We start the day with an amusing bit from Game Informer, which was found by coworker Vince T.:

Minnesota Vikings long snapper Cullen Loeffler has been on the team for seven years, but he has yet to appear in a Madden (video) game. "I'm very disappointed that they overlooked one of the best players on the team," said Vikings superstar running back Adrian Peterson. "He's invaluable."

Loeffler isn't the only long snapper left out in the cold by developer EA Tiburon. Only one true long snapper is included in Madden NFL 11, Zak DeOssie of the New York Giants, but he'd probably rather not be. His long snapping rating? A slanderous 0 out of 100. The player currently listed as the Vikings long snapper in Madden is center John Sullivan, who said "I did long snap that one day at practice, but I did terrible." Apparently Madden ratings czar Donny Moore, who determines each team's depth chart in the game, thinks he can handle the job.

Vikings public relations director Bog Hagan (note: fixed from Game Informer story, which was misspelled Hagen) believes something must be done to recognize these overlooked players. "I think it's a slap in the face to the profession of long snappers," he said. "How can long snappers get in the Pro Bowl, yet not be in one of the top video games in America?"

When reached for comment, Loeffler said he doesn't even bother checking out Madden anymore. "I don't even play it, mainly for the reason I'm not in it," he admitted. "I feel disrespected." With 31 of 32 long snappers missing from the game, they've created a quasi-support group to deal with the pain of being left out. "It's brought us together, we've kind of formed a band of brothers since we've been disrespected for so long," Loeffler joked. EA Tiburon's exclusionary policy toward long snappers has created yet another schism in the Vikings locker room, which is no stranger to controversy.

The tongue-in-cheek story quotes several Vikings players on the "controversy" as well. We figured it might make a nice diversion considering the otherwise troubling recent purple developments. One final word on Loeffler, though: in a search of our photo archives, the most recent shot of him we could find (at least where his name appears in the caption) is that shot you see ... from November of 2005 ... when he's hoisting the Vikings kicker ... Paul Edinger.