I know, I know. You are Vikings fans and you don’t want to hear another word about Brett Favre being retired, not retired or whatever else ESPN, Peter King or anyone else is saying about him these days.

Sorry, but I can’t help myself. This Favre story isn’t going to go away — did anyone really think this guy was going to ride his tractor off into the sunset? – and thus I feel obligated to look at it from this perspective: What type of impact does this have on the Vikings?

Despite the fact many have speculated Minnesota would be an ideal landing place for Favre, the Packers aren’t going to let that happen. The only way Favre ends up with the Vikings or Bears — two clubs that would seem like pretty good fits — is if the Packers release him. No matter how much Green Bay General Manager Ted Thompson wants Favre to go away, he isn’t going to simply let Favre walk. It would be too dangerous because he knows that Favre might sign with one of the Packers’ arch-rivals because he’s, well, Favre.

Read the rest of this entry »

The San Francisco 49ers claimed quarterback Kyle Wright off waivers today. Wright was placed on waivers by the Vikings last week as the team got down to four quarterbacks entering training camp. That list includes Tarvaris Jackson, Gus Frerotte, Brooks Bollinger and John David Booty.

Wright was signed as an undrafted free agent last spring after playing at the University of Miami but did not even make it to Mankato. To create roster space for Wright the 49ers waived quarterback Drew Olson. San Francisco’s roster now includes three former Vikings quarterbacks, including Shaun Hill and J.T. O’Sullivan.

Hill and Alex Smith are expected to battle for the starting job. Here is a blog item on the Wright move from the Sacramento Bee.

Vikings single-game tickets and two-game mini-pack for the Green Bay game will go on sale Wednesday at 9 a.m. in person at the Metrodome Gate B ticket booth.

Tickets can be purchased at all Midwest Ticketmaster locations starting at 10 a.m. The number is 651-989-5151 or at http://www.ticketmaster.com/.

The Nov. 9 Green Bay game is being packaged with the Seattle preseason game. Fans purchasing tickets to that game will have to buy a ticket to the Aug. 8 exhibition opener vs. Seattle. If available, those tickets range from $96 to $176 per package.

Tickets for all other home games range from $30 to $135.

Holcomb gets broadcasting job: Quarterback Kelly Holcomb was released by the Vikings after last season and has decided to call it a career. Holcomb will join the radio crew at Middle Tennessee State. Holcomb will be inducted into the MTSU Hall of Fame on Sept. 6.

Inside the NFL: With the show moving from HBO to Showtime, the program will have a new look this season. James Brown will replace Bob Costas as the host. He will be joined by CBS’ lead NFL analyst Phil Simms and NBC’s Cris Collinsworth, the only member of the show who was retained. The series will launch in September.

NBC adds another: Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann will be reunited on NBC’s “Football Night in America” show this season. Patrick and Olbermann became a popular broadcast duo during their 5-plus years hosting “SportsCenter” on ESPN. Patrick will become a co-host, joining a crowded roster that includes Olbermann, Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth, Tiki Barber and Jerome Bettis.

The Boston Globe has an interesting item on the Vikings’ Steve Hauschka, who has almost no chance of beating out veteran Ryan Longwell for the kicking job but has an interesting background as a former soccer and lacrosse player at Needham High School. Hauschka did not play organized football until he attended Middlebury college.

Happy 4th of July to all of you. Saw this one on the Pro Football Talk website. Former Vikings receiver Kelly Campbell caught eight passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns in the Edmonton Eskimos 34-31 victory over rival Calgary on Thursday in their CFL home opener.

Campbell and another former Vikings receiver, Bethel Johnson, are both playing in the CFL this season. Johnson is with the Toronto Argonauts.

Vikings safety Tyrell Johnson and center John Sullivan spent much of their spring at Winter Park going through Organized Team Activities, minicamp and learning the team’s defensive and offensive schemes, respectively. The two spent the past four days in Carlsbad, Calif., continuing to learn. This time it wasn’t about on-the-field matters as much as what to do, and not to do, off of it.

Johnson and Sullivan were among the 252 players taken in the 2008 NFL draft who took part in the rookie symposium at the La Costa Resort and Spa. Among the topics were player conduct away from the field, money management and even dealing with the media.

“I think it definitely exceeded my expectations,” said Sullivan, a sixth-round pick. “There was a lot of great information being shared and a lot of valid points that everybody had  heard in the past and it never hurts to reiterate and hear again. The ability to say no to people, conflict resolution, overcoming adversity. All different topics that will be valuable as we move on with our careers.”

Read the rest of this entry »