Decker Signs with Titans, the Dream is Dead… (M)O(Bo)r is it?
Joe Johnson
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After Michael Floyd tested positive five times (thanks to an alcohol monitor he is court ordered to wear) for alcohol last SundayMonday (because he stayed up all night chugging tea, as one does), his future with the Vikings/NFL/Freedom became about as predictable as a Blair Walsh chip shot field goal. Because of that, many (including me), latched their broken dreams/hopes onto the Vikings signing another home-state receiver, in former Gopher Eric Decker. Decker was released by the Jets as a cost saving/fan losing measure last week, after a season that was marred by injury and subsequent surgeries that placed him on IR after only a few weeks/games. It seemed like the perfect fit, especially as Vikings general manager Rick Spielman recently said that the team analyzes every played that is released (While, sure, saying they weren’t interested in Decker, but that was before Kambucha-Gate).
Decker had surgery on his hip in November of last year (for an undisclosed reason. I’m assuming it’s because his hip couldn’t stand how handsome he is… Yikes, dude makes Tom Brady look like Jan Brady (Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!)) and also had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff after Week 3. Some say, including people on the purplePTSD Facebook page, that the Vikings should’ve passed on Decker because of these injuries. The word “Injury prone” was thrown around a lot. I understand that, but you have to look at what he’s done while healthy (Something he will be in 2017 thanks to those surgeries that had nagged him for a long time) and the Vikings needs/window of opportunity to win a ‘ship. In 2015, for example, he had 12 touchdowns and over 1,000 yards receiving. He was averaging over 21 yards per catch in 2016 before he went down with those injuries. He’s the type of receiver that has a nose for the end zone and is just an all out play-maker, something that the Vikings do need at wide receiver (Which is why they brought in Floyd in the first place). So, when it was announced that Decker signed with the Tennessee Titans, while not surprising, it was just another gut punch.
I was extremely excited about Floyd. I wrote articles about it, plural. With his ability to go down the field and overpower DB’s, he was the deep threat that the Vikings offense needed. So, it’s just another reason why my decision to name this dump purplePTSD.com is ringing true yet again. And while you’d think that I’d like that, I really don’t. I have plans to eventually rename the site when the Vikings win the Super Bowl to something like, purpleVICTORY.com or purpleCHAMPIONS.com, or purpleWEDIDIT.com, or purpleSTEVENSEAGAL.com. But, it’s looking like, yet again, the Vikings aren’t going to be able to reach the promised land this year. Not to make that big of a deal out of this, but, Floyd is/was an amazing player and considering the fact that Stefon Diggs is going to miss at least two games a year (Speaking of injury prone), we needed someone like Floyd. When he fell into the Vikings lap, I thought, this is too good to be true! Turns out I was right. It was more of a “Who is the defense going to double?!” thing, which made the Vikings offense extremely dangerous. Something that I really was excited about.
Again, Decker signed with the Tennessee Titans who are quietly emerging as a force to be reckoned with in the AFC. With their young quarterback and amazingly talented offense, it’s understandable why Decker would want to sign there. There was also no indication from the Vikings that they’d changed their mind on Decker. Spielman discussed Decker recently and said that the Vikings were set at receiver, while naming a few other receivers and ending on Floyd, who he said was “really impressive” at the time. Perhaps, as I did above, I overreacted to the Floyd news as well. If he can convince the judge that it was indeed some tea that he drank (keep in mind this is the same judge that he convinced to remove his alcohol monitoring ankle bracelet, although he apparently had a different one on when it monitored the .044 and .055 BAC in his blood stream and that the judge could be salty that Floyd essentially lied to him), he could be ordered to go to treatment for 30 days or jail for even longer. That’s something that he needs, and considering he’s going to be facing an increasingly long suspension from the NFL, he could spend time there and then return to the team after week’s four or six, just in time for a playoff push.
The silver lining here is that the Vikings will have an additional spot on their roster for a wide receiver, at least until Floyd returns. That could mean that Moritz Boehringer could end up making the team and ending up proving to his naysayers (if they exist) that he’s something special. I’ve been a long time proponent of Boehringer and I think that he has the capability of becoming a force to be reckoned with in the NFL. Think a shorter, lighter, much faster Gronk. People have been writing of MoBo because of Rodney Adams and Stacy Coley, but, neither of them or really any receiver (ever) in the league stacks up to Boehringer physically (Not even Calvin Johnson, I’m serious, go to MockDraftable.com if you don’t believe me). So, I’ll just try to turn my angst over Floyd/Decker into enthusiasm for Boehringer. I’m calling it now, he owns the pre-season. Someone has to, because right now I feel like the bad mojo from 2016 is starting to leak over into 2017. We’ve had enough bad luck, it’s time that something good happened. So, let’s start rooting for Boehringer.
Who’s with me?