Pat Elflein: The next great Minnesota Vikings center

[purplefaithful]

In most cities, centers are nameless. In Minnesota, centers are famous. 
In fact, if you ask most NFL fans who their favorite team’s last five centers were, you would get shrugs and sideways looks. In Minnesota, that trivia question would be just as easy as naming the team’s last five quarterbacks. 

When former center Matt Birk, who hasn’t suited up for the Vikings since 2008, spent a day at training camp in Mankato, onlookers shouted his name and the team’s digital media crew pulled him aside for an exclusive interview. 
In the minds of older fans, Birk probably ranks second among all-time great Vikings centers to Mick Tingelhoff, who started all 259 Vikings games between 1963 and 1977 and made six Pro Bowls. 
There’s also Jeff Christy, center for the ‘98 team that reached the NFC title game, and John Sullivan, who was in the middle of all sorts of Adrian Peterson highlight runs. You regularly see these guys’ replica jerseys at training camp.
This year, the Vikings are looking to Pat Elflein to step into this non-traditional spotlight. 
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2017/0...gs-center/

[Guest]

The Vikings aren’t handing their third-round pick a starting gig. He’s going to have to beat out Nick Easton, a Harvard grad who started five games last year. The two have switched in and out nearly every day in Mankato and each has occasionally seen time at guard. 
Whether Elflein starts from Day 1 will depend on how quickly he adapts. And that applies to all sorts of areas. Head coach Mike Zimmer talked about his rookie getting quicker with calls. 
“He’s pretty sharp at it,” Zimmer said. “Sometimes he tries to change it too late in the down and it messes up everybody else. He’s just gotta make sure that once he makes it, we go and live with it.”
Alex Boone pointed out the adjustment to viewing football as a career. 
“You’re not playing against 18-year-olds anymore,” Boone said. “You’re playing against grown men, they’re out here to hurt you and everyone has a job to do…at the end of the day, he has to know this is for real now. This is your job, this is your life. If you want to do this for the next 20 years, you gotta go. And he’s doing a good job of that so far.”
Patterson mentioned the tempo of play in the NFL. 
“It’s just like every other rookie, he’s gotta get used to the speed and the pace of the game, every rookie has that,” Patterson said.
Whether he starts against the New Orleans Saints on September 11 does not have a bearing on where the Vikings believe Elflein can be long term, which is on the level of Birk, Christy or Sullivan. It’s just a matter of how long it will take for him to get there.
“The thing I can say from watching him: He looks like he belongs,” Patterson said. 

[Guest]

4 preseason games to go, so we'll see if he can get the job from Easton. I think Easton won't give it up without a fight.

[Guest]

“You’re not playing against 18-year-olds anymore,” Boone said. “You’re playing against grown men, they’re out here to hurt you and everyone has a job to do…at the end of the day, he has to know this is for real now. This is your job, this is your life. If you want to do this for the next 20 years, you gotta go. And he’s doing a good job of that so far.”

if you want to be in the NFL for 20 years... perhaps he should have tried to be a kicker.

[Guest]

Boone..... Yeah well there's more to the NFL than soundbites.