A couple of weeks ago, the National Football League won a grievance against the National Football League Players Association that said that they were no longer allowed to publicize the “grades” that each organization receives from players around the league in various categories. That grievance, apparently, does not stop the NFLPA from giving those grades to members of the media, who can then subsequently report on them.
So, we’re here to report that the Minnesota Vikings have once again graded out
among the top teams in the National Football League accoring to the players.
For the third straight year, the Vikings claimed the second spot in the NFLPA rankings, trailing only the Miami Dolphins, who took the top spot for the third consecutive season.
Here are all of the spots that were graded by the players and the grade that the Vikings received in each of those categories:
- Team Ownership: A+
- Treatment of Families: A
- Locker Room: A
- Strength Coaches: A
- Head Coach: A
- General Manager: A (for the guy who just got fired)
- Training Room: A-
- Training Staff: A-
- Weight Room: A-
- Offensive Coordinator: A- (I don’t even know what he does)
- Special Teams Coordinator: A-
- Nutritionist/Dietician: B+
- Position Coaches: B+
- Defensive Coordinator: B+ (say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!)
- Team Travel: B+
- Home Game Field: B
- Food/Dining Area: B-
As you can see from the couple of comments, I’m a little confused by a couple of the grades, but they didn’t ask me to grade anything.
Whatever the breakdown, the grades once again bear out that players around the league see the Vikings as a premier destination. We’ll see how that plays out this offseason, given that the team is going to have some constraints when it comes to money that they can spend and things of that nature, but if the Vikings aren’t as active this offseason, we can be assured that it isn’t because players don’t want to come to Minnesota.
