Kurt Zellers, the speaker of the House of the State Legislature, believes there is still time to vote for a favorable stadium bill and he believes the presence of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in town this week revived the interest in getting it done.
"There is still time though, the session isn't over yet," said Zellers. "As long as we're in session there's all kinds of things that can be done to make sure the process moves forward, if it's going to be bi-partisan, it's going to work together.
"I think so. I think there's still an opportunity, from the standpoint if everybody is committed to. We'll set aside whoever is a democrat or republican, governor, house, senate, whoever it is, and then just get to the floors and have that vote. I think there's still a chance this session. Anything can happen once we're still here." Zellers has a lot of respect for Goodell.
"I like Commissioner Goodell. I've met him several times, he was here during some of the arbitration, so I had a chance to meet him. He's a great guy. I think he's done a lot for the league," Zellers said. "I think that from that standpoint he has a lot of integrity. As an NFL fan, to see him throw that Saints coach for a year, that did more for me as a fan to believe in what he believes for the NFL than anything. I think that's' a man of integrity. I think it helps because he was earnest about what he wanted to see, which is to see the Minnesota Vikings stay the Minnesota Vikings. He wanted to do whatever he could do to help us through the process, so from that standpoint, absolutely productive."
Zellers said in his conversations with the Wilf family, owners of the Vikings, they have never talked of moving the team with or without a stadium. "They've always been very straightforward with me saying they want the Minnesota Vikings to stay in Minnesota. I take them at their word. That's what Zygi and Mark have told me, they want the Vikings to stay in Minnesota.
"They didn't say with or without a stadium, they said they want the Vikings to stay the Minnesota Vikings. They may say something different, I'm going to take them at their word that that's what they mean," Zellers said.
I have emphasized the fact that the state legislature, in considering a new Vikings stadium, should consider the fact that the Vikings will use the stadium only 10-12 times a year and that the presence of a covered stadium would bring the opportunity to bring a lot of national events to Minneapolis.
"Well again I think, especially from the standpoint of what the multiple uses are going to be, so if we're building the stadium just for the Vikings that's some of the concern, is that it is a multi-use facility," said Zellers. "But all along most of our questions haven't been about the use or the tenants and what the uses would be, it was how is it going to be funded, would there be backup sources -- whether it's E-pull tabs, or whatever that funding source was, if that fell off or didn't come in the way it was supposed to then we'd have all of a sudden to go into the general fund."