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Speaker 1: We are back with another fun season of Skull Stories

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Speaker 1: presented by three. I'm the official science partner of the

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Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings. Today we're going to look back at the

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Speaker 1: Super Bowl era and we're going to kick it off

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Speaker 1: with three times Super Bowl Viking safety Jeff Wright. I'm

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Speaker 1: Pete Bersich, and it's great to say welcome back to

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Speaker 1: another season of Skull Stories presented by three. M Mark

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Speaker 1: Rosen and I. We're bringing you Skul Stories all throughout

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Speaker 1: this season alongside producer Jay Nelson to bring you some

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Speaker 1: new and interesting conversations with some of the greatest Vikings

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Speaker 1: of all time. So, Jay, you know, seeing how we're

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Speaker 1: kicking off the season with a decade of dominance, we

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Speaker 1: got to throwback jerseys. It's great to be able to

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Speaker 1: bring in someone who experienced three of the four Super Bowls,

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Speaker 1: and not only that, but was a gofer, grew up

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Speaker 1: and hedyna you talk about tied to the Twin Cities area.

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Speaker 1: Jeff Wright is absolutely the guy.

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Speaker 2: It's kind of the ideal hometown kid story. When you're

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Speaker 2: looking at at the amount of people that were a

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Speaker 2: part of that Super Bowl era, the fact he was

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Speaker 2: there for three out of the four is incredible and

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Speaker 2: you know the fact that he's still running around and

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Speaker 2: just kind of recanting his stories about is pretty great too.

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Speaker 2: So there's no brainer when we were thinking about people

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Speaker 2: that could be a part of this upcoming weekend and

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Speaker 2: really be able to shed some light on some amazing stories.

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Speaker 1: Well, if you didn't know, Jeff Wright is a former

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Speaker 1: Vikings defensive back, was here from nineteen seventy one to

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Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven and nineteen seventy all Big Ten Conference

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Speaker 1: team member for your Golden Gophers, and of course a

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Speaker 1: native wuld be dynam Minnesota. So ladies and gentlemen, please

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Speaker 1: welcome to the program Vikings legend Jeff Wright. Well jasince.

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Speaker 1: We are kicking off this season on Sunday with a

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Speaker 1: focus on the decade of dominance and looking back on

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Speaker 1: the Vikings Super Bowl appearances, we figured we'd bring on

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Speaker 1: someone who was part of three three of those super

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Speaker 1: Bowl teams. He's former defensive back from nineteen seventy one

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Speaker 1: to nineteen seven seventy seven, a nineteen seventy Big Ten

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Speaker 1: Conference team member for all you Golden Gophers you remember them,

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Speaker 1: A native of a Dyna, Minnesota, please welcome Vikings legend.

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Speaker 1: Jeff Wright, Jeff, how are you today and welcome to

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Speaker 1: the decade of Dominance celebration. Are you just thrilled to

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Speaker 1: be part of it? Do you look back on your

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Speaker 1: time as a Viking and say it was a decade

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Speaker 1: of dominance?

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Speaker 3: Good morning, There's no question about it. First of all,

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Speaker 3: let me say what a privilege and a pleasure it

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Speaker 3: is to be with you guys this morning. And absolutely

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Speaker 3: it was a dominant time in the history of the

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Speaker 3: Vikings and certainly football in Minnesota. And I was honored

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Speaker 3: to be a part of it. Believe me, it was

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Speaker 3: an exciting time. And you know, I had a great

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Speaker 3: fortune of playing with just some phenomenal athletes and certainly

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Speaker 3: the finest coach a gentleman could have an opportunity to

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Speaker 3: play for. So it was just a remarkable time.

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Speaker 1: And Jeff, so your story is you need in so

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Speaker 1: many ways. I think one of the biggest ones is

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Speaker 1: being the hometown kid. Right you grow up in DNA,

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Speaker 1: I mean right here in Minneapolis, and then when it

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Speaker 1: comes time to go to college, I don't know, you

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Speaker 1: go about twenty minutes away to the University of Minnesota,

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Speaker 1: and then you're drafted and stay in town here. But

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Speaker 1: tell me what it was, what it was for you

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Speaker 1: to be able to just you know, get your high

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Speaker 1: school football don inny Dinah, but then you get to

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Speaker 1: continue your career right here with the Gophers. And what

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Speaker 1: was your time at University of Minnesota, Like, well.

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Speaker 3: It was remarkable. You know my family, my dad was

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Speaker 3: a pediatrician here for many many years, decades in fact,

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Speaker 3: and I lived here up until we've retired and moved

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Speaker 3: down to Arizona. But it was, you know, a storybook.

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Speaker 3: I mean, there are very few guys that have an opportunity,

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Speaker 3: number one, to go to high school in a town,

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Speaker 3: to go to college in the same town, and then

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Speaker 3: be privileged to professionally and and certainly that was my case.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you know, I played for staff Canakus at Dinah,

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Speaker 3: and you know, you talk about getting a great foundation

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Speaker 3: and the basics and you know, the desire to go

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Speaker 3: on and play a game went on, and was fortunate

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Speaker 3: to get a scholarship at the University of Minnesota. Interesting story, however,

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Speaker 3: is I was a few days away from signing a

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Speaker 3: letter of intent to the University of Colorado and I

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Speaker 3: got a call from a very infamous sports writer by

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Speaker 3: the name of Sid Harber.

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Speaker 1: I knew, I knew he was. He was intertwined in

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Speaker 1: the story somewhere.

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Speaker 3: And uh, you know, Sid calls and he says, you know,

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Speaker 3: you've got a great career here at Dina. He asked

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Speaker 3: me one, He said, I'm going to ask you one question.

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Speaker 3: Where do you want to live when you're done, you know,

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Speaker 3: playing your college football? And I said, well, of course,

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Speaker 3: I'm a Minnesota guy. I wound up be in Minnesota.

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Speaker 3: And he goes, well, why in the heck would you

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Speaker 3: sign with University of Colorado? And I said, Sid, one reason,

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Speaker 3: I haven't heard anything from the University of Minnesota. And

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Speaker 3: you know, we cordially talked for a couple more minutes,

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Speaker 3: and then Sid, very Sid Hartman, is I gotta go,

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Speaker 3: I gotta go. I got to get off the phone.

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Speaker 3: And I'm sure the next call was to Murray Warmant,

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Speaker 3: because within about fifteen minutes I got a call from

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Speaker 3: Bob Gongola, the defensive back coach at the University of Minnesota,

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Speaker 3: and basically offered me a scholarship right right on the spot.

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Speaker 3: And that's how I ended up at the University of Minnesota.

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Speaker 1: Now you you were inducted into the Gopher Hall of

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Speaker 1: Fame in twenty sixteen. So the guys behind you refer

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Speaker 1: to you as one of your team as one of

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Speaker 1: their teammates. Oh yeah, you know I was there. I

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Speaker 1: was there with Jeff Wright when you showed up on

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Speaker 1: the Gophers campus. Who was it on the team that

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Speaker 1: just kind of left you in awe? So to Speaker,

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Speaker 1: you knew that you were taking the next step.

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Speaker 3: Well, it happened very early on. You know, the freshmen

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Speaker 3: come in about a week before the varsity does. And

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Speaker 3: as a freshman, I graduated from Medina High School playing

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Speaker 3: football at one hundred and fifty five pounds, going over

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Speaker 3: to a you know, big ten college, and you know,

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Speaker 3: everything was spectacular the first four or five six days.

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Speaker 3: And then you know, the first meal we have all

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Speaker 3: together with the varsity coming in, you know, the freshmen

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Speaker 3: are all in there sitting down and all of a sudden,

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Speaker 3: you know, the varsity team comes in to sit down

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Speaker 3: at their places for the first meal together. And I

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Speaker 3: watched this line of mammo m beans come walking in

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Speaker 3: and I'm sitting there at one hundred and fifty five pound,

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Speaker 3: shaking like a dog. That's been wet and frozen, and

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Speaker 3: I'm going, oh my goodness, I you know, and I'll

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Speaker 3: never forget it. After that dinner, I went back to

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Speaker 3: the dorm. I called my dad and I said, Dad,

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Speaker 3: I think I might have made a mistake.

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Speaker 1: Well, and what's amazing is that that story still goes

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Speaker 1: on today. You know, I remember feeling the same way

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Speaker 1: my first day at college. It's amazing how how much

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Speaker 1: you change, right from an eighteen year old to a

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Speaker 1: twenty two year old young man. But just that decision

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Speaker 1: of do I stay and fight or do I just

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Speaker 1: you know, call no joy and get out of here.

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Speaker 3: Well, yeah, and I had the misfortune of hurting my

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Speaker 3: knee very early in my freshman year. And back then,

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Speaker 3: all you did was practice against the varsity and basically

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Speaker 3: they used us greenies they call us back then, as

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Speaker 3: you know, hamburger meat. And it was not real pleasurable

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Speaker 3: because you really didn't play any games. And so as

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Speaker 3: it turned out, you know, I wasn't necessarily disappointed that

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Speaker 3: I got hurt and missed the entire season. On the

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Speaker 3: other hand, I figured that, you know, it was going

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Speaker 3: to be a real challenge to get back and be

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Speaker 3: a long term team member of that and having had

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Speaker 3: that knee surgery, there's obviously a lot of rehabilitation. And

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Speaker 3: but as it turned out, you know, I went back

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Speaker 3: in as a sophomore and was very fortunate to you know,

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Speaker 3: play early my sophomore year and ended up playing right

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Speaker 3: on through and being captain in nineteen seventy. So the

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Speaker 3: interesting thing about it is, guys and Pete you probably

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Speaker 3: know this. I mean, really, I did not give you know,

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Speaker 3: even college sports when I was playing Eddie Dyana. I

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Speaker 3: played football, basketball and baseball, and you just don't think

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Speaker 3: ahead that next step. And so when I had the

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Speaker 3: opportunity and ended up having the career I had, you know,

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Speaker 3: I hadn't given professional football a thought. Burray Warmouth called

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Speaker 3: me in about three weeks before the season ended and said,

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Speaker 3: you've been elected to play in the Swiss Shrine Game

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Speaker 3: in the Hula Bowl. And that's the first time that

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Speaker 3: something clicked in my mind that told me, you know,

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Speaker 3: those are kind of the precursor back then. They didn't

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Speaker 3: have all the combines and all the things. It was

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Speaker 3: those games, you know, particularly the Swst Shrine Game that

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Speaker 3: we went out to San Francisco and you practiced you know,

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Speaker 3: you went out two or three weeks before the game,

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Speaker 3: and you practiced twice a day, and it was like

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Speaker 3: a training camp, and it was a precursor to you know,

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Speaker 3: year are people that are going to be, you know,

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Speaker 3: at some point time part of the NFL. And I

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Speaker 3: you know, played against some of the real good ones there,

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Speaker 3: and so I mean, you know, everything came together. I

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Speaker 3: think one of the things that you know, I still

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Speaker 3: thank God about, and that's that my parents had an

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Speaker 3: opportunity to see me play after high school and into

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Speaker 3: college and I played with my brother at Paul at

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Speaker 3: the University of Minnesota, and you know, my folks traveled

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Speaker 3: for many of the Viking games too, and it was

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Speaker 3: just if they were such great sports fans and the

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Speaker 3: kind of parents that just encouraged the heck out of

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Speaker 3: you but never pushed you. And for me, it was

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Speaker 3: a thrill that they had the opportunity to see me

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Speaker 3: play professionally, and my whole athletic experience was just It's

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Speaker 3: been a remarkable ride and I'm forever thankful. And the

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Speaker 3: friendships that you develop, you know, in sports at all levels,

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Speaker 3: are just the friendships that you have forever. It means

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Speaker 3: an awful lot.

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Speaker 1: Stick around for more Skull Stories presented by three M.

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Speaker 1: We'll be back with more from Jeff Wright right after this.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to tonight's edition of Skull Stories presented by

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Speaker 1: three M. Let's get back into our conversation with three

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Speaker 1: times Super Bowl safety Jeff Right. Now, Jeff, in nineteen

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Speaker 1: seventy one, you were drafted in the fifteenth round by

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Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings. You mentioned your college, you know, wake

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Speaker 1: up call when you showed up there. What was it

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Speaker 1: like you show up to the Minnesota Vikings just having

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Speaker 1: come off a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. So

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Speaker 1: what was it like stepping into a program that had,

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Speaker 1: you know, just just gone to the big game and

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Speaker 1: you know, unbeknownst to you, we're going to head back

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Speaker 1: there three more times in your career.

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Speaker 3: Well, it was yeah, I mean I was drafted fifteenth

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Speaker 3: back then. You know they had twenty rounds. Today obviously

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Speaker 3: they have far less than that. I was a three

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Speaker 3: hundred and eighty eight player out of four hundred and

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Speaker 3: some drafted. I was. I'll never forget the call I

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Speaker 3: got from Jerry right how indicating that I'd been drafted

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Speaker 3: by the Minnesota Vikings, and at the time, I was,

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Speaker 3: you know, number one, unbelievably thankful that I was drafted.

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Speaker 3: But I had done some analysis of the Vikings, and

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Speaker 3: you know, they were very strong in their secondary. They've had,

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Speaker 3: you know, guys like Kraus that were all pro, Eddie Schrockman,

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Speaker 3: Karl Koselk you know, he'd been all pro. And and

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Speaker 3: so you know, at the time I was drafted, I

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Speaker 3: was thankful to be drafted, but I was not necessarily

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Speaker 3: excited about the prospect of going in with a team

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Speaker 3: that's loaded with strength in the secondary. But as it

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Speaker 3: turned out, and and you know, throughout my whole career,

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Speaker 3: I was up against guys that were very talented athletes

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Speaker 3: and and you know, I just people told me I

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Speaker 3: couldn't do it, and Diana, people told me I couldn't

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Speaker 3: play at the university. Sid Hartmann certainly told me he

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Speaker 3: could never be a professional player. And the more people

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Speaker 3: told me that I couldn't, the stronger I got. And

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Speaker 3: I just was, you know, once I got into training camp,

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Speaker 3: and in fact, they drafted me as a corner and

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Speaker 3: I took two quick stories drafted me as a corner,

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Speaker 3: and after about the first week or so of training camp.

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Speaker 3: I realized that, you know, I don't I believe I

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Speaker 3: could help this team, but I didn't think that it

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Speaker 3: was a corner. So we went and played Pittsburgh I

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Speaker 3: think was my third preseason game my rookie year. And

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Speaker 3: all of a sudden, in the middle of the first quarter,

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Speaker 3: but Grant calls me over resist go on in for

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Speaker 3: Bobby Bryant. So I go into the huddle and it's

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Speaker 3: all starters. You know, back then, the starters played for

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Speaker 3: usually a half at three quarters of the game. And

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Speaker 3: I get in the huddle in Lonnie Warwick looks up

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Speaker 3: at me. He says, what the heck are you doing?

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Speaker 3: I said, well, I said, see the guy over there

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Speaker 3: in the purple hat with a short hair. He told

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Speaker 3: me to come in for Bobby Bryant. Lonnie just said,

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Speaker 3: you know, kind of gruffly, Okay, let's go, and called

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Speaker 3: out the defense and we got going. And you know,

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Speaker 3: later that day, middle of the third quarter, but took

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Speaker 3: me out. I'm standing next to Lannie on the sidelines.

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Speaker 3: I didn't know was Lonnie, and all of a sudden

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Speaker 3: he comes over and he gives me a jab in

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Speaker 3: the right below in my ribs below my shoulder pad,

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Speaker 3: and he says, you know, he says, I think you

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Speaker 3: can help this team rook and that's all I needed.

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Speaker 3: That's all I needed to really inspire me to work

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Speaker 3: harder to make sure I could help this team my

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Speaker 3: rookie year. But nineteen seventy one I played primarily special teams.

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Speaker 3: Nineteen seventy two was hurt for seven games and I

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Speaker 3: played seven. He played seven, and then unfortunately the tragic

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Speaker 3: accident before the seventy three season, which gave me an

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Speaker 3: opportunity to become a starter. I wish it had been

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Speaker 3: a different outcome in a different way, but that's the way,

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Speaker 3: you know, it happened. But you know, the whole As

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Speaker 3: I look back and I think about the National Football

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Speaker 3: League at that time, you know, I think that Bud Grant,

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Speaker 3: with the culture and you know, the team that he built,

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Speaker 3: the attitude and the psychology that was the players understood,

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Speaker 3: I believe that it was probably one of the very

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Speaker 3: few opportunities in the professional football league at that time

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Speaker 3: that I could have played.

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Speaker 1: For Now, Jeff, you're coming in this weekend for the

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Speaker 1: decade of dominance. The Minnesota Vikings are recognizing this as

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Speaker 1: a decade where you know, the Purple People leaders were around.

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Speaker 1: This was four Super Bowl appearances in ten years. What

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Speaker 1: are you looking forward to most when you get out

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Speaker 1: here and you're able to get on the field and

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Speaker 1: just get back together and maybe get that old feeling

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Speaker 1: one more time with your teammates.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think, Pete, that's exactly what it'll be. It's

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Speaker 3: we'll get out there and we'll walk on that turf,

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Speaker 3: and we'll get together and we'll tell stories, and you

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Speaker 3: kind of get to the point where, I mean, you

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Speaker 3: really do feel like let's go strap it on again

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Speaker 3: and let's go do it. Then you take a look

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Speaker 3: at the actual players and you go, thank goodness, I'm

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Speaker 3: not playing today, but we're so thrilled and thankful that

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Speaker 3: we're able to come back. I think there's going to

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Speaker 3: be a wonderful turnout. I've seen a list of the

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Speaker 3: guys that have responded, and this one I'm looking forward

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Speaker 3: to like none we've been at before, because I think

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Speaker 3: they'll be some players that I haven't seen for thirty

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Speaker 3: forty fifty.

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Speaker 1: Years, and Jeff, before before I let you go, I

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Speaker 1: need one good Bud Grant story. Everybody I've ever spoken

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Speaker 1: to that played for Bud Grant. They always have at

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Speaker 1: least one good story. So I'm gonna put you on

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Speaker 1: the spot and say give me your best Bud Grant

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Speaker 1: story and then we can we'll let you go.

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Speaker 3: Well, it's a very easy one for me. I was

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Speaker 3: when we were punting, you know, I was the guy

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Speaker 3: between the center who snaps the ball and the punter

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Speaker 3: who obviously catches and kicks the ball. And we were

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Speaker 3: playing one time at the met and we were kicking

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Speaker 3: from you know, the forty yard line, and the snapper

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Speaker 3: snaps the ball and Mikey said, it's a rainy, wet day.

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Speaker 3: He catches it, and he goes to punt the ball

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Speaker 3: and his plant foot slips and he sends this line

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Speaker 3: drive right into the back of my butt. So I

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Speaker 3: turn around and I picked the ball up, and I

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Speaker 3: start running around the left end because I see a

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Speaker 3: little opening. And then at the very last minute before

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Speaker 3: I cross the line of scrimmage, I see this big

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Speaker 3: defensive guy coming in and I'm thinking, I gotta punt this.

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Speaker 3: So if I were to punt a ball, normally i'd

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Speaker 3: punt with my right foot, but I plant with my

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Speaker 3: right foot and can only kick it with my left foot,

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Speaker 3: and I kick it and it goes about seven yards

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Speaker 3: and it goes right by Bud Grant out of bounds.

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Speaker 3: And I come off the field and I see him

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Speaker 3: with a smile on his face and I walk by

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Speaker 3: and he says, great thought, terrible execution.

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Speaker 1: And.

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Speaker 3: That's fantastic giggling, and I thought, boy, there's a butt special.

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Speaker 1: Jeff, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate

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Speaker 1: your contribution to Skull Stories. We're trying to keep the

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Speaker 1: memories alive, document record, just everything that is the Minnesota Vikings.

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Speaker 1: And I hope you enjoy your weekend with the Vikings

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Speaker 1: opener against Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Speaker 3: Thanks thanks for having me. You guys are doing a

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Speaker 3: great job. Keep it up, Scold Vikings.

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Speaker 1: All right, it's Gold Vikings. A big thank you to

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Speaker 1: Jeff for joining the show tonight. This weekend looks to

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Speaker 1: be a great celebration of the legends of yesterday as

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Speaker 1: well as a new beginning to this exciting biking season.

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Speaker 1: I know there's a lot of a lot going on

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Speaker 1: with the nineteen ninety eight season, that being twenty five

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Speaker 1: years or so ago, and we started out, we opened

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Speaker 1: up at home with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So after

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Speaker 1: the Vikings, coming off a thirteen and four season, you know,

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Speaker 1: the loss of the Giants leaves a sour taste, and

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Speaker 1: I think, Jay, it's a season of question marks. Sure,

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Speaker 1: I want to put it that way, and what we know,

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Speaker 1: what we know, but then there's a lot of key

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Speaker 1: question marks and I can't wait till Sunday and to

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Speaker 1: be able to find out exactly, you know, what is

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Speaker 1: our running game going to look like? What is our

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Speaker 1: revamped scheme wise defense with a ton of new faces

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Speaker 1: going to look like. And ironically we're kind of going

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Speaker 1: against a team that's in the same boat. I mean,

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Speaker 1: they're a little different that they're returning a lot of

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Speaker 1: veterans from a solid defense, but offensively very heavy, pass oriented.

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Speaker 1: You know, they're they're revamping their offense to figure out

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Speaker 1: what they're going to do. We're revamping our defense to

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Speaker 1: figure out what we're going to do. And then you

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Speaker 1: have a pretty solid offense and a pretty solid defense.

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Speaker 1: That's about as quickly as you can sum this game up.

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Speaker 2: It's a crazy balance and both teams are kind of

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Speaker 2: looking to reset their identity on one side of the ball,

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Speaker 2: and it just so happens that both of us, you know,

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Speaker 2: our strengths are against their strengths and our question marks

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Speaker 2: are against their question marks. So for me, I'm really

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Speaker 2: excited just to get out there. And typically, you know,

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Speaker 2: the beginning of a season, the defense is usually a

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Speaker 2: little bit ahead of the offense. So for us, we're

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Speaker 2: gonna you know, kind of find out what we've got

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Speaker 2: there a little bit and just see what finally gets

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Speaker 2: Pandora's box gets opened. You see what's going to happen.

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Speaker 1: There's so many kind of new names on defense and

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Speaker 1: then question marks, but I think overall this this day

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Speaker 1: is going to be dominated by, you know, the wide

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Speaker 1: receivers obviously justin Jefferson, kJ Osborne, Jordan Addison, What what

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Speaker 1: do those what are those three going to look like?

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Speaker 1: And will it be like nineteen ninety eight with Chris Carter,

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Speaker 1: Randy Mass and Jake Greid anything close to it, We'll see.

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Speaker 1: So the flow of this game, in the fact that

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Speaker 1: we hadn't seen any of our starters in preseason, it's

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Speaker 1: just an unbelievably exciting opener. It's a game I think

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Speaker 1: the Vikings really need to win as as home openers

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Speaker 1: go because you're going right away Thursday night into Philadelphia,

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Speaker 1: so there's not I don't know if a tougher environment exists,

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Speaker 1: but got to get through that first one. So this

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Speaker 1: is a big game for this team.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, one week does not make a season, but it

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Speaker 2: can help set the tone. So hopefully for these guys

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Speaker 2: go out there on Sunday at home in a crazy

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Speaker 2: environment that's really focusing on this kickoff classic weekend. And

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Speaker 2: you know, for all Vikings fans and for the team especially,

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Speaker 2: getting a win at home would be ideal situation going in,

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Speaker 2: like you said, to that tough week number two in Philadelphia.

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Speaker 1: Well, Jay, thanks again for helping us out with our

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Speaker 1: kickoff episode for twenty twenty three. I'm looking forward in

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Speaker 1: the great seasons of Skull Stories. Mark Rosen should be

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Speaker 1: back with us next week or so, and you know

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Speaker 1: it's it's you know, the marriage thing, the honeymoon thing.

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Speaker 1: We'll see how long, see how long he can stretch out,

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Speaker 1: you know, stretch out that honeymoon. So for j Nelson

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Speaker 1: and Viking Legends, Jeff Wright, I'm Pete Bursich, thank you

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Speaker 1: again for tuning into another edition of Skull Stories. Presented

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Speaker 1: by three M, the official science and technology partner of

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Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings. We'll see you all again next week