In 2009, one of the most highly-anticipated and most-watched regular season games of that year (or any) were the two Minnesota Vikings-Green Bay Packers games. Brett Favre had worked his way across the St. Croix River (via New York) to join the Purple after 16 years in the Green and Gold, and everyone wanted to see him succeed, fail or simply witness the carnage.
Well, tonight in Seattle, there is another game involving the Vikings that carries a similar must-see nature. Okay, yes, it is not Favre returning to Lambeau, but with former Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson, former Vikings No. 1 wide receiver Sidney Rice and former Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, all members of the Seahawks, Vikings fans will want to tune in and see just what they could have had or are glad to be done with.
Jackson will get the start against his old team, which unceremoniously let him leave this past offseason after five seasons of tumult. Did T-Jack get a fair shake in Minnesota? Does he have unfulfilled promise? Was he lucky to on an NFL roster? These questions have been debated on Vikings fan sites for half a decade and will continue to be, but tonight's game might offer some kind of answers.
Even members of the Seahawks joined in the conversation. There was a report that the Seattle GM called the Vikings to apologize for some comments in the media saying they thought Jackson wasn’t handled the right way in Minnesota. Asked about the apology, head coach Leslie Frazier denied any knowledge:
"No, I’m not familiar with that part of it," said Frazier. [VP of player personnel] Rick [Spielman] might be able to answer that but no, I don’t know much about that."
For Jackson's side of things, he will face his old teammates, and he is said to be really looking forward to it. He has been quoted as saying he really wants to win:
"It’s not all about that but of course I want to go there and win. I don’t care if it’s a preseason game or not. You want to win,” Jackson told the Washington Post. “It would make it that much more special to get that against my old team. But that’s not the whole focus. We’re just trying to get better.”
Offensive coordinator Bevell sees the situation from both sides:
“I just think [Jackson] needs opportunity, an opportunity that he’s going to get here. Minnesota is in the past,” Bevell said. “He got his opportunities there but this is a whole new opportunity, this is a new lease on life, it’s a new outlook, new players, different coaches and he just needs to go out there and be himself. Obviously we see the talent in him but he just needs to be himself.”
Anyone who had followed Jackson as a Viking would be able to understand his desire to beat his old team. When a team makes the arrival of your replacement look like the arrival of a head of state, or dispatches a trio of teammates to fly across the country and beg him to come back, there has to be a small portion of many Vikings fans that pulls just a little bit for Jackson.
Perhaps not for Rice, however. To many it looks like he took the money and ran. After not getting a new contract last preseason and then taking two thirds of the regular season off for hip surgery, when Rice signed with Seattle for $41 million ($18.5 guaranteed) the day after the lockout ended, it sure looked he wanted to get out of Minnesota.
After four season spent mostly injured but including one that will go down in Vikings annals as one of the most exciting and successful by a receiver (that is a history that includes the likes of Randy Moss, Cris Carter and plenty of others), Rice is gone, just as he should be entering the most productive time of his career. That certainly rankles the Purple faithful. But Rice may not find everything so rosy in Seattle.
Many fans still say that Rice only had one good year and that was because his QB Favre had a career-year himself. Favre loved throwing to Rice, and Rice would do anything he could to make sure the legend's passes never hit the turf. He went after balls as though they would explode the earth if they weren't caught, and it has resulted in a very lucrative contract for him. It is now on Rice to prove that he can sustain that production, and that he can stay on the field. Scheduled to start tonight against the Vikings, Rice missed the Seahawks first preseason due to injury. The jury on Sidney Rice is still out.
Vikings fans will get to watch the former players running an offense in Seattle that is similar to the one Bevell ran in Minnesota. But that offense is not the concern. The current Vikings offense--with QB Donovan McNabb, WR Michael Jenkins and new OC Bill Musgrave in to replace the three who left for Seattle--only scored three points last week in Tennessee. While many will enjoy seeing Jared Allen and company visit T-Jack in the Seattle backfield, they need to be more concerned with whether or not the new Vikings offense can get into the Seahawks endzone.
Okay, okay, it is not Favre sweeping his former team while his likeness burned in effigy outside the stadiums. It's not must-see TV. The principles in the drama won't even be on the field in the second half. But for a second preseason game between two teams with a little history (we haven't even talked about Steve Hutchinson, Nate Burleson and the poison pill), it ain't too bad.
Comments