Purple FTW! Podcast

Former Vikings head coach Denny Green passed away this week at the young age of 67. Denny coached the Vikes from 1992 to 2001, was the 2nd winningest coach in franchise history (behind only Bud Grant), and was a pioneer in the African-American head coaching world. Both in the NFL and in college football. We take time to look back and remember the life of Coach Green and the legacy he leaves behind...

Head coach Mike Zimmer met with a herd of Vikings fans Thursday night at the Fan HQ Eden Prairie. Coach signed autographs and took photos as part of the #MoreThanWords campaign benefiting the Mike Zimmer Foundation. Happy to say that this event helped smash MTW's original $10,000 fundraising goal and we're currently over $12k. Still plenty of time to donate before the August 9th deadline. Let's ru...

Pokémon GO has taken the world by storm. And as we've seen, I never let a pop culture phenomenon go by unincorporated into Purple FTW's sphere for both the LOLs and for SEO purposes. So there's the Pokémon GO one. (Damn we need football back.) Today's Talking Points Include: • Which Pokémon Are The Vikings? • 3-Year $300,000 Bird Death Study Commissioned for US Bank Stadium • Jared Allen Told Bret...

[Editor's Note: Taking the week off to head down to Podcast Movement! But I wanted to leave you guys with some content to get you through this desert of football news with one of our most downloaded episodes ever. Please enjoy and I'll catch you next week. -Andy] Hindsight is 20/20. That's why we jumped in our DeLorean and went back to save the Vikings from themselves in 2011. There was a run on q...

The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings defeated the Green Bay Alien Packers last year to secure the NFC North Division crown. But we always knew they'd be back..... We gear up for another year of battle with our gruesome, green, over-weight nemesis from across the Mississippi with some Vikings talkers leading into your 4th of July Weekend. Today's Topics Include • Alan Roach is a Hot Damn BOSS • Troy Will...

Alright fine. I've been famously (infamously?) curmudgeon about all of the endless US Bank Stadium construction updates. I'm a big "skip the labor, show me the baby" sort of guy. But now that the baby has been born, I'm in love with this $1.1 billion dollar bundle of joy. We'll hop into some of the gritty details of the Minnesota Fightin' Vikings latest encampment this week. LUKE BRYAN..... Hooray...

Harrison Smith is the best kept secret in the NFL. He's the most complete safety in the league, yet is continually over-looked for accolades and by the national media. Maybe they'll take notice now that Dirty Harry is the highest paid (by per year average) safety after inking a 5-year, $51.25M deal with $28.578M guaranteed. Now it's time for Harry to earn that cheddar and he seems more than ready...

Harrison Smith is the best kept secret in the NFL. He's the most complete safety in the league, yet is continually over-looked for accolades and by the national media. Maybe they'll take notice now that Dirty Harry is the highest paid (by per year average) safety after inking a 5-year, $51.25M deal with $28.578M guaranteed. Now it's time for Harry to earn that cheddar and he seems more than ready...

The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings are back in the hood that is Eden Prairie as the Purple begin preparation for the 2016 season. Nothing is more meaningless than OTAs, but the only thing getting more attention than them is than lady and her damn Chewbacca mask. But I digress, let's talk some football! (Which we apparently do not do on The Andy Luke & Arif Football Machine.) Today's Topics Include • V...

David Morgan II -- the Pride of the UTSA Road Runners -- stopped by the show to chat about his first weeks with the Minnesota Fightin' Vikings. We talked about what it's like helping build a brand new college football program from scratch, what he envisions his role with the Purple will be, early impressions of the tight end room and new position coach Pat Shurmur, which current NFL player he mode...

The Mortiz Boehringer (aka Mortiz Böhringer) story continues as the NFL will allow Borat to rock the umlaut on his uniform this season. He's still a long-shot to make the roster and the feel-good story is over (Mike Zimmer said so, not me), but he'll still be a fan favorite in Mankato for training camp. Plus if he makes a few plays, the fans will be like "Öööööööööööööhhhhhhh!" Töday's Töpics Incl...

The newest class of Minnesota Fightin' Vikings rookies are in the building this weekend for rookie mini-camp. Draft picks, undrafted free agents, and tryout players alike will try to climb the mountain of making the Vikings 53-man roster (remember, John Randle was a tryout/UDFA), in what could be the most competitive offseason in team history. There is talent everywhere. Today we run through a few...

Laquon Treadwell is the newest member of the Minnesota Fightin' Vikings raiding party. We take a closer look at the young man from Ole Miss, how he overcame a gruesome injury his sophomore year to become a first round NFL pick, why I love his demeanor and maturity beyond his 20-years on this planet, and what he brings to the Vikings offense. Teddy Bridgewater, Stefon Diggs, and Norv Turner have to...

As many Purple FTW! listeners know, I only do one mock draft a year. Mostly due to my lack of expertise and the rest is due to apathy, but it's Draft week! And as Rick Spielman prepares to be the stone cold boss of the Vikings War Room (probably with one-handed pushups), I offer these humble suggestions for potential prospects straight from my weak and feeble fan brain. The WTH is Andy Thinking? P...

The NFL Draft is less than a fortnight away and the annual culling of collegiate talent has gone international. Proven by Luke Inman (@Luke_Spinman) phoning in from Bangkok for his weekly Minnesota Vikings Draft spot! We chat about the Rams-Titans trade and how it affects the rest of the draft, the fallout from the Jaylon Smith and Myles Jack medical rechecks, if the Vikings are in a position to d...

The 2016 NFL Schedule has been released (like so many white doves). We now know the order of the menu of the Minnesota Fightin' Vikings as we feast towards #LombardiAtNRG. I walk through the schedule and give an HONEST assessment of wins and losses in the first of many way too soon 2016 Vikings season forecasts. 2016 Minnesota Vikings Schedule Week 1: at Titans (9/11) Week 2: vs Packers (SNF) Week...

Since Luke Inman is in Bangkok (for real, not a euphemism), we called in reliever Austin Belisle (@austincbelisle) of Vikings Territory to give us a few innings of hot Vikings Mock Draft talk Austin links the Minnesota Fightin' Vikings with a very familiar name at the top, but some fresh blood in the latter rounds including TWO cornerbacks. So tune in as we run through his 7-round Vikings mock and...

The Minnesota Vikings are guilty... Of having a great offseason so far in free agency as well as retaining their own core guys. Friday Free-For-All Talkers Include • Greg Jennings Wants to Comeback • Vikings Interested in German Wide Receiver Moritz Böhringer • 30 Visit Week Rumors • Caledonia named Minnesota Football Program of the Year by the Vikings • Teddy and the Offense Working Out Together...

Tough decisions are a hallmark of the NFL Draft. Teams have a position of need and two comparable players on their draft boards available for selection. Manning or Leaf, Luck or RG3, Jameis or Mariota. These watershed moments can change franchises forever. The Minnesota Fightin' Vikings aren't selecting at the top of the draft, but the decisions will still weigh the same. We brought out man Luke I...

The Minnesota Vikings' draft plans are a big talking point for fans right now as the 2016 version is less than a month away. GM Rick Spielman will have a lot of decisions to make behind-the-scenes, some will be crazy stories and scenarios that will never see the light of day. To shine a light on a few hypotheticals is our resident NFL Draft BOSS Luke Inman (@Luke_Spinman)! The scenarios are..........

Cordarrelle Patterson is the best kick returner in the NFL. We expected more after trading up to 29 to draft the uber raw product out of Tennessee in 2013, but here we are. All that and other "Damn, Competition Committee" nonsense on this edition of the Purple FTW! Podcast. An Andy Carlson Joint Follow us on Twitter: @PurpleForTheWin - http://twitter.com/purpleforthewin Visit the Website: http://p...

The 'Safety Opposite of Harrison' has been a much talked about position of need for the Minnesota Vikings since Smith came on board in 2012. We still haven't found a suitable Robin for Harry the Hitman's Dark Knight. Luke Inman (@Luke_Spinman) of eDraft and Cold Omaha is back again this week to chat about a few safeties in the draft who could be a damn good Dick Grayson. The 'Jamarca Sanford Safet...

Wide receiver remains a position of need for the Minnesota Vikings as free agency is fading into the ether. So we look towards the draft with out guide Luke Inman (@Luke_Spinman) of eDraft and Cold Omaha to talk us through 15 intriguing wide out prospects in this year's NFL Draft. • Josh Doctson, TCU • Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss • Michael Thomas, Ohio State • Corey Coleman, Baylor • Rashard Higgin...

The first wave of free agency has come and gone. The Minnesota Vikings didn't land the White Whales the fanbase wanted (Kelechi Osemele or George Iloka), but I think we're fine settling for the White Rhino in Alex Boone. We dive into him as well as the other depth free agent signing the Purple made. I also take a look at other potential Vikings still on the market and what the plan should be with...

Alex Boone, COME ON DOWN! NFL free agency is upon us and Rick Spielman is doing his Rick thing, eschewing the mega deals and finding valuable comprables at a fraction of the price. Rick is indeed the TJ Maxx of the NFL and I love that. Making It Rain (Responsibly) Talking Points Include: • Retaining Our Own Free Agents is Smart • Hello, Alex Boone • Matt Kalil Remains a Viking (Good?) • What the V...