When was the last time a whining Daddy's Boy led his team to a Super Bowl victory? That's the question to ask before joining the mass of Vikings followers worked up over your favorite team's apparent reluctance to join in the pursuit of Jay Cutler, the sniveling, big-armed quarterback of the Denver Broncos.
The Manning brothers, Peyton and Eli, have a high-profile father in Archie, but we know this in Minnesota: Archie was a warrior even as he competed here for the incompetent coach, Les Steckel, in 1984, and his sons play with that same resiliency.
Cutler is so attached to the old man, Jack, that after he was drafted by the Broncos in April 2006, the parents soon put a real estate agent to work looking for a home in the Denver area.
This allowed Daddy to show up regularly and stand on the sideline at practice. And in mid-March, when Cutler put his house on the market, the parents did the same with their abode.
That's all the information required to give full support to coach Brad Childress' suggestion the Vikings are satisfied to enter the 2009 training camp with Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson competing to be the starting quarterback.
Frankly, I would rather take my chances with Michael Vick, a rehabilitated dog fighter, than a brat so sensitive that he goes into a world-class pout when his new coach explores the possibility of bringing in a quarterback with whom the coach had previously worked.
It was on Feb. 28 that information surfaced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were trying to acquire Cutler for a first-round draft choice. The Broncos then were going to trade the pick to New England for Matt Cassel, the quarterback who led the Patriots last season after Tom Brady's knee injury.
Josh McDaniels was Cassel's offensive coordinator -- and now the 32-year-old replacement for Mike Shanahan in Denver.