Purple FTW! Podcast

The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings mercifully wrap up the preseason Thursday night against the Miami Dolphins at Historic US Bank Stadium. To ramp up for this titanic struggle we brought in Oscar Hazell (@OscarHazell) of The Miami Pod to run through the opposition and get his take on the Vikings backups (unless the starters play for some reason.... Zimmer...). Plus I make the case that 2017 is (finall...

Xavier Rhodes was rewarded by the Minnesota Vikings with a brand new contract extension, making him one of the highest paid cornerbacks in the NFL. Santa Rick Spielman continues to make the rounds and ink his guys to long-term deals. Who's next? We speculate on that as well as chat with Producer Allie (@skolgirldn) to talk about Purple FTW's upcoming takeover of Mankato.   Note - Boulder Tap House...

The entire Minnesota Fightin' Vikings squad is now in Mankato. 2017 Training Camp is officially ON. We run through a few notably Purple talkers from the first week including thoughts on Teddy Bridgewater addressing the media for the first time in 11-months, plus an update from Daniel House (@DanielHouseNFL) of Vikings Corner. Today's Talkers Include: • Teddy Finally Speaks • Sam Bradford Presser T...

The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings will have Sam Bradford as their wheelman heading into the 2017 season. But is he the long-term answer for the heist? We chat about that along with (hopefully) putting a bow on #Kombuchagate, excerpt from my BULL with Andy Carlson chat with Emory Hunt (@FBallGameplan) about Sam/Teddy and why he's big on Dalvin Cook, and bring it on home with a wide-ranging talk with T...

The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings were back in town this week to start the first of three sets of Organized Team Activities before mid-June's mandatory mini-camp. Tuesday's practice lit #VikingsTwitter ablaze with video of Teddy Bridgewater taking snaps. I pontificate about that along with several other OTA talkers. Later in the show, we bring in Joshua Johnson (@DFF_Cog) to talk some fantasy implica...

Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman more than lived up to his "Trader Rick" moniker wheeling-and-dealing seven times (we think) in this iteration of the draft. We recap the haul, declare Winners and Losers of the draft Vikings-wise, and how the Purple neophytes project to make an impact in 2017 and beyond. 2 (41) - Dalvin Cook, RB - Florida State 3 (70) - Pat Elflein, C - Ohio State 4...

It's a dark day for Minnesota Vikings fans as Teddy Bridgewater suffered what appeared to be a serious non-contact knee injury Tuesday at practice. Serious enough that an ambulance was called in and practice was cancelled after only 25 minutes. Sam Ekstrom (@SamEkstrom) phoned in from Winter Park to give us the details on the the ground and I examine what the Vikings quarterback position (Shaun Hi...

The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings officially opened US Bank Stadium with an impressive showing over the San Diego Super Chargers. Teddy Bridgewater put a lot of people's minds at ease as he performed well in what looks to be his final preseason action before the 2016 regular season. We talk about him and some of the other headlines to come out of US Bank Stadium officially (kinda) being open for busi...

The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings officially (kinda) open up US Bank Stadium Sunday at noon as they welcome in the Los Angeles Chargers of Anaheim San Diego Super Chargers for an afternoon of full speed football that doesn't count. Teddy Bridgewater says he's playing. Adrian Peterson says he's not. Still a few positons and roster spots up for grabs before the team has to whittle the roster down to 75...

90-man rosters are like an episode of Game of Thrones: Not everyone is going to make it. But what lies ahead for some of these fringe Minnesota Vikings players that are likely to be cut in the next two weeks? I do my best Miss Cleo (RIP) impression and look into my magic ball to see the future of these players. Some of their futures include football. Some include being a manager at HuHot. All that...

Teddy Bridgewater has a mysterious and sudden shoulder injury. Matt Kalil bowed out of practice Sunday. Brandon Fusco has a neck. Who the heck knows about Mike Harris. Sharrif Floyd and Eric Kendricks are perpetually banged up. Jarius Wright has a calf. Tre Roberson has a broken hand. Xavier Rhodes has a hamsting. WHAT IS HAPPENING?! WHY CAN WE NOT HAVE NICE THINGS? Austin Belisle (@austincbelisle...

Teddy Bridgewater didn't play in a game that doesn't matter, but Vikings fans still freaked out. The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings mercifully ended their late start game with the Seattle Seahawks. Here are a few half-awake thoughts. Tonight/This Morning's Talking Points Include: • Why Didn't Teddy Play? • Shaun Hill Looked Good Enough • WTF, Joel Stave • Well Hello Cordarrelle Patterson • Adam Thiele...

The 'doesn't count' portion of the NFL schedule is almost half over as the Minnesota Fightin' Vikings roll into Century Link Field in Seattle play some Friday Morning Thursday Night West Coast football. I rattle through a few things I'm going to be looking for in Game 2 and also find a way to poke fun at new 49ers quarterback Christian Jerome Ponder (somehow). Seattle's Best Talking Points Include...

Usain Bolt is cool and all, but he's no Jerick McKinnon. I open the show with an opining love letter to #21 and how I hope the Minnesota Fightin' Vikings will actually use him this year. Then we turbo through a couple roster battles that I'm keeping an eye on. There's a lot of suss out over the next few weeks for the Vikes. Battle Talking Points Include • Joel Stave vs Taylor Heinicke • Matt Asiat...

The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings got their first free skate of the year out of the way Friday night in Cincinnati getting a win 17-16. There was some good, bad, and ugly to go around and we talk about it all in tonight's recap as we also get in some preseason reps. #Reps Preseason Feeling Talking Points Include: • The "Teddy Can't Throw the Deep Ball" Party is OVER • Trae Waynes is Your Starting LCB...

The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings begin their two days of practice with the Cincinnati Bengals before Friday's first preseason game in Southern Ohio (but really Northern Kentucky). Mankato Training Camp is in the rear view mirror. Impressions were made, but still plenty of time for jobs to be won or lost. But that won't stop us from recklessly speculating who will (Teddy Bridgewater) and who won't (A...

My time at Minnesota Fightin' Vikings Training Camp has concluded. I enjoyed my time watching the team in the Crown Jewel of South Central Minnesota. Everyone loved Ribfest, but it's time to get serious about some football. Here's 14 observations from Mankato. Today's Topics Include • How's Teddy Look? • Everson Griffen Might Be a Top-5 Edge Player • I Don't Know About Xavier Rhodes – Elite or Jus...

The annual dead period between the Saturday morning walk-through and the famous Night Practice is upon us. No worries though as we've set up at Boulder Tap House again with Sam Ekstrom (@SamEkstrom), Luke Inman (@Luke_Spinman), and Eric Thompson (@Eric_J_Thompson) to talk a little Minnesota Fightin' Vikings and what we've seen from the squad as they round out their final weekend in Mankato this se...

Another picturesque day in sunny and 77 degree Mankato. I welcomed in Josh Zimmer (@JZimmer_NFL) of NGSC Sports and Luke Inman (@Luke_Spinman) in to have a frank and open conversation about the latest happening with the Minnesota Fightin' Vikings as Training Camp draws to a close. Today's Topics Include: • Why Tre Roberson is Impressing • Trae Waynes Made a Leap in Year 2 • Vikings Have the Deepes...

On the ground in Mankato. Some AM showers rolled over the Crown Jewel of South Central Minnesota Thursday morning, but it didn't stop the Minnesota Fightin' Vikings from taking the field for walkthroughs. It also didn't stop me from rounding up Arif Hasan (@ArifHasanNFL), Sam Ekstrom (@SamEkstrom) and Eric Thompson (@Eric_J_Thompson) at the media center and playing a quick NAME GAME. Names Include...

The Minnesota Vikings had the day off today (they apparently take Taco Tuesday VERY seriously). But it gave us time to collect our thoughts on the goings on in Mankato before they strap em back on again Wednesday. Show Topics Include: • Why Training Camp Fights Are Good • Jayron Kearse is Rising • Mike Priefer Defends Jeff Locke • Vikings Breaking Ground on Eagan Practice Facility • The Backup QB...

Had time to kill on a Sunday afternoon (and I don't golf), so I swung on down to Mankato to take in the Minnesota Fightin' Vikings afternoon practice. Arif Hasan (@ArifHasanNFL), Sam Ekstrom (@SamEkstrom) and Daniel House (@DanielHouseNFL) joined me to recap the session, what's been impressive (and not so impressive) so far, and I finally get a definitive answer on "HOW'S TEDDY LOOK?" (This is als...

The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings have invaded their August home as the eyes of the Purple Faithful all shift towards Mankato, the Crown Jewel of South Central Minnesota. We talk about the major early storylines from Training Camp and get Arif Hasan on the horn from Mankato to fill us in with some updates. Can't wait to get down there on August 4th-6th and setup base camp at Boulder Tap House again!...

I got Chris Tomasson (@ChrisTomasson) of the Pioneer Press to sit still for a conversation about his extensive world travels and the upcoming season of Minnesota Fightin' Viking football. We chatted about his memories of the late-Denny Green (Chris was a student at Northwestern when Denny became their head coach), what Phil Loadholt's retirement means for the embattled Vikings offensive line, how...