For Stephen Weatherly, Vikings' Renaissance man, football is only part of the story
In the Vikings locker room, the defensive end's rich family history and array of interests and talents leave teammates in awe.The minutes before meetings in the Vikings defensive line room are time for casual chatter, for the members of what might be the NFL’s best defensive front to get to know one another.
It’s not a group short on personalities, with two players born on Caribbean islands (Linval Joseph and Danielle Hunter), a defensive tackle (Tom Johnson) who’s played for teams in three countries and the ever-boisterous Everson Griffen. Increasingly, though, the focus of fascination is second-year defensive end Stephen Weatherly.
“We found out today he’s played nine instruments,” defensive end Brian Robison said. “Right now, he’s on a major kick with Bitcoin. We’re in the one day, and a couple of the offensive linemen told him, ‘All right — you’ve got 60 seconds to tell me about Bitcoin.’ This guy went off on a rant, and within 10 seconds, I get up, and I’m like, ‘I kind of want to hear about this.’ ”
One day, it might be the investments Weatherly has made in mining Bitcoin. The next, it might be his musical background, his love of chess, the fact his can solve a Rubik’s Cube in less than two minutes, his study of Italian cooking, his travels to Germany in high school or his time as the captain of his high school robotics team.
Through all of it, his teammates are learning Weatherly is part pass rusher, part Renaissance man.
“The guys love him,” Vikings defensive line coach Andre Patterson said. “They give him a bad time about some of the stuff he’s involved in, but there are things he’s involved with that they get interested in. … I think that’s good for the guys in my room, that it’s not just about video games and football. There’s more to life than that.”
http://www.startribune.com/for-stephen-weatherly-vikings-renaissance-man-football-is-only-part-of-the-story/466507823/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
This guy is excellent on special teams and I hope he takes the next step to get more playing time at DE in 2018.
But he's a very smart guy with interests outside football....the kind of guy who just ends up leaving football for his own reasons after 4-5 seasons.
@"StickyBun" said: This guy is excellent on special teams and I hope he takes the next step to get more playing time at DE in 2018.But he's a very smart guy with interests outside football....the kind of guy who just ends up leaving football for his own reasons after 4-5 seasons.
Agreed, harkens one back to Robert Smith, don't it?
Been dying to get info on his progress. It sounds excellent. He is on a strength program and learning the techniques. You could not ask for more at this stage.
That's fantastic. He is very versatile and will have a lot of options after football. He has an endless curiosity, that's a wonderful quality to have. Look forward to watching him develop on and off the field.
He's been good on special teams and seems to be getting some more snaps on defense. I love having brilliant guys like him on the team and his mother and grandmother are super impressive people.
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