Vikings cruising out of control

 

By: Larry Fitzgerald (Chicago IL)
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 10/19/2005
 

Just when you thought it could not get any worse, the Minnesota Vikings continue to establish that they can be equally as bad both on and off the field. After one of the most controversial and talked-about incidents in the franchise’s XLV-year history, the Vikings were thoroughly dominated by the Bears Sunday in Chicago 28-3.

 

It’s the first time the Vikings have started the season 1-4 since 1990, when Jerry Burns was head coach. That year, the team finished out of the playoffs with a 6-10 record.

 

Embattled current Head Coach Mike Tice guaranteed a Vikings win during the week. However, the only thing that appears certain is that Tice has lost control of his football team, the 2005 version of Purple Pride.

 

His inability to get his football team to play to its potential has now been overshadowed by the smoke that clouds the organization’s futility in the wake of the out-of-control sexual allegations targeting as many as 17 Vikings players.

 

The incident took place on Thursday, October 6, on the waters of Lake Minnetonka, when as many as 90 invited guests on two boats attended a party that apparently turned into highlights that Jerry Springer would love to have on video.

 

Investigators are currently seeking the facts of that evening. A list of the Vikings players who were on the cruise ships has been supplied to investigators; it includes Daunte Culpepper, Fred Smoot, Bryant McKinnie, Mewelde Moore, Kevin Williams, Jermaine Wiggins, Moe Williams, Nate Burleson, Troy Williamson, Travis Taylor, Koren Robinson, Ralph Brown and Darren Sharper.

 

Team owner Zigi Wilf, in his first comments since the allegations surfaced last week about a sex party involving some on the boats that included his Vikings players, has vowed to implement new standards of discipline throughout the organization.

 

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was so concerned over the controversy that he traveled to Chicago over the weekend to meet Sunday with Wilf. Wilf has since hired a former FBI agent, Dan Sohlberg, as a fulltime member of the team’s security staff. Sohlberg has worked formerly as an outside security consultant to the league.

 

Wilf said, “The Vikings will cooperate fully with authorities and will levy the appropriate fines, penalties and or suspensions” as soon as the investigation is complete. So far no one, including Vikings players, has been charged.

 

“If there is any sense that we would look the other way regarding this type of behavior, I want to make it extremely clear that this behavior will never be tolerated again,” Wilf said.

 

Wilf shared the comments he had with his football team and said he told them, “I expressed my anger and I expressed my embarrassment, my embarrassment on behalf of my family and for the people who work hard here... I will hold everyone who is involved responsible for their own actions.”

 

Until the facts of that cruise are determined, the alleged events of that evening on the planned three-hour tour, including reports that some of the players participated in sex acts with naked women, supposedly prostitutes or strippers, will continue to hang over this team.

 

Moore, the team’s leading rusher, is the only Vikings player to admit that he was on one of the two cruise boats, and he vehemently denied that he saw any sexual activity. He also said that he’s engaged to be married. The other players in question have refused to comment on the events of October 6.

 

The team’s performance in Chicago Sunday was highlighted again by the theme for the season: mistakes mental and physical. The Vikings were flagged with 14 penalties for 91 yards. And, for the fourth time in five games, they scored less than 14 points in the game.

 

The second quarter for the Vikings has been a nightmare this season; opponents have dominated, outscoring the Vikings 60-10. Another troubling trend is that the Vikings have been out-rushed this season 807 to 399. That indicates that they can’t run the ball consistently, and on defense they can’t stop opponents from running.

 

So far, if this trend continues, it could be 1984 all over again. The Vikings finished 3-13 that year.