Hartman: Brinkley didn't count on joining Vikings

The Vikings didn't work out linebacker Jasper Brinkley and didn't interview him at the NFL combine.

But here is a football player who is going to start in the NFC Championship Game as a rookie because he got a chance to play after E.J. Henderson suffered a broken leg.

And the word from Vikings coaches is that the 6-1, 252-pounder has shown improvement in every game since he got his opportunity to play in Week 13.

Asked if he was surprised he got a chance to play as much as he has during his rookie year, Brinkley said, "I knew it could have been a possibility because I knew injuries and those sorts of things in the NFL occur, so it was always a possibility."

Brinkley himself suffered a season-ending knee injury in the fourth game of what was to be his senior season at South Carolina, in September 2007. He came back to play in 2008.

"I thought it was the end of the world, but by God's grace he gave me an opportunity," Brinkley said of the injury. "I missed nine games. ... I got a medical redshirt and then came back."

Then he was drafted in the fifth round by the Vikings in last year's draft. Brinkley said he was convinced he was going to the Cleveland Browns. He also played in a 3-4 defense in college and believed a pro team using that defensive scheme would take him.

Yes it's hard to believe how good this draft was for the Vikings, even if they only had five picks. First-round pick Percy Harvin was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year; second-round pick Phil Loadholt has been a starter all season at right tackle and is getting better with every performance; third-round pick Asher Allen has helped fill the void in the secondary with Antoine Winfield missing time to injury; fifth-round pick Brinkley has become a starter because of injury; and even seventh-round choice Jamarca Sanford has had a chance to play some at safety.

Dungy upset There is no doubt that Tony Dungy, a big booster of Leslie Frazier, is very upset that the Vikings defensive coordinator, who was on Dungy's Colts staff before coming here, has again been passed up for an NFL head coaching job.

Dungy was here for the Vikings-Cowboys game and expressed his feeling about Frazier to some friends.

How Buffalo could pass up Frazier for Chan Gailey, who had an ordinary two years as Cowboys coach and was similarly unspectacular at Georgia Tech, is hard to understand.

What a job Frazier has done with this defense this year.

Speaking about the Vikings' defensive performance against the Cowboys, Frazier said: "The fact that we're one game away from the NFC Championship Game, and as you and I both know, defenses win championships. Offenses, they really get the fans into it, but great defense wins championships, and our guys really rose to the occasion."

The fact that the Vikings had a little slump and lost three games was no surprise to Frazier."I went through something like this when I was in Indianapolis," he said. "If you remember, when we won the Super Bowl we had a month of December [in 2006] where we lost two or three ballgames and we didn't look very good. [We] came back and went to the Super Bowl when everybody counted us out."

That season, the Colts went 2-3 in December, losing all three road games: 20-17 at Tennessee, 44-17 at Jacksonville and 27-24 at Houston. The Colts started 9-0, but their 12-4 record wasn't good enough for a bye. Yet they won their three playoff games and then beat the Bears in the Super Bowl.

"We got into the playoffs and we stepped up and won a Super Bowl," Frazier said. "So, you know it can happen, it just depends on the type of character you've got on your team. We've got great character on this football team."

After the Dallas game, Frazier couldn't say enough good things about the defensive line, especially ends Jared Allen and Ray Edwards. "Wow, what a day, both of those guys were great," Frazier said. "And the push that we got inside from Pat Williams, from Kevin Williams, Jimmy Kennedy, but our edge rushes were great."

In a recent conversation with Bill Smith, the Twins general manager seemed to show interest in ex-Gophers infielder Robb Quinlan, a free agent after spending seven seasons with the Angels. "One of the things we're looking for this year is a veteran bat off the bench, I know that [manager Ron Gardenhire], that was one of the things that he's asked about. ... So, we're looking at some of those options, and certainly Robb Quinlan fits that bill."

The Twins open spring training in Florida with three games against the Boston Red Sox, their Fort Myers neighbors, March 4-6. They play the champion Yankees twice: in a split-squad game March 7 at home and at Tampa on March 31. ... Rumors are that the Cubs are considering leaving their longtime Arizona site and are being lured by Naples, about 45 miles down the Gulf Coast from Fort Myers. If that were to happen, it wouldn't help either the Red Sox or the Twins.

The word in NFL circles is that Marc Trestman, the Minnesotan who coached the Montreal Alouettes to the Grey Cup championship in the Canadian Football League, could have been a top candidate for the Oakland Raiders coaching job if he wanted to. But Trestman is happy where he is. He is training outstanding Florida quarterback Tim Tebow as he gets prepared for the NFL draft.

Josh Hill, a wide receiver from Cedar Hill, Texas, and Allen Veazie, a lineman from Houston, are two players whom the Gophers football team recruited early but now are no longer recruiting.

Former Gophers heavyweight Cole Konrad, a two-time NCAA wrestling champion, will make his mixed martial arts debut Saturday in Fargo, N.D. Konrad, who tried out for the Vikings last spring, has been a training partner for UFC champion Brock Lesnar -- another former Gophers NCAA champion -- for the past two years.