close with a two parter. First and foremost, in

767
00:39:08,239 --> 00:39:10,480
Speaker 2: casting your gaze the way of X amount of months

768
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:12,960
Speaker 2: from now is kind of impossible to do, but from

769
00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:17,000
Speaker 2: your heart, is this something being a full time general

770
00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:19,920
Speaker 2: manager for the Minnesota Vikings. Is this something that you

771
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,719
Speaker 2: that that interests you, that that you would like to.

772
00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:26,560
Speaker 7: Be I can just say this like, I am feel

773
00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:30,000
Speaker 7: very honored to be in this position right now, and

774
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:33,120
Speaker 7: it's an awesome responsibility, and I think the owners have

775
00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:37,719
Speaker 7: entrusted that in in partially me, but in the incredible

776
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:44,200
Speaker 7: experienced and talented football staff. We have, particularly a talent

777
00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:48,080
Speaker 7: evaluation staff that I think rivals anybody in the NFL.

778
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:50,719
Speaker 7: And so right now I'm looking forward to seeing all

779
00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:54,799
Speaker 7: these people shine and uh, we're just gonna focus on

780
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:56,560
Speaker 7: what's ahead of us in the next couple of months

781
00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:58,719
Speaker 7: and uh, and then we'll go from there.

782
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:02,400
Speaker 2: And lastly, as a salary cap guy, and you mentioned

783
00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:05,800
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety nine, well, Pete Bersage was on that team.

784
00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:09,120
Speaker 2: How much did you squeeze it?

785
00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:12,600
Speaker 8: Actually he went down in the preseason. It broke my heart.

786
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:16,120
Speaker 9: I was almost in the pro bono file. Yeah, exactly when.

787
00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:18,400
Speaker 1: He came in and asked for a two thousand dollars raise.

788
00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:19,960
Speaker 1: You said, no, seventeen hundred.

789
00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:23,120
Speaker 8: You want to talk about represents in Minnesota Viking leader.

790
00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:28,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, tough, Yeah, loves football and our broadcast versatile.

791
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:29,880
Speaker 1: I mean, he's awesome.

792
00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:31,319
Speaker 8: This is what you're looking for right here.

793
00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:31,680
Speaker 5: Yeah.

794
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:34,600
Speaker 1: Hey, we are so happy for you, man.

795
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:36,279
Speaker 2: That's why I started to laugh when you sat down,

796
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:39,880
Speaker 2: because this is just fantastic and I can't wait to

797
00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:42,920
Speaker 2: see which way free agency. You know, free agency is

798
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:46,320
Speaker 2: one thing, but you know, as the active general manager,

799
00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:49,279
Speaker 2: your name is on that is on the draft, no

800
00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:53,160
Speaker 2: matter if O'Connell, Grigson, whomever is making the picks. I

801
00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:55,839
Speaker 2: just think that's fantastic that you're going to have your

802
00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:57,400
Speaker 2: name officially tied to Picks.

803
00:40:57,640 --> 00:40:59,360
Speaker 1: I mean, what if we just go lights out in

804
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:00,640
Speaker 1: this draft? Let be unbelievable.

805
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:03,120
Speaker 7: Hey, we're gonna work together, we're gonna we're gonna make

806
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:06,600
Speaker 7: we're gonna gonna make good sound decisions, sir, and then

807
00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:07,719
Speaker 7: you know, we'll see where it.

808
00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:08,279
Speaker 5: Goes from there.

809
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:09,440
Speaker 1: He's one of the best.

810
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,600
Speaker 2: Rob Razinski, acting General manager for the Minnesota Vikings from

811
00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:18,320
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty six Indianapolis Scouting Combine with Pete Persage.

812
00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:20,600
Speaker 1: I'm Paul Allen. Thanks for watching Vikings dot com and

813
00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:21,480
Speaker 1: listening to kVA.

814
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:38,800
Speaker 2: Well, look you here Indianapolis, Day two of the scouting

815
00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:41,120
Speaker 2: Combine for nine to noon with Pete Persage and yours

816
00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:44,960
Speaker 2: to early Paul Allen. It is Ben Gesling, our beloved

817
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:48,279
Speaker 2: scribe at ben Gesling via x covers the Vikings for

818
00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:51,960
Speaker 2: the Star tribume. He tweets, writes stories, does many pods

819
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:55,920
Speaker 2: with Emily Liker, and we managed to we managed to

820
00:41:56,200 --> 00:42:00,520
Speaker 2: corral and or wrangle in said scribe during his very,

821
00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:03,960
Speaker 2: very busy schedule. Now we heard from Kevin O'Connell on

822
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:07,240
Speaker 2: the radio show forty five minutes ago. You sat down

823
00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:10,200
Speaker 2: with him yesterday and I was in the background of

824
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:13,239
Speaker 2: some of these pressing questions that were being asked, What

825
00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:14,080
Speaker 2: did you learn?

826
00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:15,000
Speaker 5: What did you learn?

827
00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:18,080
Speaker 1: Because it was a very informative conversation and good morning.

828
00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:20,640
Speaker 10: Good morning, Yeah, it was. I think my big takeaway

829
00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:24,920
Speaker 10: from both Kevin O'Connell and Rob Berzinski was all options

830
00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:27,279
Speaker 10: at quarterback are on the table, and that's kind of

831
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:29,359
Speaker 10: what we thought. But it was interesting to hear them

832
00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:34,280
Speaker 10: kind of both say even the possibility of getting somebody

833
00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:37,120
Speaker 10: who's a veteran, somebody who could come in as the

834
00:42:37,200 --> 00:42:40,640
Speaker 10: unquestioned starter rather than just a competitor. I mean, Rob said,

835
00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:44,560
Speaker 10: everything's on the table, so and that's certainly a reflection

836
00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:46,520
Speaker 10: of where they're at with JJ McCarthy, but also I

837
00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:49,880
Speaker 10: think a reflection of the need to win. I mean,

838
00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:53,200
Speaker 10: Kevin O'Connell's saying, my feelings about JJ McCarthy haven't changed,

839
00:42:53,239 --> 00:42:56,800
Speaker 10: but the timeline has, I thought was a very interesting

840
00:42:56,840 --> 00:42:58,840
Speaker 10: way to put that, and just a reflection of the

841
00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:01,520
Speaker 10: fact that you've got a vetters team, you've got a

842
00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:03,799
Speaker 10: coach that's heading in a year five without a playoff win,

843
00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:08,280
Speaker 10: and all of those factors are real and it makes

844
00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:12,120
Speaker 10: the ability to wait for a kid to kind of

845
00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:15,359
Speaker 10: finish all of the development that he needs to do.

846
00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:17,040
Speaker 10: It changes the math on that a little bit. So

847
00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:18,640
Speaker 10: it was interesting to hear him reflect on that.

848
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,320
Speaker 3: I guess to add to that, coach O'Connell said something

849
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:25,640
Speaker 3: I don't know if I've heard him say before, but

850
00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:31,880
Speaker 3: he used the phrase finding ways to win games or

851
00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:36,239
Speaker 3: winning games in other ways, use the finger quotes. And

852
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:39,799
Speaker 3: so I listened to that and go, Okay, maybe he

853
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:43,680
Speaker 3: wants to invest in the defense right and win other

854
00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:47,200
Speaker 3: ways besides his his offense running up and down the

855
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:51,759
Speaker 3: field on people combined. So do you think that's going

856
00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:54,040
Speaker 3: to affect what they want to do, Because I'm of

857
00:43:54,120 --> 00:43:57,160
Speaker 3: the camp that says the move that they make and

858
00:43:57,239 --> 00:43:59,799
Speaker 3: how big of a move will tell you, I think

859
00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:04,640
Speaker 3: how they actually feel right as far as JJ's future.

860
00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:08,400
Speaker 3: But that was the first time I heard him really mention, uh,

861
00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:12,200
Speaker 3: not only just winning games in other ways, but maybe

862
00:44:12,239 --> 00:44:14,279
Speaker 3: that maybe that's the one of the one of the

863
00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:17,839
Speaker 3: ways in which they're going to try to turn this

864
00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:22,000
Speaker 3: thing around. There's more spend right now, I think on

865
00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:23,400
Speaker 3: the defense and the offense.

866
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:27,520
Speaker 9: Uh so maybe that trend will continue. I don't know.

867
00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:30,640
Speaker 3: I mean, it could be a different totally different situation

868
00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:32,040
Speaker 3: or team in that regard.

869
00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:33,400
Speaker 10: Yeah, well, and you look at the end of the

870
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:35,160
Speaker 10: year when they go on that five game win streak,

871
00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:38,040
Speaker 10: the misdefense driver of that was the defense, no doubt.

872
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:41,160
Speaker 10: So when you look at what they've done and you

873
00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:44,200
Speaker 10: look at what that group can be under Brian Flores,

874
00:44:44,239 --> 00:44:45,879
Speaker 10: we've seen it now for three years and I think

875
00:44:46,600 --> 00:44:49,040
Speaker 10: even at moments last year where it's like, Okay, our

876
00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:51,879
Speaker 10: team's getting a beat and what they're doing, they came

877
00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:54,480
Speaker 10: back and said, no, we have all of these other

878
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:56,839
Speaker 10: checks we can get to. We have enough flexibility that

879
00:44:56,880 --> 00:44:58,880
Speaker 10: you aren't going to stay ahead of us. Now, how

880
00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:02,040
Speaker 10: much does that change if it's not Harrison Smith back there.

881
00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:04,440
Speaker 10: I think that's a question that a problem will have

882
00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:07,359
Speaker 10: to solve. But yes, the fact that they played as

883
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:10,640
Speaker 10: well as they did defensively, I think there is going

884
00:45:10,680 --> 00:45:12,920
Speaker 10: to be part of that a realization that this defense

885
00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:16,640
Speaker 10: can help you win games if the offense is productive enough,

886
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:20,960
Speaker 10: your sustaining drives, you're controlling the clock, you can it

887
00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:23,640
Speaker 10: be a better compliment to that defense than perhaps they've

888
00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:23,920
Speaker 10: had it.

889
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:25,440
Speaker 9: Sound like Gruden to do that in Tampa.

890
00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:27,040
Speaker 3: He had a great defense and he got the best

891
00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:28,960
Speaker 3: he could out of his offense and end up Tony

892
00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:31,759
Speaker 3: Dungee doing kind of the same thing in Indianapolis. The

893
00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:35,160
Speaker 3: other part that was interesting was, just like you said,

894
00:45:35,200 --> 00:45:39,359
Speaker 3: the timeline. Yeah, you've never really heard coach O'Connell talk

895
00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:43,880
Speaker 3: about timeline. Do you think with they just extended the

896
00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:46,440
Speaker 3: general manager then let him go, yep, you have kind

897
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:50,520
Speaker 3: of an interim general manager right now. Do you think

898
00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:53,880
Speaker 3: that coach O'Connell in any way, shape or form, is

899
00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:57,719
Speaker 3: viewing that as instability. Yes, we're in a win now lead,

900
00:45:58,440 --> 00:46:02,680
Speaker 3: but is that putting exclamation point on the win now?

901
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:06,200
Speaker 3: And do you think that that much is at stake

902
00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:07,600
Speaker 3: this season.

903
00:46:07,239 --> 00:46:09,360
Speaker 9: For coach o'com Well, it's hard regards.

904
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:10,919
Speaker 10: Yeah, it's hard to know if it'll be this year.

905
00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:13,319
Speaker 10: But it was interesting to hear him say we all

906
00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:16,759
Speaker 10: know what we signed up for, meaning if you take

907
00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:19,279
Speaker 10: one of these results, you have to have results or

908
00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:21,880
Speaker 10: you're going to get fired. So, I mean, they've had

909
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:23,320
Speaker 10: a lot of results in the regular season for the

910
00:46:23,320 --> 00:46:25,239
Speaker 10: most part, and he made the point that when they've

911
00:46:25,239 --> 00:46:28,960
Speaker 10: had consistent quarterback play, they've won in the regular season.

912
00:46:29,239 --> 00:46:32,440
Speaker 10: Now the currency that matters, as we all know, his

913
00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:35,480
Speaker 10: playoff wins which they don't have yet. So to get

914
00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:37,600
Speaker 10: there first you do, you have to get their first

915
00:46:37,719 --> 00:46:40,600
Speaker 10: and then you probably need a quarterback that can help

916
00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:42,600
Speaker 10: you make a run or at least, you know, be

917
00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:45,759
Speaker 10: competitive in these games once you get there. So I

918
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:48,520
Speaker 10: think there's a realization of you know, it's year five,

919
00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:52,839
Speaker 10: He's had certainly a pretty effective run to this point.

920
00:46:52,840 --> 00:46:55,080
Speaker 10: When's the Coach of the Year a year ago, when's

921
00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:57,400
Speaker 10: the division year one? All of those things, But the

922
00:46:57,440 --> 00:47:00,600
Speaker 10: timeline does change because people start to say, Okay, I

923
00:47:01,040 --> 00:47:04,000
Speaker 10: see other teams make runs. I see the Bears win

924
00:47:04,040 --> 00:47:07,240
Speaker 10: the division, and you look around. Patience in the NFL

925
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:11,200
Speaker 10: is not a commodity that is in deep supply. I mean,

926
00:47:11,239 --> 00:47:14,680
Speaker 10: the old the NFL stands for not for long is

927
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,480
Speaker 10: part of the deal. And that's where Brazinski, when he's

928
00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:21,800
Speaker 10: talking about draft development, retained that part of the equation

929
00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:22,840
Speaker 10: has really been missing.

930
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:24,640
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, totally has.

931
00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:27,080
Speaker 3: And so that's kind of the leg of the stool

932
00:47:27,080 --> 00:47:28,880
Speaker 3: where he's like, hey, you know, I haven't really got

933
00:47:28,719 --> 00:47:31,120
Speaker 3: a lot of help in that regard free agency. We've

934
00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:33,800
Speaker 3: really done pretty well for the most part. Right that

935
00:47:34,160 --> 00:47:37,360
Speaker 3: that sense of urgency just seemed a lot more there

936
00:47:38,239 --> 00:47:41,040
Speaker 3: than before. Yep, totally agree with that, and I think

937
00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:44,160
Speaker 3: some of the draft stuff has been when they haven't

938
00:47:44,200 --> 00:47:46,200
Speaker 3: hit on those picks, it changes the math.

939
00:47:46,239 --> 00:47:46,680
Speaker 1: With the cap.

940
00:47:46,760 --> 00:47:48,960
Speaker 10: It means that you're starting to make more decisions about

941
00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:52,520
Speaker 10: older players that have injury risks as well. But you know,

942
00:47:52,640 --> 00:47:55,440
Speaker 10: Robert Thinski talked about guardrails a little bit yesterday, and

943
00:47:55,440 --> 00:47:58,200
Speaker 10: I think some of that, as we figure out what

944
00:47:58,200 --> 00:48:01,080
Speaker 10: it means for the draft, may just mean let's make picks,

945
00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:04,120
Speaker 10: Let's get guys in here that can contribute, rather than

946
00:48:04,680 --> 00:48:07,960
Speaker 10: trying to get terribly overly complicated with maybe some of

947
00:48:07,960 --> 00:48:10,520
Speaker 10: the trades, all those kinds of things. If they can

948
00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:13,040
Speaker 10: have a draft where you get a few starters or

949
00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:16,120
Speaker 10: solid contributors, which has not happened out of a draft

950
00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:18,200
Speaker 10: in a while, where you say there are three or

951
00:48:18,200 --> 00:48:21,120
Speaker 10: four guys from this class that can help. I mean,

952
00:48:21,160 --> 00:48:23,640
Speaker 10: you look back to the last really great draft they

953
00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:27,479
Speaker 10: had twenty fifteen, when it was Trey Wayne who became

954
00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:31,000
Speaker 10: a solid starter. It was Danielle Hunter who was great,

955
00:48:31,239 --> 00:48:34,400
Speaker 10: Eric Kendricks who was a Pro Bowl linebacker. Stefan digs

956
00:48:34,400 --> 00:48:36,720
Speaker 10: in at fifth round. They are in the NFC title

957
00:48:36,719 --> 00:48:39,520
Speaker 10: game two years after that, draft. So when you get

958
00:48:39,640 --> 00:48:43,000
Speaker 10: that level of contribution from a draft class, it can

959
00:48:43,160 --> 00:48:45,040
Speaker 10: matter pretty quickly, and they haven't had one of those

960
00:48:45,080 --> 00:48:48,320
Speaker 10: in a long time. I think when we talk about timelines,

961
00:48:48,360 --> 00:48:51,360
Speaker 10: we talk about urgency the draft. Even if ough it is,

962
00:48:51,719 --> 00:48:53,440
Speaker 10: you know, we think of it as something for the future,

963
00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:56,520
Speaker 10: it can matter in a pretty short timeline, and they

964
00:48:56,560 --> 00:48:58,200
Speaker 10: have to have more in that contribution.

965
00:48:58,320 --> 00:49:00,600
Speaker 9: Four in the top one hundred. You certainly have opportunity.

966
00:49:00,640 --> 00:49:05,160
Speaker 2: Yes, Quasia Dolfo Mensa has landed with the San Francisco

967
00:49:05,239 --> 00:49:10,440
Speaker 2: forty nine ers as a personnel, as executive so San Francisco.

968
00:49:11,320 --> 00:49:14,319
Speaker 2: So the money he got here, part of it will

969
00:49:14,320 --> 00:49:17,080
Speaker 2: be offsets. Yes, by his job with San Francisco. Does

970
00:49:17,080 --> 00:49:20,000
Speaker 2: that mean say he got a dollar here per whatever

971
00:49:20,080 --> 00:49:22,680
Speaker 2: amount of years, does that mean San Francisco can give

972
00:49:22,760 --> 00:49:24,759
Speaker 2: him like a nickel and then the Vikings got to

973
00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:25,279
Speaker 2: pay the rest.

974
00:49:25,440 --> 00:49:27,759
Speaker 10: Well, yeah, And there's not a lot of incentive for

975
00:49:27,800 --> 00:49:29,560
Speaker 10: San Francisco to say we're going to pay your top

976
00:49:29,600 --> 00:49:31,680
Speaker 10: dollar when the Vikings already paying you, because what that

977
00:49:31,719 --> 00:49:35,359
Speaker 10: basically means is they are paying part of the bill

978
00:49:35,400 --> 00:49:37,440
Speaker 10: that the Vikings were larguing going to have to pay cheese.

979
00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:41,280
Speaker 10: So you know essentially he's not going to make more money. Yeah,

980
00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:43,640
Speaker 10: it's you know, how much does it save the Vikings

981
00:49:43,640 --> 00:49:45,799
Speaker 10: and the forty nine ers, maybe saying, hey, you know

982
00:49:45,800 --> 00:49:47,560
Speaker 10: you're gonna get paid either way. If it's all the

983
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:50,200
Speaker 10: same to you, we'd rather not help a competitor the thing.

984
00:49:50,239 --> 00:49:52,320
Speaker 9: Did we get a backup quarterback for that trade?

985
00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:56,839
Speaker 10: Yeah, like a mac jones possibility. I mean, yeah, I don't.

986
00:49:56,880 --> 00:49:59,440
Speaker 10: I don't think that was necessarily in the terms of

987
00:49:59,480 --> 00:50:03,640
Speaker 10: the deal, but yes, that is. Yeah, it's it's worth

988
00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:04,920
Speaker 10: so worst they can do it?

989
00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:05,919
Speaker 1: Say no, yeah, I can't.

990
00:50:06,120 --> 00:50:08,319
Speaker 2: I can't remember if last time we chatted I asked

991
00:50:08,360 --> 00:50:10,040
Speaker 2: you to this or not. But it's hit me hard

992
00:50:10,120 --> 00:50:13,960
Speaker 2: right now. So Quaisia doofa mensa with Kevin O'Connell a

993
00:50:13,960 --> 00:50:17,920
Speaker 2: couple of tuesdays following the season does his season closing

994
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:21,960
Speaker 2: press conference, and then I think they're they're I think

995
00:50:21,960 --> 00:50:25,719
Speaker 2: I've seen this reported. But there was that meeting or

996
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:29,280
Speaker 2: whatever with the ownership and the yearly meeting, and Quaysy

997
00:50:29,320 --> 00:50:31,880
Speaker 2: I believe was part of it, and then he was out.

998
00:50:32,440 --> 00:50:36,239
Speaker 2: So like from from putting him in front of the

999
00:50:36,280 --> 00:50:40,839
Speaker 2: public and talking about the season to that, it's just

1000
00:50:40,920 --> 00:50:42,279
Speaker 2: it's it's confusing.

1001
00:50:42,480 --> 00:50:43,400
Speaker 6: Yeah, in me it is.

1002
00:50:43,560 --> 00:50:44,360
Speaker 9: It's unusual.

1003
00:50:44,719 --> 00:50:47,239
Speaker 10: I mean it's rare to see an executive or a

1004
00:50:47,280 --> 00:50:50,120
Speaker 10: coach do a season ending press conference and then get

1005
00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:53,040
Speaker 10: fired after that. But I think some of it is

1006
00:50:53,120 --> 00:50:56,439
Speaker 10: the process for the Wolfs is a pretty extended thing,

1007
00:50:56,520 --> 00:51:00,879
Speaker 10: and it's they'll do annual meetings with you know. Kevin

1008
00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:02,880
Speaker 10: O'Connell's part of it, Robert Zenski's part of it, Quasi

1009
00:51:02,920 --> 00:51:04,279
Speaker 10: do fo mets is part of it. I think Brian

1010
00:51:04,320 --> 00:51:07,120
Speaker 10: Flora is, by virtue of the fact that he was

1011
00:51:07,239 --> 00:51:11,000
Speaker 10: negotion aa contract, probably is having some of those discussions

1012
00:51:11,040 --> 00:51:13,320
Speaker 10: with ownership at the time and saying, where are we going?

1013
00:51:13,360 --> 00:51:14,960
Speaker 5: What's this going to look like? You know?

1014
00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:17,640
Speaker 10: So all of those things are part of the end

1015
00:51:17,640 --> 00:51:20,359
Speaker 10: of the season process and why Flora's dynamic of it

1016
00:51:20,440 --> 00:51:23,719
Speaker 10: is unique this year because of the contract. So once

1017
00:51:23,719 --> 00:51:27,520
Speaker 10: they taken all that information, they then say, Okay, all

1018
00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:29,359
Speaker 10: of the things we've heard, what do we want to do.

1019
00:51:29,719 --> 00:51:32,360
Speaker 10: I think some of it is they are pretty deliberate

1020
00:51:32,400 --> 00:51:35,560
Speaker 10: with a lot of these things, and it does kind

1021
00:51:35,560 --> 00:51:38,280
Speaker 10: of lead to an odd, kind of a clunky field

1022
00:51:38,280 --> 00:51:39,760
Speaker 10: of the whole thing. When he does a press conference,

1023
00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:42,239
Speaker 10: then a couple of weeks later he's out. But that

1024
00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:44,719
Speaker 10: process for them is one they're like, this is what

1025
00:51:44,760 --> 00:51:46,280
Speaker 10: we think we need to do, and if the timing

1026
00:51:46,360 --> 00:51:49,080
Speaker 10: is a little weird, okay, but we're not going to

1027
00:51:49,160 --> 00:51:50,920
Speaker 10: rush through it for the sake of the optics.

1028
00:51:50,960 --> 00:51:51,280
Speaker 9: I guess.

1029
00:51:51,320 --> 00:51:54,680
Speaker 2: Ben Gasoline, Star Tribune, Star Tribune dot Com from Indianapolis.

1030
00:51:54,719 --> 00:51:58,520
Speaker 2: Another segment with Ben on a myriad Minnesota Vikings related

1031
00:51:58,560 --> 00:52:01,960
Speaker 2: topics when we return to the Indiana Convention Center.

1032
00:52:02,200 --> 00:52:04,680
Speaker 1: Combined Day two for nine to noon and k F

1033
00:52:04,719 --> 00:52:05,000
Speaker 1: A M.