‘Pat Crete’ ready to make NFL debut as Vikings’ starting center

[purplefaithful]

Vikings general manager Rick Spielman does plenty of research on draft prospects. When it came to center Pat Elflein, some of the information Spielman got was from his niece.
Spielman’s brother, former NFL linebacker Chris Spielman, lives in Columbus, Ohio. His daughter, Maddie, was roommates at Ohio State with Emily Lachey — Elflein’s girlfriend — and took classes there with Elflein.
When Spielman asked his brother about Elflein’s character, he relayed what he had heard from Maddie.
“My daughter is the same age (23) as Pat and she says he’s a great kid,” said Chris Spielman, a two-time All-American with the Buckeyes. “She speaks very highly of him. I just know that if my daughter says he’s a great guy, then he’s a great guy.”
Elflein is also a pretty good football player. After being taken in the third round of the April draft, he is set to be the first rookie center to start a Vikings opener since Mick Tingelhoff in 1962 in Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium.


http://www.twincities.com/2017/09/08/con...ng-center/

[Guest]

Quarterback Sam Bradford said he is “very comfortable” with Elflein.
During training camp, Elflein worked with Kevin Mawae, a seven-time pro bowl center who is serving as a coaching intern. Sparano said Mawae provided Elflein with advice on how to weed out distractions such as crowd noise.
“He’s going to be a good player,” Mawae wrote in an email. “Once the game slows down for him, he’ll see significant strides. That’s true of most rookies. He works hard, studies just as hard, and has a bright future ahead of him.”
The Vikings have a history of long-term starters at center. Following Tingelhoff, Dennis Swilley (1979-86), Kirk Lowdermilk (1987-92), Jeff Christy (1994-99), Matt Birk (2000-08) and John Sullivan (2009-14) held down the position for six or more years.
“(Elflein) could be a guy you kind of let stay there for a while and let him do his job for 10 years,” Lachey said.
Elflien isn’t looking too far ahead.

[Guest]

Glad he cemented his starting position...  B)