Category: Minnesota Vikings Roster

So is there a schism in the Vikings locker room?

By The Jazzy One, on August 27th, 2009

I’m sure you’ve all heard the story by now, but I’ll sum it up for you just in case. Here is the basic sequence of events

Recent Vikings News Timeline:

About a month ago, Brett Favre said he will not be playing for the Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings enter camp with a QB competition between Jackson and Rosenfels
Jackson starts out looking much more comfortable in the offense than Sage
Jackson gets hurt in practice, Sage gets extra reps
Sage starts the first preseason game, looks light years better than Jackson
Sage gets hurt
Brett Favre is “spontaneously” called by Brad Childress, and “decides” to join the team
Brett starts, goes 1-4
Jackson plays, has a perfect QB rating, 202 yards, and 2 TDs
Mike Florian from ProFootballTalk says that now there is a “faction” of players who want TJ as their QB
….. A “Jackson Faction”… if you will

There are players who want Tarvaris Jackson to start?!?

So let me get this straight. There are players in the Vikings locker room…. players who have seen Jackson play over the last few years prefer him to lead the team over Brett Favre?!?

Fans… fans I can understand. There’s no way a team can please all of it’s fans. When Jackson was the starter, you had half of the fans saying “give him a chance”, and half of the fans wanting him fired instantly never to work a job higher than a McDonalds cook ever again. When Sage signed, half the fans thought he was no better than Jackson, and half the fans thought he could turn around the team. When Brett signed, half the fans thought we just won a Super Bowl, half the fans thought that we’d be lucky to go 4-12 now.

But players?!? These are the guys that know the business. These are the guys that know the game. These are the guys that should know that whatever it takes to win should be done (within the rules, of course!)

I have a hard time believing there are players in the locker room that want Tarvaris Jackson to start this season instead of Brett Favre. Okay, okay… to be fair, I could believe that a couple of Jackson’s closest friends could believe that. But I can’t believe that a “group” or “faction” of players want that. I can’t believe that a locker room that currently has around 80 players is split enough for there to be a “schism”.

Brett Favre = Ratings

What I do believe is that ESPN and other sports networks see a possible story here, and they’re going to run with it. Right now, at least until the regular season starts, and more realistically until the Vikings have played the Packers, Brett Favre is the hottest news in sports. And let’s face it, during preseason, there tends to be a lack of interesting football news. I think the sports news community is seeing a chance and jumping all over it.

I can’t say too much about that, though… isn’t that exactly what us Minnesota Vikings bloggers are doing? I mean, I’ve written more Brett Favre articles in the last week than I have EVER written about any other single player… including Adrian Peterson.

But I digress.

Anyway…

Prominent Vikings are denying a problem

Several Vikings have spoken out against these stories, saying there’s nothing going on. Visanthe Shiancoe has basically said that he’s the type of guy that knows what’s up in the locker room, and he hasn’t seen anything like what the news is reporting. Pat Williams says there isn’t a problem at all. He said that if there are people saying they want Jackson over Favre, it’s none of the “leaders” on the team.

So does that mean it’s the end of the story?

Well, I seriously doubt that. I don’t know what could cause the end of this story, other than boredom from the reporters. I really doubt that this “source” that told Florian that there were issues is ever going to say it publicly. Beyond that, there’s no real way of “proving” that there are issues. It’s all speculations.

And speculative stories don’t seem to go away very quickly.

My Predictions

I think if there is an issue in the locker room (which I doubt). Monday’s game could clear up a lot. I think Favre will obviously play much better… he’ll have had more time to get to know his teammates, more time to practice in the system, and he’ll have more time on the field to get into a rhythm. On the flip side, I’m guessing that Sage gets to play the third quarter and Jackson the fourth. I have a strong feeling that Jackson WON’T be perfect on the field again. If there is an issue in the locker room, the fact that Brett will have improved and Jackson will have come back to earth a bit will quiet most of it down.