Hartman: Vikings' gambles in draft paying off

The Vikings have landed two great players in the draft over the past three years by taking gambles that teams ahead of them apparently didn't want to take.

Superstar running back Adrian Peterson was the seventh choice in the first round in 2007, and wide receiver Percy Harvin was the 22nd pick in the first round this year.

The 38-26 victory over the Packers on Sunday was a perfect example of what those two young players mean to the Vikings.

Harvin was responsible for 261 yards -- five kickoff returns for 175 yards, 84 receiving yards and 2 rushing yards.

By the end of the first half, Peterson had already exceeded the 55 yards he got in the first Packers' game -- a 30-23 Vikings' victory on Oct. 5 -- and had a 33-yard run and a 40-yard pass reception in the second half to help clinch the victory. Peterson, only 24, wound up with 97 yards in 25 carries and punished some Packers defensive backs.

The gambles in taking Peterson and Harvin really have paid off.

In the case of Peterson, he had missed action at Oklahoma with a bum shoulder that had given him a lot of trouble. But after consulting with doctors, the Vikings decided to go ahead and draft him. Right now, a lot of people believe he might be the best player in the NFL.

I talked to three different general managers who thought the Vikings took too much of a risk to draft this young man.

But Vikings coach Brad Childress traveled to Florida, spent a lot of time with Harvin and his family and, when draft time came, he was selected by the Vikings. Let's not forget this young man just turned 21, has been under the bright lights for a long time and is still maturing.

The strange thing is Harvin wasn't used as a kick returner at Florida, but he is one of the best in the NFL as a rookie, with two for touchdowns already.

The success of Peterson and Harvin is another good example how the Wilf family has operated since it took over the Vikings four years ago. They are interesting in taking talented players and signing them, and believe that under Childress those players will be successful.

Favre comes through Brett Favre wound up passing for 516 yards and seven touchdowns in the two meetings between the Vikings and the Packers. And he didn't throw any interceptions in either game.

Regardless of what Favre would admit, it's hard to believe that any athlete has been under more pressure and produced as well as he did Sunday in a place where he was the big hero for 16 years.

The other day, "Monday Night Football" commentator Jon Gruden, who coached Favre as an assistant with the Packers, told USA Today that the Vikings quarterback is as good today as he ever was. And Gruden also predicted that Favre was going to take the Vikings a long way.

Great schedule The victory at Green Bay gave the Vikings control of the NFC North. They are 7-1, with the Packers and Bears tied at 4-3.

After this week's bye, the Vikings have a favorable schedule. They start with three home games -- against the Lions, Seahawks and Bears, before going to Arizona on Dec. 6.

The toughest remaining opposition could be the Bengals, whom the Vikings play at home on Dec. 13. They play at Carolina and at Chicago before finishing against the Giants at the Metrodome.

"It all starts with pass protection," Gophers coach Tim Brewster said on Sunday. "[Offensive line coach] Tim Davis had his group ready to go last night, the pass protection was outstanding all night long.

"And when you talk about Adam Weber, you're talking about one tough sucker. He's as tough a football player as I've ever been around.

"He's tough-minded, he's very physically tough, and he played just an absolutely great game."

One of the receiving stars for the Gophers was Da'Jon McKnight, who caught four passes for 98 yards. McKnight was an outstanding high school basketball player who played only one year of high school football in Dallas, but Gophers coached loved his athletic ability.

Now the Gophers have to get prepared to play Illinois, a team that surprised everybody by beating Michigan on Saturday. The Gophers' victory Saturday should make them prohibitive favorites in the next two home games with Illinois and South Dakota State.

He not only coached Iowa to two Rose Bowls, but he was instrumental in making peace between the football programs at Iowa and Minnesota at a time when the Iowa governor was calling for the schools to quit playing each other after some problems on the football field. Evashevski was also athletic director at Iowa, and when he took that job in 1960, future Vikings coach Jerry Burns became coach at Iowa.

What most people don't know is that Evashevski, not Vince Lombardi, was the first choice to coach the Packers in 1959. But after flying in to interview for the job, Evashevski turned it down.

We were close enough friends that I would fly in with the Gophers football team for the Iowa game and he would be waiting for me at the airport so I could go to his house for dinner with him and his wife, Ruth. His wife was one of my best friends, and I watched all his seven kids grow up.

In the years that NCAA had a convention for football coaches, he'd never get a room. When I came in to register, his suitcases were always in my room.

I tried to call him last week with no luck. He was a big part of my life.