John Peterson, the Olympic wrestler from Wisconsin, has spoken to the Vikings during Saturday night chapel service before previous games. This weekend, he arranged for Dan Gable, the legendary Iowa wrestler and coach, to address the team.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer's father, Bill, is in the Illinois high school wrestling hall of fame. Zimmer wrestled and played football for his father in high school.
"Wrestling is the toughest sport I've ever participated in," Zimmer said Sunday afternoon, standing in a hallway lined with Gophers football photos, deep inside TCF Bank Stadium. "Dan gave us a bunch of quotes yesterday. One of the quotes was, 'The first period goes to the kid with the best technique. The second period goes to the kid with the best conditioning. The third period is for the kid with the biggest heart.'
"That's what I was thinking about in this ballgame: Let's have the biggest heart."
If the 2014 Vikings were a wrestler, they'd have two cauliflower ears, arms tattooed with bruises, and a pulse that would not embarrass Gable or the Zimmers.
For the second consecutive week, Zimmer's team won an ugly game late, this time wearing down Washington 29-26, leaving the Vikings at 4-5 heading into their bye.
At a glance, the Vikings are one of many NFL teams with middling records, kept afloat by league-instituted parity, but this is a case where approaching .500 is a victory.
Norv Turner's offense was supposed to revolve around Adrian Peterson, Kyle Rudolph, Matt Cassel and Cordarrelle Patterson. One is suspended, two are hurt, and one runs routes as if he's following a defective GPS.