The Spiel On Spielman

Commentary by

06/03/06

The Minnesota Vikings have recently filled the vacated spot on their Triangle of Authority left by the firing of Fran Foley. The newest member of the Triangle is Rick Spielman, the former Miami Dolphins General Manager.

Spielman was probably on the bottom of my list of people to fill this vacated position, and I definitely wasn’t happy at first with his hiring. I, and Viking fans, have been burned before. I still remember the elation I had at the hiring of Ted Cottrell as our Defensive Coordinator. This was going to be the best move for our defense in years. But then almost every Jets fan I ran into would tell me that Viking fans would soon find out why Jets fans were so glad to get rid of him. Unfortunately they were right. There are an equal number of Dolphin fans out there that are either laughing themselves silly right now, or are saying those same things that Jet fans told us 3 years ago. So my initial skepticism was somewhat justified.

I can’t say I really know much about Rick. I probably know more about his brother, Chris, since he played for the Lions in our division, than I do about Rick himself. Spielman supposedly made some questionable moves while with Miami, especially the 2004 season. Yet there seems to be some people that think Dave Wannstedt may have had a hand in some of those moves. Wannstedt was supposedly fighting to keep his job and we all know from watching Mike Tice’s last year in Minnesota, that the pressure to perform and produce can be tremendous. Plus, fans don’t always have the whole story on these kinds of things anyway.

Since it is more than likely though that Spielman had his hand in some of those moves down in Miami, it should be no reason for me not to think that he can not do a better job for the Vikings in Minnesota. Some people learn from their mistakes. Bill Bellichick of the New England Patriots is a great example. He was almost run out of Cleveland at one point, and now he is looked upon as one of the best football minds out there.

Keep in mind that Rick Spielman will not have the power in Minnesota that he had in Miami either. He will be part of three people making decisions when it comes to players and personnel. In my opinion he will be a definite upgrade over Fran Foley. Spielman has 15 seasons of NFL personnel experience with Chicago, Detroit and Miami, and should work well with both Brad Childress and Rob Brzezinski.

Still, these types of hires are like elected officials. You never really know about them and there are always rumors about things they did in their last elected post. You either like the guy or you don’t, and you also never really know if the guy can run a government of local municipality until he gets in there and has a chance to show his stuff. Draft picks are kind of the same way too. While some of the new kids may look good, both in practice and on paper, it usually takes a couple of years before you know if they will cut it or not. The same can be said for Rick Spielman, and I am willing to give him the same opportunity to prove himself. Welcome to the Vikings Rick!