My SBN colleague Gonzo at The Daily Norseman (Vikings blog) and my Redskins blogging colleague Ben Folsom at The Curly R participated in a pregame interview. Basically each sent a series of questions to the other and published the responses on their respective websites. Ben also sent some questions to TBird41 at The Ragnarok, another Vikings website.
Highlights:
From the The Daily Norseman interview:
Darrell Green. Course, 2002 was his last season, so he's not eligible until nest year, but he should be first ballot. He defined the concept of the 'shutdown corner.'
I could make an argument for the core of the Hogs, that being Joe Jacoby, Russ Grimm, Jeff Bostic, with a nod to George Starke, Mark May, Rick 'Doc' Walker, Raleigh Mackenzie and Jim Lachey, but I'm not sure who I would exclude from this list. From 82 to 91, they were the pinnacle of offensive line play, blowing holes for Redskins running backs, winning three Super Bowls.
Everyone else, the Fun Bunch, the Smurfs, they were all part of a unit. Darrell was an outstanding individual performer. I hope to see Art and Darrell both in the Hall together.
Art Monk should be in Canton. There is absolutely no question about this. Ben nails this one, Darrell Green will be the next Redskins Hall of Famer if the HoF committee continues to shame itself by ignoring Monk. If Art doesn't get in, no one besides Jerry Rice should either. Ridiculous.
From The Curly R:
In 1992, Dennis Green was a rookie coach and brought over Jack Burns from the Redskins to be the Vikings offensive coordinator, where they installed the 'Joe Gibbs' offense. If you watched the CBS pregame coverage from the Vikings-Redskins regular season game that year, they did a whole piece on Minnesota implementing that offense, and who would get to be 'whom.' Cris Carter, Jake Reed and Anthony Carter got to argue about who would be Art Monk, Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders. Terry Allen, who went to the Redskins two seasons later and set a season record there, was pleased to be in the Earnest Byner role, where he racked up a franchise record of 1201 yards rushing that season. On their way to an 11-5 record, the Vikings lost 15-13 at home to the Redskins in week 7. The Redskins won on 5 Chip Lohmiller field goals, no touchdowns, and finished the season 9-7. Beating the 49ers and Redskins that season would have given the Vikings a bye going into the playoffs. Instead, they played the Redskins in Minnesota, again, and lost 24-7.
Does this memory make you bitter, or truly bitter?
Ragnarok: I'll be honest--that game was a little before my time. Even if I did remember it, it would be hard to be bitter about that particular loss when I could be bitter about the 1998 NFC Championship game, in which the Vikings blew a second half lead, losing in overtime after Gary Anderson missed his only field goal of the year - culminating in the Vikings' only loss at home. Or if I didn't want to think about that one, I could be bitter about the Giants embarrassing the Vikings 41-0 at the Meadowlands in 2001. Or even Tyrone Poole's last second catch in the final game of 2004, giving the Cardinals the victory, handing the NFC North title over to our archrival, the Packers, and knocking the Vikings out of the playoffs. So no, I'm not bitter about the loss in 1992, but I am bitter. It kind of comes with being a Vikings' fan. Thanks for asking.
Ben really knows how to ask a question. Go thank him for that.
If you want to see all the questions (and they are worth it) head over to The Daily Norseman, The Curly R, or The Ragnarok.