WEBVTT - Skol Stories: Mike Tice Loved Developing Talent and Minnesota Nice 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:02.160 Hey, Vikings fans, Ben Lever here, I'm so excited to 0:00:02.200 --> 0:00:04.280 be a new Lifetime member, and so are my kids. 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:06.600 They love the tennis, the pickaball, the basketball, and of 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:09.240 course the yummy cafe. Check them out at Lifetime dot 0:00:09.280 --> 0:00:10.639 life to find a club nearest you. 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.680 Welcome to School Stories, presented by three M, the official 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:20.280 science partner of the Minnesota Vikings. Tonight, we're joined by 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:24.680 former Vikings head coach Mike Tye. 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:28.840 Thanks again for tuning into another episode of School Stories. 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:32.080 Tonight's guest was a key Viking both on the field 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:35.160 and in the locker room. As a larger than much 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:39.120 larger than life, trust me personality and clutch performer, he 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:42.680 was a Viking through and through. Please enjoy tonight's conversation 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:48.240 with former Vikings tight end and head coach Mike Tye. 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:51.879 Well, Mike, welcome to the show. It's great to hear 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.480 from you. It was great to literally bump into you 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.880 at the US Bank Stadium in the course of the 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.280 Vikings win over Atlanta last Sunday. Give the fans a 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:04.280 chance to catch up with what you're up to these days, 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:06.880 and where you're living and how you're occupying your life. 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:08.960 Well, I'll tell you Mark, it's good to hear your voice. 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:11.400 And it was great to see you and Pete yesterday or 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:14.400 this week of the game. And I retired from coaching 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:17.160 after the seventeenth season. I was with the Raiders and 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:19.760 moved up to our home in Seattle that we've had 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:24.520 for almost thirty years. And then Mama decided the kids 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:26.880 got pregnant, and Mama decided we're going to go move 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:28.960 to where the kids are. So we sold our house 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:31.679 and we moved to Saint Louis and we moved to 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:35.360 Las Vegas, if you can believe that, and not a 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:41.119 real good spot if you're a pony player to beous. Yeah, 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:43.520 And we run a foundation. Diane and I and our 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:46.160 family run a foundation. We have no paid employees. We 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:48.200 give out the last two years over one hundred and 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:51.280 sixty thousand dollars to charities in five states. And in fact, 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:54.680 I'm in Minneapolis right now at the new Horizon Academy 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:56.360 down on North penn and we're going to give out 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:58.600 a hundred Winter Coach in a couple of minutes here, 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:00.000 and we're pretty excited about it. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:02.000 Yeah, not giving out many of those out in Vegas 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:05.280 are you. 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:06.640 No, No, you need sunscreen. 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:07.240 We get out. 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:12.280 He's speaking, you know, speaking of speaking of the kids, 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:13.800 and I wanted to talk to you about this quickly. 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.600 Was I got a chance to see Nate at training 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:19.280 camp this year. Uh, he's still involved, and I think 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:21.760 he's involved in a great way on the media side. 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:23.760 But he does a lot of great stuff on the 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:27.040 internet with watching film and I think he just talks 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:29.320 about the game in a different way. And you have 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:31.320 to be very proud of him and kind of just 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:33.000 let the fans know where they can find him. 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:35.959 Yeah, Nate's do a great job. We're really excited, Diane 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:37.760 and I are excited that he got out of coaching 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:41.880 and started this media career. He works for Yahoo Sports now. 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:44.799 He worked a couple of years and did a podcast 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:47.240 for The Athletic, which of course is owned by the 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.080 New York Times. Now and last year he actually hired 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:52.959 Nate Barrelson's agent, and he got out of that contract 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:55.600 and he moved over to the Yahoo Sports. He also 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:57.880 signed a deal. He's been on the NFL network in 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:00.560 the morning Good Morning Football a couple of times, and 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:03.880 I'm really excited. I'm excited for him because he got 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:06.000 out of coaching. But he's worn all the hats, you know, 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:09.080 he's been a scout, he's been a great assistant, he's 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:11.880 been a quarterback coach for the Raiders, and then he 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.520 went and opened up a state farm agency and I 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.480 just was dian. I were praying he didn't get into coaching. 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:19.480 Again, because you know, all that moving you do, and. 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:21.480 It's hard to make a great life. I was just 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:23.600 blessed to be in Minnesota for thirteen years. You know, 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.120 not a lot of people can say that. So yeah, 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:27.960 so yeah, we're proud of them, and we're proud of 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.240 my daughter. And I have two grandkids now I have 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:31.359 another one on the way. Man. 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:32.400 Wow, that's awesome. 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:34.560 Well, Mike, I, first of all, number one, I appreciate 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:36.560 you letting me use your parking space at Bunnies all 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:39.360 these time other time, because it's really been a pleasure 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:41.480 to be there. But you know, all kidding aside, you 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:43.560 talk about all the stops you've made as a coach, 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:46.680 what is it about the Twin City area, Minneapolis, what 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:49.720 you're doing today that kind of keeps you drawn back 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.360 to this the Twin City area as a coach of 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:54.040 a player and everything else that you've done well. 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:56.560 It's just like you know, being able to tease Pete 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:58.640 in the booth yesterday and see you. 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:00.520 It's the people of people. 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:03.040 It's the people at Minneapolis, and you know they don't 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:07.400 say Minnesota nice for no reason. There's a reason behind it. 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:11.400 Because the people in this community is the reason why, Diane, 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:15.200 I have so many friends here, so many deer friends here, 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.359 and it makes you keep coming back. I wish, you know, 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:20.240 we probably should come back more. But it's been a 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:23.680 couple of years of transition after retiring, and I think 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.039 we've carved our niche now, so we've kind of got 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:26.560 to figure it out. 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:29.120 I think, hey, Mike, talk about the talk about the 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:31.800 game today, and I've thought about you. I don't know 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:33.680 how many just over the last couple of years, with 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:37.119 mainly with offensive line, because I think I still believe 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:39.720 you're one of, not the best offensive line coaches I've 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:42.280 ever been around. And thank you for all those long 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:46.360 staff meetings where I learned just a ton about football. 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:49.600 And Mike made this a point where yeah, you made 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:51.640 us you made the offense it through the defense and 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:54.599 vice versa. But you were absolutely correct when you said 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:56.440 this is you know, This is how you learn the game. 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:58.440 This is uh, you know, learning what the offense is 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:01.600 looking at and went the defenses and and I wouldn't 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:02.840 be able to do what I do now if it 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:06.000 wasn't for coaching, and definitely for being with you in 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:08.400 the in what you demanded out of all of us, 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.360 and that's to know everything, right is to learn as 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:13.520 much as you can. And I'm just saying thank you, 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:15.479 and I appreciate that very much. 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:17.919 Well, you know, Pete, You know, Pete, I loved having 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.279 you around and it was it was really a pleasure 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.800 for me to be able to develop some young former 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:26.960 players into great coaches and uh and you you know 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:29.599 you could have had a career in coaching them. Thankful 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.039 that you didn't, because you don't want to keep moving. 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:33.680 You don't want to keep you don't want to keep moving, 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:36.480 believe me. And so you know, I just I've always 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:38.239 learned you need to be a student of the game. 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:40.840 And no matter what you do, no matter what you're 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:43.440 gonna you want to do with your life, you've got 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:45.040 to be a student game. You got to learn as 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:48.440 much about what your job is as you can. And 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:51.360 and that's why I was probably a little more demanding 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:54.479 than than other coaches. We we we did meet a lot. 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:56.880 Oh yeah, we had all good coaches and a lot 0:05:56.920 --> 0:05:59.920 of our coaches could wear multiple hats, which was nice. 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:03.080 I remember Ron Rivera talking to him after the last 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:04.720 game of the year in two thousand and five and 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:08.920 him telling telling me before the game that we've we 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:12.720 did more with less than anybody in the league, and 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:15.559 we have a winning record. Uh to finish the season 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.240 with them with a winning record, and but still the 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:20.880 ability to be with guys like Greg Beekert and and 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:23.080 some of those other some of the other uh, you 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:27.400 know linebackers that we bet Chris Claiborne, and yeah, I 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.760 mean we we had We had a lot of fun though, 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:30.240 didn't we. 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:36.240 It was my god, yeah, yeah, so you know it 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:39.240 was it was just a let's laud ourselves a little 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:41.680 bit here. We went into Green Bay and won a 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:44.080 playoff game in Green Bay. I don't think any other 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:44.679 head coach. 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:46.000 No, I don't think so. 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:49.520 Mike, talking about offensive line play in the league, what 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:52.800 do you think the status is of offensive line play? 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.000 I mean, and you mentioned something and you were talking 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:58.880 about your brother John, who you know. I hope he's 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:01.440 doing well too. But John always had guys that played 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:03.400 really well, but none of them were high draft picks. 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:05.960 You know, I'm looking back at our offensive line, like 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:10.640 Chris Lewinsky, Mike Rosenthal, Corey Withrow. I mean, you turned 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.520 a lot of late round draft picks into very very 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:17.760 good starters. Can you mold these guys like this anymore? 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.400 Do you have enough time? Is there not enough practice 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:22.360 with pads anymore? I mean, what do you think of 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:22.600 all this? 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:25.240 And I think that's a great question, Pete. I think 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.320 that tribute to that for the ability to develop these 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.240 young players was because of Denny Green. Because Denny Green 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:33.720 always told me we're not going to give you the 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:35.440 high pick, because you know, we had a couple of 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:39.920 high picks before I got there, Corey Stringer gotta bless him, 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:43.560 and Todd Stucey, and of course Randall was a teammates 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:48.960 with Randall, But because we had other voids defensively and 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:53.280 at other positions, we never drafted a high offensive lineman. 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:55.640 So what he said, I'm going to give you a 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:57.520 seven of un pick. I'll give you any round pick. 0:07:57.520 --> 0:07:59.080 I'll give you a sixth round pick. And then he 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.119 sent me on the road. And go try to find 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:04.080 what chuck, here's another chuck nuts to go find a ruby, 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:06.680 you know, dust it off, polish it up, and turned 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:09.680 that little piece of stone into a ruby. And so 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:13.760 we because of Danny Green allowed me the time to develop, 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:16.240 and he would give me three years on a guy, 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:18.600 and so if the guy wasn't starting in three years, 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.120 he had run him out the door. And so we 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:22.640 didn't run a lot of guys out the door. We 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:27.800 developed guys and we were able to play back. I 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:32.079 think one of my greatest coaching jobs was Matt Burke. 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.080 You know, the guy we drafted from Harvard in the 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:39.120 sixth round, left tackle at Harvard, and Frankie Gilliam pointed 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:42.719 him out. God bless Frankie. Two is He pointed him 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:44.880 out to me on film and he said, listen, this 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:46.840 kid played in the East West shrink game. You should go. 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.000 You should go work this kid out. But he's not 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.520 a left tackle. And we brought him in and he 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:54.000 was so smart. He swung at a lot of positions. 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:58.120 And then his third year, Denny said, let's let's get 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:03.320 rid of this center and let's move Matt to center. 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:06.080 And we're over scrimmage and remember we used to scrimmage 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:11.480 over the Chiefs over and Wisconsin, and and Denny turned 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:12.880 to me and said, let's do it right now and 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.400 one on ones. And so we did it one on ones. 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.959 He locked down every single guy he blocked, and we 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.720 looked at each other and kind of smiled Denny and 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:24.480 I and it's like, Okay, there's our new future center. 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:26.760 Of course, Matt Burke made a couple of Pro Bowls 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:27.720 and had a great career. 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:32.800 One other, I guess you want to Yeah, absolutely. Brian 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.400 McKinney was on our school Stories and he talked very 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:38.440 highly of the work that you did with him, and 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.960 what your recollections of working with Brian McKinney all those years. 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:44.720 Well, he was the highest pick we drafted an Olne. 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:46.520 When I was the head coach, there was a lot 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:50.720 of conversation about him. I always took advice from Scott 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:53.120 Studwell in the draft room because Scott, you know, had 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:57.680 a great feel for talent. So what what we were 0:09:57.800 --> 0:09:59.840 torn between a couple of players in that draft, We've 0:09:59.840 --> 0:10:03.240 got We got McKinney, and about a really good relationship 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:06.600 with his mom. So at any time that he would 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:08.680 annoy me, I told him. I was calling his mom 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:12.880 and he shaped up, so asked him about that next 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:16.240 thing the best. 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:19.640 Yeah, we saw that with Aaron Jones and his mom. 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:21.880 His mom basically told him how they should have taken 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:23.400 you out of the game for fumbling last week. 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.440 Yeah, and what happened this week didn't fumble? How about that? 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.160 Well? I heard I saw an interview with Lama Jacks's mother, 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.000 Yell and from not running the ball to them. 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:36.080 Watching watching Kevin O'Connell right now, what he's doing with 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:38.600 this team and his relationship with his players at his 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.960 young age. What are your thoughts about koc and developing 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:44.840 a team that was only supposed to win six games 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:45.240 this year? 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:47.760 I love him. I'm a big fan. I text him 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:50.320 every week good luck and congratulations and a lot of 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:54.280 congratulations of you know, the last six weeks. And he's 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:56.960 doing a great job. He's doing a tremendous job. He's 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:01.800 put together an excellent staff. These kids believe in his message, 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:04.240 and they're playing hard for him, and they're playing smart 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:07.480 for him, and uh, you know, he's a fabulous job. 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:08.320 I'm a big fan. 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:11.200 And and how about Brian Flores? Do you know anything 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.959 about him? It's I think he's doing a great job. 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:15.559 A couple of years ago, I thought he should have 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:17.280 been up for a head job. He got ahead job, 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.360 it didn't work out, and I think his turn is 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:21.120 going to come. So they're telling me to wrap up 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:24.240 over here, and they give out some coats. Sure, yeah, 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:26.080 I'm sorry boy, that's all right. 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:28.120 We can do this. The kids come first. I love 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.840 you guys, but the kids come fast. We can do this, 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:32.720 we can. We can do this again though. If you 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:33.040 want to. 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:37.000 Sometime, absolutely well, well we'll make sure that West he's 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:40.600 all over you. Yeah, your your guide, your your Yeah, 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:41.959 your your game day guide. 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:45.520 Absolutely well, listen, listen. I we appreciate the time you 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:47.080 had for us today. It's great to catch up. 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:49.080 Ye storry to cut your short, but I got kids 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:50.000 waiting on these coats. 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:52.880 Thank you for sharing your school stories. Stick around right 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.160 here on school stories presented by three M from the 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:59.800 field to the roof and everywhere in between. Three Official, 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:03.560 It's partner of the Minnesota Vikings is here. Visit Vikings 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:06.920 dot com slash school Science to learn more. 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:12.840 Unreal is back with their limited edition Vikings Dropped. Head 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:15.720 to U n r L dot com for more details. 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.360 Well, thanks again to Mike Tys for joining the show today. 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:22.240 We always loved catching up with the very colorful Mike Tyson. 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:24.240 I do have that spot at Bunnies, all said all 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:25.560 the time I come on beat me. 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:29.240 Well, here's the thing is, I played with Mike too. 0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:31.600 I know you did, right. They brought him back. I 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:34.600 mean when I was while I was playing and Denny 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:36.560 would do that. Denny would always want to bring back 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:38.880 a familiar face and stay of somebody that the locker 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:42.280 room didn't know. So I got to play with Chris Dolman, 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:47.319 Mike Tice, Steve Jordan, right, I mean there were some 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:51.240 there's some guys whose flags are hanging up and that 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:53.880 I had the chance to play with for a short time. 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:54.600 Pretty amazing. 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.080 So yeah, that's one of my favorite stories. When I 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.520 was on IR, Denny brought me up and said, you 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:01.280 bring it bringing Chris Dolman back. 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:03.400 I need your number home. I'm like, are you asking me? 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:05.480 You're telling me? He's like, I'm telling you, all right, 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:06.240 Coach sale Well. 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:09.839 Recapping last week, as we know, the Vikings extended the 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:12.880 winning streak to six forty two to twenty one thumping 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:16.400 of the Atlanta Falcons. After Atlanta took the opening kickoff, 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:19.040 went right down the field, made it look really easy. 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:20.959 They're thinking, this is going to be another nail bier. 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:23.439 We're so used to it, and the Vikings have been 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:25.360 really good at it, winning those close games in the 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:27.720 fourth quarter. But for once they did not have to 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:30.080 sweat it out as the game went on late in 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:33.160 the fourth quarter. Pete, Now, huh, Yeah, that was refreshing. 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.000 And obviously a lot of it had to do with 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:38.040 the sling and Sammy Darnold with those five touchdown passes. 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:40.839 It did, and I think another part of that whole 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:43.920 another part of the game is we were plus three 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:47.160 and didn't turn the ball over one time, right, so 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.120 we had you know, the first interception by Mattellis. I 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:52.640 don't think we netted any points out of that, but 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.160 at the time, it was very heavily time of possession. 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:59.520 Everything was very heavily favored with Atlanta. I thought Cousins 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:01.720 did a very good job of knowing where to go 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:06.920 with the football and just making good decisions. I think 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:10.640 the interception to Mattelis is just he and the receiver 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:12.920 not being on the same page he expected. I think 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:16.760 Mattellis that was an unbelievable play, but he expected the 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:19.200 receiver to break in instead of go out on the 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:23.240 seven and so miscommunication. They weren't horrible interceptions, right, It 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:24.840 wasn't as if he was booting out and there was 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:26.720 a guy stayed in a flat that he never saw. 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:31.440 So defensively, when you face a veteran quarterback, and it 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:34.320 seems like the more he watched this defense, the veterans 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:36.800 that know what to do with the ball are a 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:40.400 tougher challenge for us, more so than an even athletic quarterback. 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.520 But yeah, Donald looked fantastic, and it's just us not 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:47.040 turning the football over and being smart with. 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:48.240 It is the big help. 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.840 That's why we were able to, you know, put up 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:53.680 forty two and make that game, you know, that much 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:54.680 of a lead at the end. 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.840 To dissect Donald a little bit more. Where do you 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:00.600 think he is appreciably made the biggest to impact and 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:03.480 the biggest improvement since the beginning of the year of 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:07.160 avoiding the rush, those sideline passes that he throws with 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:08.880 great touch. I mean, there's a lot of things that 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.920 we're watching that Sam Darnald, I don't think people realize 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:13.080 his evasiveness. 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:13.560 He doesn't. 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.880 You don't have to be Patrick Mahomes to avoid a rush. 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:20.000 But Sam Darnald has done a marvelous job of keeping 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:22.600 his eyes downfield and doing the things that the great 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:23.320 quarterbacks do. 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:25.640 He's a great athlete, which is why he was chosen 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:29.240 third overall. Right, he's a big guy. He's not a scrambling, 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:32.360 let's say, quarterback, but he's a very good athlete, more 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:34.520 like Herbert right, you know, just being able to keep 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:37.840 plays alive. I think him protecting the football when he 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:41.360 is scrambling. It's kind of like there are certain times 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:43.760 when you get to know one to hold him and 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.000 no one to fold the meaning sometimes you're going to 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:47.800 get sacked and there's nothing you can do. Protect the 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.400 football on your way down and then live to play, 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:52.440 you know, not bail out and roll out and try 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.320 to make something out of nothing, but choose your spots 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:58.440 when you're going to use your legs. And when he 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:01.760 did and was able to extend plays, it's like you 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:03.320 got to You have to be able to feel the 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:05.120 rush and know where it's coming from. 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:06.120 You can't stare at it. 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:08.040 You can't look at it because once you start looking 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:10.880 at it you lose track of what's happening down the field. 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:13.440 So there's no way he can He's not looking at 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:15.920 the rush, he's just feeling it and he just instinctively 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.200 knows where to avoid it in the meantime, protecting the 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:20.920 football and then as he comes out of it, keeping 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:23.680 his eyes down the field. And I think that's something 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:25.960 that both he and the receivers have done a better 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:28.360 job of. And I've seen Justin do it and over 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:30.880 the last couple of weeks. Is when you have a 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:33.080 clock in your head, right you as a receiver, this 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:35.640 is the offenses are about timing. It's a seven step drop. 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:37.480 I've got this. I'm gonna make my break. I'm gonna 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.080 look and if the ball's not on its way, I'm 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:42.640 not just gonna quit my route because Donald's doing his 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:44.720 thing so that I'm just gonna bend it and go 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.120 vertically or I'm gonna do, you know, do something different. 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.200 And then we've we've made some plays that way, like 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:51.680 our off schedule plays. Is how is how the coaches 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.120 talk about it. I think his ability to get to 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:57.640 that point has improved quite a bit. Uh And we 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.160 saw we saw him make a couple off schedule play 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:03.720 because I mean, let's face it, between Addison and Hockinson 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:07.320 and JJ, these three guys can get themselves open and 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:09.560 if if you have a quarterback that can extend to play, 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:11.000 I mean, you know, these three guys are going to 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:13.000 make things happen. But it's just getting everybody on the 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:18.160 on the same page. And it's such a subtle, little difference, 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.640 but it's huge. We have you know, we haven't seen 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:22.840 Darnold just take a sack and fumble and you know 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.160 what I mean, all those things he's managing better. 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:27.760 It's really really difficult to excel at every level of 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:29.480 the game. And right now the Vikings have shown some 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:32.680 weakness in terms of defending the run. You know, maybe 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.240 the missing Ivan paced, maybe it's a scheme, whatever it 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:38.080 might be. It's a copycat league. You know that as 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:40.040 we get into the throes of the rest of the 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:42.240 schedule of the month of December, of the opponents that 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:44.360 are that are coming up, they're all going to try 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:46.680 to be doing the same thing. But are you noticing 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:49.159 some things as a former linebacker yourself, that the Vikings 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:50.800 need to improve on or is it just hey, listen, 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:52.640 this is the way it is the ninety eight team 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:54.320 as great as it was. Yeah, it didn't have the 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:55.360 best defense in the world. 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:57.240 They didn't have to. No, we did not. 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:00.840 And that's uh if we actually talked that during the game, 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:02.800