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The first round of the NFL Draft was a whirlwind on Thursday night. The Vikings got a gift when Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd fell to them at No. 23, and they got a replacement for Antoine Winfield in Florida State cornerback Xavier Rhodes at No. 25.

But the biggest story of the night was yet to come. The Vikings pulled off a deal with New England, sending four picks (Nos. 52, 83, 102 and 229) to the Patriots for the 29th pick, which they used to select Tennessee wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson.

(One quick aside: The Purple needed a quality receiver for a couple of important reasons – to make up for the loss of Percy Harvin, and to give themselves the best chance possible to truly evaluate Christian Ponder this year. At the end of the 2013 season, they absolutely have to know whether Ponder is capable of being their franchise quarterback. Thus far, his rookie year was a wash due to the NFL lockout that robbed him of his first offseason, the presence of Donovan McNabb and late-season injury problems. Last year, it wasn't entirely clear whether Ponder's struggles were self-inflicted or caused by an anemic crop of receivers that became downright putrid when Harvin missed the last two months with an ankle injury. The additions of Greg Jennings and Patterson should remove any excuse for Ponder and allow the coaching staff to assess exactly what they've got in their third-year starter.)

The reaction to the Patterson trade was predictable. Fans gathered at Mall of America Field were beyond thrilled to see the Vikings maneuver back into the first round and grab a big-name player they could instantly envision slicing through opposing defenses in that slick new uniform. The national take was not as kind, in part because "four for one" always sets off alarms, and in part because the national media always swoons in the presence of Bill Belichick.

But what did the Vikings actually give up in that trade? The oft-cited Draft Trade Value Chart popularized by former Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson in the early 90s has somewhat fallen out of favor among football insiders, but given that the talking heads on TV are usually about a decade late to the dance, you'll probably see the following breakdown at some point in the discussion:

So, pretty much a push, right? Factor in the Vikings' desperate need at wide receiver, and it makes even more sense to spend that draft capital on a potential impact player at that key position in a critical juncture for the franchise, with a likely make-or-break year for Ponder looming.

As for history, what kind of return can the Patriots expect on those picks? Or to put it another way, let's slap some names on those draft picks and see who was taken there in the last five years. Players in bold are considered likely starters heading into this year.

Of course, the Patriots (like any organization) will argue that they'll do a better job of player evaluation and come up with a few diamonds in the rough, but the tables show that in the last five years, just 35 percent (7 of 20) of the players drafted in with the four picks the Vikings gave up for Patterson went on to become starters. That's not to say the Vikings robbed New England or vise-versa. We just wanted to lay out the facts and let you decide, rather than have one of the TV talking heads tell you who got the better end of the deal.

Patrick Donnelly is a Senior Editor at SportsData, a contributor to the 2012 Vikings Yearbook, and has covered the Vikings for FOXSportsNorth.com, Viking Update and the Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at @donnelly612.

The Vikings have made 51 first-round draft picks dating back to their NFL debut in 1961. We're not going to rank all 51 of those picks because we don't have a death wish, but would you be interested in seeing the best and worst of those picks? If so, read on.

1. (tie) Carl Eller – 6th overall pick, 1964
1. (tie) Alan Page – 15, 1967
1. (tie) Ron Yary – 1, 1968
1. (tie) Chris Doleman – 4, 1985
1. (tie) Randall McDaniel – 19, 1988

Maybe that's a cop-out, but how do you rate one Pro Football Hall of Famer over another? You might look at value and say McDaniel was the best pick, or say that Page was the man because he won the NFL's MVP award, but honestly, you could make the case for ranking these five in any order and you'd get no argument here.

6. Adrian Peterson – 7, 2007
He's a sure-fire future Hall of Famer who only solidified those credentials with his super-human effort returning from a torn ACL to post the second-most rushing yards in a season in NFL history. He'll be up there within that top class the day his bust is unveiled in Canton.

7. Randy Moss – 21, 1998
Just like Peterson, you'll see Moss in a garish yellow blazer within the next decade. He gets a few demerits for not fully living up to his potential in Minnesota – seriously, he could have been the greatest receiver who ever lived had he cared enough to try on every play – but he changed the fortunes of the entire franchise the first day he took the field in Mankato.

8. Chuck Foreman – 12, 1973
Here's another player who revolutionized his position. Foreman never truly got the accolades he deserved nationally, perhaps because he was part of those Vikings teams that couldn't win the big one, but Jerry Burns' precursor to the West Coast offense wouldn't have been nearly as effective without Forman's unique rushing and pass-catching abilities.

9. Korey Stringer – 24, 1995
His career was tragically cut short after just six seasons, but he made a huge impact on the franchise in his too-brief time in Minnesota. Stringer had just made his first Pro Bowl and was emerging as a possible heir to McDaniel as the leader on the offensive line and in the locker room when he succumbed to heat stroke during training camp in 2001. His death not only sent the Vikings into a spiral – they missed the playoffs in six of the next seven seasons, after they'd made the postseason in eight of the previous nine years – but also triggered policy changes regarding practicing and playing in oppressive heat and humidity from youth football up to the NFL that has likely prevented numerous other fatalities.

10. Joey Browner – 19, 1983
A nine-year starter and six-time Pro Bowler, Browner was named to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team. Plus, he had the strongest hands in the NFL – as Vikings fans were reminded every week by network announcers who thought they were breaking news – which he used to yank down opposing carriers and pick off 37 passes, fourth-most in team history.

11 through 46 – all kinds of great, good, mediocre and bad players, not to mention a few guys who remain works in progress (Matt Kalil, for one, has a great shot at cracking the top 10). But we're running out of pixels here, so let's dive into the five worst first-round picks in Vikings history.

47. D.J. Dozier – 14, 1987
His best season was his rookie year, when he rushed for 257 yards and five touchdowns. He wound up retiring from the NFL to play pro baseball. But his failure did arguably more damage to any franchise than any player in history, because if he'd delivered what the Vikings thought they were getting, they never would have made the Herschel Walker trade.

48. Derrick Alexander – 11, 1995
The Vikings needed a defensive lineman. They took Alexander, who finished his five-year NFL career with 164 tackles and 20 sacks. They passed on Warren Sapp, who finished his 13-year NFL career with 438 tackles, 96.5 sacks, and a bust in Canton. Oops.

49. Leo Hayden – 24, 1971
Who? That's right, the Vikings took a guy named Leo Hayden in the first round of the 1971 draft. He appeared in seven games as a rookie, never touched the ball, and washed out of the league two years later after an unremarkable stint with the Cardinals. Who did they pass up that year? Jack Ham, Dan Dierdorf and Ken Anderson, just to name a few better options.

50. Dimitrius Underwood – 29, 1999
Dennis Green infamously referred to Underwood as an "extra pick" acquired from Washington in exchange for Brad Johnson. Green obviously thought Underwood was worth the gamble, despite numerous red flags and unenthusiastic reports from his own coaches at Michigan State. Underwood showed up for training camp in battle fatigues, suggesting he was ready for combat, then walked out on the team after his first practice in Mankato, never to return.

51. Troy Williamson – 7, 2005
Underwood hurt the Vikings by not playing. Williamson hurt the Vikings by playing. His selection was a textbook overreaction on so many levels. The No. 7 pick came from the Raiders in the Moss trade, and they clearly felt pressure to use that pick to replace Moss. They reached for a receiver who looked great in shorts and a T-shirt at the NFL Combine but had one little problem that plagued him in his three years in Minnesota – he couldn't catch the ball. In 39 games here he caught 79 balls – and dropped at least half that many – despite numerous creative efforts to improve his vision, his hands and his route-running. They all failed, earning him the coveted title of the worst first-round pick in Vikings history.

Who'd we miss, good or bad? Let's hear about it in the comments.

Patrick Donnelly is a Senior Editor at SportsData, a contributor to the 2012 Vikings Yearbook, and has covered the Vikings for FOXSportsNorth.com, Viking Update and the Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at @donnelly612.

In the week that's passed since the Vikings' season-ending Wild Card defeat at Green Bay, a disturbing – but predictable – phenomenon has been on display in the world of social media: the trashing of Christian Ponder's reputation for having the audacity to miss a playoff game due to an injury to his throwing arm.

Actually, the criticism of Ponder started almost immediately after the Vikings announced he would not be active for Saturday's game. His deactivation was a surprising development, no doubt, thanks mostly to Vikings officials and Ponder himself downplaying the seriousness of his triceps injury throughout the week. A few local scribes wondered if Leslie Frazier's leaving the door slightly open to the possibility of Ponder not playing was just a case of Belichickian subterfuge designed to force the Packers to prepare for both Ponder and Joe Webb. But until word of Ponder's truncated pregame warmup trickled out, no one in their right mind thought he would actually miss the game.

Thus, when Webb was named as the starter 90 minutes before the game, Twitter exploded with outrage over Ponder's supposed lack of heart. Just one example: former Wild star Wes Walz expressed his shock at the news and ended his tweet with "#suckitup" in a hashtag. And that was one of the nicer critiques of Ponder's backbone.

Even after the game, when reporters noted that Ponder could barely lift his right arm to put his shirt on and Frazier said Ponder couldn't make the throws necessary to give the Vikings a chance to win the game, the tide of invective was not stemmed. If anything, the tone of the Internet tough guys hardened when gory photos of Ponder's swollen, discolored arm were made public on Monday.

Now, some amount of mudslinging is to be expected on the Internet, where critics can remain anonymous as they tear down the celebrities in their midst. But even on sites that require Facebook logins to post – or on Facebook itself – a shocking number of Vikings "fans" attached their name to commentary that revealed a pretty distorted view of reality, or at least a fundamental misunderstanding of the physical conditions required to play quarterback in an NFL game.

Most of the Ponder criticism can be broken down into five basic (and faulty) arguments.

1. Brett Favre would have sucked it up and played through that injury. Yes, Brett Favre started a remarkable 297 consecutive games and probably played through a number of injuries that would have sidelined any other player. But that's what makes this comparison so specious. Didn't we (and by "we" I mean fans and the media, especially certain members of the national media) just spend the last 20 years gushing about Favre's super-human strength and healing powers? Didn't we inflate the man's image until it was basically accepted that he was a god-like figure walking among us mere mortals? And we expect Christian Ponder – a player that most Vikings fans spent the first three months of the season trying to run out of town based on his dismal performance – to measure up to the Great Favre? (Oh, and not for nothing, but Favre did suffer a similar injury in 2008 with the Jets. He "sucked it up" and played through it, and the Jets lost four of their last five games as Favre threw two touchdown passes and nine interceptions in that stretch. Just sayin'.)

2. RGIII played through a much worse injury on Sunday. He sure did. And how did that turn out? Oh yeah. Not only did the Redskins blow a 14-0 lead after Griffin reinjured his knee in the first quarter and spent the remainder of the game hobbling around the field like the reincarnation of Billy Kilmer, but the rookie quarterback needed reconstructive surgery this week after his ACL and LCL finally gave out in the fourth quarter. The Redskins have a quality backup in Kirk Cousins, who led them to a comeback win over the playoff-bound Ravens and a blowout victory at Cleveland in December, but by the time Mike Shanahan turned the offense over to him, it was too late. So yes, RGIII played through a much worse injury on Sunday, and it cost his team a chance to win a playoff game and jeopardized his 2013 season.

3. Ponder needs to learn how to stay healthy. I'm not sure how one trains one's body to avoid injuries like the one that knocked Ponder out of Saturday's game. He hurt his triceps when Green Bay safety Morgan Burnett crashed into his right arm helmet-first as he was trying to complete a pass. If Ponder had curled up into the fetal position and taken the sack to protect his body, the same Internet tough guys would have called him "soft" and "gutless" and a bunch of other names we can't use on a family website. Injuries are what you call an occupational hazard when you play quarterback in the NFL. Sometimes they're unavoidable, no matter how well you've "learned" how to stay healthy.

4. They could have shot him up with pain-killers and sent him out there. No, they couldn't have. I'm not sure why this point wasn't made more clearly in the postgame breakdowns, but the issue was never Ponder's pain tolerance. It was all about what his body was capable of doing on Saturday afternoon and evening. All the injections in the world wouldn't have reduced the swelling in his arm, which hampered his range of motion and prevented him from getting any power behind his throws. You can't fire an 18-yard sideline route to Jarius Wright when you can't raise your arm above your chin.

5. I would have gone to work with a bruised elbow. This one's my personal favorite. Yes, Internet Tough Guy (or Gal), I'm sure you would have shown up for your job at the law firm or factory or McDonald's with a similar injury. I would have too. Because most of us can figure out a way to do our jobs without having to raise our right arm above our shoulder. An NFL quarterback doesn't have that luxury. It's right there on the NFL quarterback application for employment: 1. Can you raise your throwing arm above your shoulder? If the answer to that question is "no," then you can't be an NFL quarterback. Even if you have a physically taxing job, you can probably make accommodations for a similar injury and still perform your duties at a slower pace. It should go without saying that the same does not apply for an NFL quarterback.

In the end, I'm guessing most of the Ponder-based angst stems from fans who are upset that the Vikings laid an egg in the playoffs and wanted somebody to be mad at. They needed to lash out because the thought of spending a week (or an entire offseason) alongside smug Packers fans after that loss is really hard to stomach. Maybe they were in the "play Joe Webb" camp all season and were embarrassed to be proven so wrong. Or they were upset with the Vikings' brain trust for having no legitimate backup quarterback to turn to when Ponder went down. So they found themselves a convenient scapegoat – the pretty-boy No. 1 draft pick who earns millions of dollars, married the blonde bombshell sideline reporter, and showed just barely enough improvement in his second season (in the last four games of his second season, actually) to tease the Vikings into running him out there again in 2013.

But I can say this with complete confidence: if Ponder had "sucked it up" and tried to play through the injury, only to heave a dying quail on the first possession that Charles Woodson picked off and returned for a touchdown, these same Internet tough guys would have been screaming at Ponder for being selfish, for putting himself ahead of his team, for desperately trying to hang onto his job when everybody knows that Joe Webb gives the Vikings the best chance to win.

Look, I'm not saying Ponder is untouchable or should be immune from any criticism. Lord knows he provided plenty of ammunition this year – his performance in the first Lambeau game alone should give the front office night sweats this entire offseason, and rushing into a marriage with two weeks left in the season and a playoff berth at stake was certainly … odd.

But if you're going to attack the guy via social media, do it for the right reasons. His "toughness," "heart" or "dedication" are not among them.

Patrick Donnelly is a Senior Editor at SportsData, a contributor to the 2012 Vikings Yearbook, and has covered the Vikings for FOXSportsNorth.com, Viking Update and the Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at @donnelly612.

I'll admit, I've been slow to hop on the anti-Christian Ponder bandwagon. Not that I've loved what I've seen from him on the field, but I just think it's unreasonable to expect the Vikings to already give up on their No. 1 draft pick from 2011. True, the timetable for young quarterbacks has accelerated and expectations are higher, thanks to the rookie-year success of Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson. Heck, even the rare flashes of competence that Brandon Weeden and Ryan Tannehill have shown this year are a step up from most of Ponder's performances. 

My main argument for supporting Ponder is that you'll never know what he's capable of until he's throwing to a full slate of NFL-caliber receivers. I even took to Twitter after the Bears debacle two weeks ago – when Jerome Simpson put on a pass-dropping clinic, and Jarius Wright and Stephen Burton were quick studies – and said dumping Ponder now would be akin to the Twins firing pitching coach Rick Anderson because he couldn't turn Esmerling Vasquez and Luis Perdomo into Cy Young winners. 

Then the Vikings went to Green Bay. Ponder absolutely gave away a winnable game with two horrendous decisions/throws, and did nothing on the plus side to overcome those errors. He was truly, spectacularly horrible, and the fact that the coaching staff didn't replace him with Joe Webb should tell you all you need to know about Webb's stock within the organization. Had the Vikings won that game, they'd be tied with the Packers at 7-5, one game behind the Bears in the NFC North, and their unlikely playoff bid wouldn't be on life support. 

When Leslie Frazier took over full-time in 2011, it looked like he had a major rebuilding project on his hands. Instead, Adrian Peterson has recovered from injury and remains in his prime as an elite tailback. The defense is still getting decent run out of veterans like Jared Allen, Chad Greenway and Antoine Winfield, and they went a long way toward shoring up weaknesses on the offensive line and in the secondary in last year's draft. 

But with Ponder flailing about in the backfield, giving away games that could be won by simply "managing" rather than putting the team on his back, the Vikings are wasting Peterson's prime. They're wasting the continued efforts of their defense and recent draftees. And they're wasting a golden opportunity to challenge the Bears and Packers, who aren't as invincible as the Vikings feared. 

Thus, presuming Ponder doesn't suddenly morph into the second coming of John Unitas the next four weeks, I've come around to the idea that the Vikings should at least consider their options at quarterback for 2013. The decision won't be made in a vacuum – it's not, "Should Ponder be the starting quarterback next year?" but rather, "Is Ponder the best of the Vikings' options at quarterback next year?" 

So let's take a look at their options. They way I see it, the Vikings could go one of three ways. They could maintain status quo and give Ponder no competition for the starting spot; they could go 180 degrees the other way and bring in a veteran to supplant Ponder from Day 1, or they could split the difference and bring in a second-tier veteran to push Ponder and at least give Frazier a backup he felt confident in calling on when Ponder puts up a stinker like he did last Sunday. (We're not going to bother considering drafting another rookie starter, because the attendant learning curve would likely keep the offense in wheel-spinning mode as Peterson, et al, get another year older.) 

So, let's take a spin around the NFL and see who the Vikings might be considering as they weigh their options for 2013 

Alex Smith – His $7.5 million salary is guaranteed on April 1, 2013, meaning he'll get the axe as long as Colin Kaepernick doesn't completely fall apart during the final few weeks of the season. Jim Harbaugh traded up to draft Kaepernick in the 2011 draft, and he'll give the former Nevada star every chance to prove his worth and make him (Harbaugh) look like a genius. 

Kevin Kolb – He's due $9 million in 2013, with a $2 million roster bonus. Even though rookie Ryan Lindley isn't tearing it up, it's possible that between Lindley and John Skelton, the Cardinals will be happy to let Kolb go and choose from the two much, much cheaper options. Also, Kolb has pretty much stunk when he's played, so … he's got that going for him. 

Matt Flynn – His contract was worth $10 million guaranteed, and $19.5 million over three years. The Seahawks might just hang onto him for that investment, although if they decide that Wilson is their present and future, it's possible Flynn will be on the market. How fun would that be? First Favre, then Flynn? Packers fans would be apoplectic. 

Chase Daniel – The Saints' backup will be a unrestricted free agent. It's hard to say what he's capable of doing in the NFL, because Drew Brees doesn't take a play off. But he might be worth a sniff as a quarterback to challenge Ponder. 

Michael Vick – There's no way the Eagles pay him the $15.5 million he's owed in 2013, and they'll probably have a new head coach anyway, somebody who will want to make his mark on the Eagles roster. Thus, Vick will be a free agent. But does he have anything left? Will he be a fit in Bill Musgrave's offense? Will Musgrave even be the Vikings' offensive coordinator? So many questions … 

Matt Leinart – He'll be an unrestricted free agent, and he's making just $700,000 with the Raiders in 2012. Oakland has hitched its wagon to Carson Palmer, so Leinart would likely jump at the chance to challenge for the job. But isn't he just a left-handed Christian Ponder? 

Matt Cassel – He's due $16.5 million over the next two years, and it's likely the Chiefs have seen enough from him. But isn't he just a right-handed Matt Leinart? 

Chad Henne – The Jaguars are in a similar position as the Vikings. Do they stick with their 2011 first-round draft choice, who's been underwhelming thus far? In this case, Blaine Gabbert might have more rope to work with because the Jags aren't close to contending. They're more likely to let Henne walk, thus dodging his $2.6 million salary for 2013, and rolling the dice on Gabbert. 

Matt Hasselbeck – He'll be 38 next September and he sure looked like he was done when the Vikings schooled him in October. But Jake Locker is the future in Tennessee, and with $5.5 million due Hasselbeck in 2013, it's possible the Titans will gamble on Locker with Rusty Smith as the backup, meaning the former Seahawks Pro Bowler could be available as a veteran mentor and possible challenger to Ponder. 

Ryan Mallet – He was in the same draft class as Ponder, but slipped to the third round due to rumors of drug use. He's apparently kept his nose clean thus far in New England, but he's signed to a team-friendly contact and there's no way Bill Belichick trades his insurance policy for Tom Brady for anything less than a price the Vikings should not be willing to pay. 

Matt Moore – The Dolphins are obviously smitten with Tannehill, meaning they could save $2.5 million by letting Moore walk after this season. He showed promise at the end of the 2009 season, when he went 4-1 down the stretch for Carolina, including a three-TD, no-interception performance against the Vikings. But he went 6-7 as a starter for Miami in 2011 and would be little more than competition for Ponder if the Vikings were to bring him aboard. 

There are a handful of potential free agents not even worth discussing – Derek Anderson, Jimmy Clausen, Rex Grossman, Kyle Orton, Colt McCoy, Tarvaris Jackson, Tyler Thigpen – and at least one other – Joe Flacco – who won't be hitting the market. 

So, looking at our list, there's probably only one guy out there (Smith) who would become the starter the moment he sets foot in the locker room at Winter Park, a couple of guys (Flynn, Daniel) with intriguing potential, a couple players (Kolb, Cassel) who had their chance as starters and failed spectacularly, some possibly washed-up has-beens (Vick, Hasselbeck) and never-weres (Leinart, Henne, Moore). 

Are any of them better options than starting next year with Christian Ponder as the only quarterback option on the roster? That's up to Rick Spielman and – perhaps – Frazier and Musgrave to decide. 

Patrick Donnelly is a Senior Editor at SportsData and a contributor to the 2012 Vikings Yearbook. He's covered the Vikings for FOXSportsNorth.com, Viking Update and the Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at @donnelly612.

A recent Wall Street Journal article examined all 30 MLB broadcast teams to see which TV crew is the cream of the homer crop. To the surprise of exactly zero baseball fans, Chicago White Sox announcer Ken "Hawk" Harrelson was the "winner," the guy who most frequently shunned the norms of objective journalism to nakedly root, root, root for the home team.

Which got me thinking about the differences between baseball and football announcers. Of course, all NFL games are aired on national networks and cable channels, so the better point of comparison would be the local NFL radio broadcasters.

Around these parts, that would be Paul Allen, the voice of the Minnesota Vikings for the past decade. Over the years, PA has earned a reputation as a different kind of cat, both on his KFAN morning radio show and his call of Vikings games. From the sound of it, he lives and dies with the fates of the Purple. His enthusiasm for a Vikings touchdown is rivaled only by the depths of his despair when, say, a Vikings quarterback throws an interception when the team is a field goal attempt away from the Super Bowl.

And yeah, PA takes his shots from those who believe his over-the-top antics are beyond the pale, even by NFL standards. One local wag even chronicled via Twitter the number of times Allen referred to the Vikings as "we" or "us" during last Sunday's broadcast. It was good theater, as PA inched near the randomly determined over/under line of 34 homer calls, and for the record, he finished at 32 so I hope you banged the under until they ran out of paper.

But isn't that what we've come to expect, not just from PA but from all home-team NFL announcers? I lived in Las Vegas for a few years and the local sports radio station aired the San Diego Chargers radio feed on game days. And let me tell you, their color man – former Chargers running back Hank Bauer – makes PA look like Vin Scully by comparison. I've heard similar approaches from the radio broadcasts of the Cardinals, Raiders and Broncos, so I'm guessing this is pretty much a national trend.

It's not surprising, especially when you consider that most local announcers in all sports are actually team employees. Yes, it's a dirty little secret that in most markets, the teams have final say on who sits behind the microphone on their local broadcasts, and that's true for NFL radio as well as MLB, NBA and NHL TV and radio. So if you're fed up with what you perceive to be a parade of bootlickers and cronies on the airwaves, your best bet is to take up your frustration with your favorite team, because they're likely calling the shots.

What do you think, Vikings fans? Do you want a local radio announcer who plays it straight down the middle, giving equal time to both teams and calling out the home team when, say, they go 3-13 or post back-to-back 90-loss seasons? Or do you enjoy the homer approach, where the man on the mic is riding the same roller coaster of emotion as you and your buddies in the rec room? As always, please post your comments below – we'll hang up and listen.

Patrick Donnelly is a Senior Editor at SportsData, a contributor to the 2012 Vikings Yearbook, and has covered the Vikings for FOXSportsNorth.com, Viking Update and the Associated Press.

A recent Wall Street Journal article examined all 30 MLB broadcast teams to see which TV crew is the cream of the homer crop. To the surprise of exactly zero baseball fans, Chicago White Sox announcer Ken "Hawk" Harrelson was the "winner," the guy who most frequently shunned the norms of objective journalism to nakedly root, root, root for the home team.

Which got me thinking about the differences between baseball and football announcers. Of course, all NFL games are aired on national networks and cable channels, so the better point of comparison would be the local NFL radio broadcasters.

Around these parts, that would be Paul Allen, the voice of the Minnesota Vikings for the past decade. Over the years, PA has earned a reputation as a different kind of cat, both on his KFAN morning radio show and his call of Vikings games. From the sound of it, he lives and dies with the fates of the Purple. His enthusiasm for a Vikings touchdown is rivaled only by the depths of his despair when, say, a Vikings quarterback throws an interception when the team is a field goal attempt away from the Super Bowl.

And yeah, PA takes his shots from those who believe his over-the-top antics are beyond the pale, even by NFL standards. One local wag even chronicled via Twitter the number of times Allen referred to the Vikings as "we" or "us" during last Sunday's broadcast. It was good theater, as PA inched near the randomly determined over/under line of 34 homer calls, and for the record, he finished at 32 so I hope you banged the under until they ran out of paper.

But isn't that what we've come to expect, not just from PA but from all home-team NFL announcers? I lived in Las Vegas for a few years and the local sports radio station aired the San Diego Chargers radio feed on game days. And let me tell you, their color man – former Chargers running back Hank Bauer – makes PA look like Vin Scully by comparison. I've heard similar approaches from the radio broadcasts of the Cardinals, Raiders and Broncos, so I'm guessing this is pretty much a national trend.

It's not surprising, especially when you consider that most local announcers in all sports are actually team employees. Yes, it's a dirty little secret that in most markets, the teams have final say on who sits behind the microphone on their local broadcasts, and that's true for NFL radio as well as MLB, NBA and NHL TV and radio. So if you're fed up with what you perceive to be a parade of bootlickers and cronies on the airwaves, your best bet is to take up your frustration with your favorite team, because they're likely calling the shots.

What do you think, Vikings fans? Do you want a local radio announcer who plays it straight down the middle, giving equal time to both teams and calling out the home team when, say, they go 3-13 or post back-to-back 90-loss seasons? Or do you enjoy the homer approach, where the man on the mic is riding the same roller coaster of emotion as you and your buddies in the rec room? As always, please post your comments below – we'll hang up and listen.

Patrick Donnelly is a Senior Editor at SportsData, a contributor to the 2012 Vikings Yearbook, and has covered the Vikings for FOXSportsNorth.com, Viking Update and the Associated Press.