Craig: Vikings' Madson has the 'best seat in the house'

Brad Madson was a TV sportscaster for WQOW in Eau Claire, Wis., when he stopped to reassess his earnest climb to the lower middle of his profession 22 years ago.

"I lacked one key ingredient for the job," he said. "And that is talent."

Madson laughs. It's an infectious laugh familiar to those who love listening to the Vikings executive director of community relations tell stories that are heartwarming, funny and not always fit for a PG platform because of the wide range of NFL characters and situations he has experienced while living and loving his job the past 19 years.

"It's a blessing," Madson said. "I got the best seat in the house."

With Thanksgiving a day away, Madson was asked to reflect on a fraction of his many favorite moments while leading the Vikings' community outreach efforts. He is, after all, the unseen engine that drives the team's "Community Tuesdays" program that sends players out to local schools, hospitals and charity events on their only day off each week.

"I'm selling volunteerism," ­Madson said. "I keep a chart on all the players and I get to know their personalities. Our guys are great. I did have a player say one time, 'Brad, if you ask me again, I will set you on fire.' But I don't think that would have happened."

Madson said there have been too many "great guys" to list, but one stands out: center Matt Birk, who holds the team record as a seven-time winner of the "Man of the Year" award for his community work.

"He played in a charity flag football game at Canterbury Park against the jockeys on the Fourth of July," Madson said. "I was there. One of the jockeys broke his collarbone. So we didn't do that one ­anymore. Not all of my ideas go as well as predicted."

Wide receiver Randy Moss is Madson's front-runner for most misunderstood player he has dealt with. In Madson's world, Moss was ideal because he often came up with his own community outreach ideas and presented them to Madson with the same rule every time: "No TV ­cameras."

Once in Mankato, the Vikings were practicing when Moss had an idea and yelled for Madson to come see him on the field.

"When you're a pencil pusher like me, you don't just walk onto the practice field," Madson said. "Mike Tice was the coach, and he heard Randy and gave me the nod."

Moss wanted to do a reading program at two schools. Between ­practice reps, he worked out the details with Madson. When Madson suggested he buy some large pizzas and have a party to congratulate the kids for reading a book, Moss frowned.

Former Vikings coach Brad Childress started a Saturday Make-A-Wish program at Winter Park that began in 2006 and continues under Mike Zimmer today.

In 2007, a rookie named Adrian Peterson became a popular fella while being drafted seventh overall in April and setting the NFL ­single-game rushing record six months later.

"Adrian was in the locker room right after the first Make-A-Wish that he did with this sick little kid," Madson said. "He was sitting by himself and there were tears in his eyes. I pulled up a chair and talked to him and he said, 'Out of any wish that little guy out there could have had, he wanted to meet me.' That really stuck with him and he never turned down a request."

Madson's annual goal is 100 percent participation on "Community Tuesdays" for a season. With four Tuesdays left, he needs to scratch off just one more name to extend the team's streak to at least 10 consecutive seasons.

The names and stories change from year to year. ­Center John Sullivan is the reigning community "Man of the Year," while linebacker Chad Greenway is the favorite to win this season.

"I used to say I was lucky," Madson said. "But when Daunte Culpepper was here, he would always say he was 'blessed.' I thought about it and decided 'blessed' was a better way of describing it than luck."