Vikings Pro Bowl - What you didn't see when the Cameras Were Off

[Tom Moore]

Well, we had the honor of covering the Pro Bowl, and here is what we saw:

1) Adam Thielen had more fans than any other player on either squad.  He interacted with everyone.  I talked to him before the game and he said, "I don't know who is more excited, me getting to play and sign autographs, or kids getting them. Probably me!  Adam is truly humbled by his hard path to the NFL.



1) Like him or hate him, Russell Wilson is a really good guy to the fans.  He came our early and signed more than anyone else.  Very good with kids and never let a request go unfulfilled.  Here he is thrilling the Flag Football teams by video taping them with him for his Twitter.







3) One Cheerleader represented each team, and here is Saral from or Minnesota Vikings.  She was glad to know Viking fans were watching the team




4) This was our press box view from what would become a very rainy Camping World Stadium


When Adam Thielen came in from working out in shorts, he said, "man, this is gonna be fun today.  I think this is gonna be a fun day - rain or not".  He scored the first 6 points for the NFC.  He also said his back was completely recovered from the concerns he had after the Saints game.

NFC Coach Sean Payton had that smug look again, BUT, he then came over to me very graciously and asked me to take his photo with his daughter, a media intern in college.  I wanted to hate him, but like a lot of people, they are more likable in person.

I spoke to Referee Walt Anderson and his crew before the game.  Fun conversation!  His crew said, "the hardest referee job is for pee wee.  We've had to tell parents, 'hey, I get paid $8 a game for this.  The game is about your kid, not about you, so if you think you can do better, I will be glad to give you my whistle and the 8 bucks now!"  He also said he planned to call as few penalties as possible today

Jared Goff was like a little kid.  So happy to be there - very likable.  He too was fantastic with the fans and kids.

Preparation was not the same as a real game.  A few players went out early (75 - 90 minutes), but most went out for 15-20 minutes about 45 minutes before kickoff.

We notices the Pittsburgh Steelers Alejandro Villanueva had to be the largest player we've ever seen.  Very tall.

[Guest]

Part 2

Very short clip of Adam Thielen getting photos with the High School flag football team.  They said his name, and he went right to them




Here is a short clip of the NFC Offense leaving their locker room.  Both Rudolph and Thielen are in this clip



The Vikings we introduced as a group, and here they are in this 26 second clip:



All 5 Vikings performed very well:

* Thielen had a TD catch to open the game, a couple of short catches, and then a deep shot from Russell Wilson between two defender and Adam almost made a miraculous catch, but the Safety hit the ball hard and dislodged it.  First person to greet him on the sidelines after the TD catch was Xavier Rhodes.

* Linval Joseph blew up an AFC receiver so badly, the whole crowd groaned.

* Harrison Smith had the 79 yard pick six, and as he was hit a few times, it was clear than he wanted to score, and he did.  We talked to Smith before and after the game.

* Xavier Rhodes never got beat, and that is a good game in itself for a CB against the best the AFC has to offer

* Kyle Rudolph made a ton of catches - he was the go-to guy for all the QBs.  He was always open, and he outplayed Jason Witten.  However, those two hung out together all day.  It was clear they were friends.  My son is a Cowboy fan (hey, we live in Dallas), so I interviewed Witten after the game.  Good guy - very Chad Greenway-like.  Here is that interview with Witten - he knows we are Viking media:

(NOTE - I had no cameraman this game, so all interviews are audio only)



For those who have not been in an NFL locker room, the real stars (the big name and the QB) are rarely available for individual interviews.  Here, there were maybe 10 media people in the NFC Locker room.  So, we could take anyone we wanted.  Here's what we saw:

* NFC All Stars taking photos of their locker name plate as a momento - it's a big deal to them

* Adam Thielen carrying his 15 month old son into the locker room and showing him videos on his phone.  We did not interview him, as we'd talked to him many times during the day, and this was his time with his son.  No one bothered him

* Spoke to Drew Brees - he is likable and said the Minnesota fans should be proud of their team.  He said it was an amazing play, but the Vikings played well to be in position to win it with that play. Drew had his 3 sons in the locker room and they were between about 3 and 7, all wrestling each other to the floor.

* We spoke with Kyle Rudolph just outside the locker room on the way in (our sound equipment misbehaved, but here is what he said (all with a smile):

"It is such an honor to be selected here and I learned so much this week from Jason Witten. In fact, that is the fun of the Pro Bowl, is that you get to know players and their families.  When asked about what he will do now that the season is over?  He replied, "We expect so much more in 2018.  We fell short of our goal, but we have the team and players to get this done in Minnesota.  But, before I start to hit the offseason training program hard, I want to play a lot of golf. I'm good at golf for an NFL player, but I want to get so much better"

Kyle wished us well and thanked us for keeping them in touch with the fans.

* Here is Harrison Smith talking about his Pick 6.  He told us before the game that he doesn't work out for about 2-3 weeks when the season ends, and really just wants to hang around the Twin Cities and get rested.  He said he doesn't like to travel much, he's more of a homebody.




And our final interview for the year was with Linval Joseph.  He talks his hard hit and his offseason plan.


We did not talk to Xavier after the game.  He was the last one in the showers, and we did not want him to have to wait any longer to go home and start his offseason, so we wrapped it up.


It was fun to see the stars drop their guards for other teams and just enjoy a big moment.  The Pro Bowl is hard to watch for many fans on TV, but they put on a decent show today, and they were proud to be there.

[Guest]

Thank you for sharing all that Tom.  Great to get one more hit of Vikings news before the long offseason starts.

[Guest]

Tom, this was a fun report I guess I didn't know you were going to the Pro Bowl, that's cool! I was proud of our guys that were there. Thielen's TD catch reminded me very much of the one he caught in traffic in the end zone against the Redskins. Harrison's pick 6 was awesome and hope more of that in 2018. 

[Guest]

Thanks, Tom. Enjoyed it. Looking forward to lots more next season.

[Guest]

I like the Pro Bowl ... better when it was after the Super Bowl.

[Guest]

Thanks  Tom  I really enjoyed  reading these this year  

[Guest]

@Minniman said:
I like the Pro Bowl ... better when it was after the Super Bowl.

They tried harder to make it more competitive this year.  As the players said repeatedly, "We wanted to put on a good show for the fans".  A show indicates an exhibition and entertainment, while a game indicates a more crucial effort.

The refs were blowing the whistle to end plays on first contact.