To the Vikings’ Departed Quarterbacks: Thanks for the Memories
Andy Miller
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As the 2018 free agency period opened, the Minnesota Vikings made a historic move by signing free agent Kirk Cousins to a 3 year $84 million contract that is fully guaranteed. This mammoth contract and subsequent commitment to Kirk Cousins signifies that it’s Super Bowl or bust for the Vikings. This move all but ensured that the Vikings were ready to move on from their three free agent quarterbacks that they had accumulated over the past four seasons. At the recent scouting combine, Mike Zimmer spoke to the media in which he addressed the quarterback conundrum. He talked about all three of the players individually stating what each did well and what they had brought to the team. It’s apparent that Zimmer appreciates everything the three have done for the team and that he has become attached to each player especially Teddy Bridgewater. It’s surreal to think that Kirk Cousins is the new franchise quarterback and that Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Bradford, and Case Keenum have all signed with different teams. All three of these players were special in their own right. Each have their own playing styles and personalities while each having their own successes with the Vikings.
Sam Bradford:
When Teddy Bridgewater suffered a career threatening injury just days before the start of the 2016 season, the Vikings traded a 1st and 4th round pick to the Eagles for Sam Bradford. While unpopular for many fans, Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer felt the need to pull the trigger on this trade to keep the Vikings relevant and capitalize on a roster full of talent fresh off of an NFC North championship. Bradford sat out the first week of the 2016 against the Titans assuming that he needed more time to familiarize himself with the playbook. However, he was sure to start week 2 against the Packers in a primetime game to open US Bank Stadium. Due to the importance of the Packer rivalry to fans, I can’t think of more daunting task for a quarterback that just joined the team days before and what Sam Bradford was able to do against the Packers was absolutely amazing. He threw for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns that included some highlight reel throws to Stefon Diggs and Kyle Rudolph. The emotional weight behind this game for Vikings fans was immense and the fact that newly acquired Sam Bradford was able to win this one is just flat out impressive. The way the Vikings performed for the rest of the year was underwhelming but Sam Bradford is not to blame. The 2016 season was just really weird that included a historic amount of injuries, Norv Turner’s resignation, and Zimmer’s torn retina. Bradford played at a high level despite the horrid offensive line. It’s hard not to commend Bradford’s toughness as he would just get slammed repeatedly by defenders from the opposing team. The 2017 season opener against the Saints was one of Bradford’s finest as he put on an absolute clinic throwing for 346 yards and 3 touchdowns. Despite this, the game would turn out to be Bradford’s last with the Vikings as his knee issues started to re-surface (I know Bradford started the game against Chicago, but realistically, he wasn’t healthy enough to have been out there and Keenum won us that game). It’s unfortunate Bradford’s career has been muddled by injuries considering how talented of a passer he is. For the prolific games he played against the Packers and Saints as well as exemplifying what it means to be a tough player, Bradford should be praised for his time with the Vikings.
Case Keenum
With the departure/retirement of Shaun Hill following the 2016 season, Rick Spielman signed Case Keenum to a 1 deal worth $2 million to be Sam Bradford’s backup. Many fans seemed to puzzled by this move as Keenum had been label as a career backup or journeyman quarterback while as also having very average stats. With Bradford’s knee injury following arguably his best game as a starter, Keenum was thrust into the starting role. The week 2 game against the Steelers was rough to watch. In my own opinion and analysis of the situation, I don’t think Keenum knew he was going to start until only a couple of hours before the game resulting in the poor performance. The following week, seemingly out of nowhere, Keenum erupted for 369 yards and 3 touchdowns in what was just a dominant and electrifying performance over the Buccaneers. After the bye week, Keenum’s play continued to improve leading the team to an eight-game win streak until an uncharacteristic loss against the Panthers. Despite not being named the official starter, the team closed out the regular season by handedly winning the last three games on the schedule to finish with a 13-3 record. As the season progressed and with the fact that Super Bowl 52 was going to be played in US Bank Stadium, the excitement surrounding the Vikings became something truly special. It’s tough to describe, but when various groups of Minnesotans, such as high schools and church congregations, breakout in the Skol chant, you know that fans have the Super Bowl on their minds. It’s been a long time since there was this much excitement about the Vikings and it’s an incredible feeling to have. The level of hype fans experienced was directly related to Keenum’s play and the subsequent success of the team. In the divisional round against the Saints, Keenum gave the Vikings fans one of the best plays in NFL History, the Minneapolis Miracle. In the span of ten seconds, Case Keenum kept the Vikings’ Super Bowl hopes alive, avenged the 2009 NFC Championship game, and flipped the narrative that the Vikings franchise is forever cursed to endure heartbreaking losses. Despite the final outcome of the season, Case Keenum, along with his “big balls”, great play on the field, and exemplifying what being a leader is, gave us a season to remember. I can’t stress Keenum’s leadership enough; it might sound cheesy, but Keenum just comes off like a really good guy (he wrote an article titled Right Team, Right Time that perfectly exemplifies this). Vikings fans will always have the Miracle and fans should be grateful for everything Keenum brought to the Vikings.
Teddy Bridgewater:
Out of the three quarterbacks that left this season, this one hurts the most. Teddy was drafted with the final pick of the first round of the 2014 NFL draft with the intention of being the next franchise quarterback and there was a lot of excitement surrounding the new Vikings quarterback. Despite this, Zimmer felt the need to start Matt Cassel in order to let Teddy develop under a veteran presence. An unfortunate ankle injury to Cassel propelled Teddy into a starting role. In his first career start against the Falcons, Teddy threw for 317 yards and rushed for 27 yards and a touchdown. In this shootout of a game, Teddy was able to showcase his poise in the pocket and the huddle while fully taking control of the team. Following the win, as Teddy ran to the locker room, fans were chanting his name in excitement for their new quarterback. The following season, Teddy started the entire season leading the team to a NFC North Championship. While his stats weren’t that impressive, Teddy’s leadership and smart play elevated this team to heights it hadn’t reached in quite some time. He also accomplished this in an outdated system with Adrian Peterson as the focal point. With the conclusion of the 2015 season, whether you liked Teddy or not, he had become our franchise quarterback; He went into Lambeau and took away the division from the Packers. He also led the “game winning” drive down the field in his first playoff game only to be thwarted by Blair Walsh. Then, in August of 2016, just days before the start of the season, Teddy suffered his gruesome and career threatening injury. There are so many unknowns with Teddy and what he could’ve accomplished with the Vikings. We will never know what could’ve been had we had our franchise quarterback for more that just one whole season as the starter. We’ll never know what could’ve happened in the playoffs had Blair Walsh just simply made the 27-yard field goal in the wildcard game. All of these unknowns as well as the ultimate departure of our quarterback is directly because of a non-contact injury that occurred in practice. I had the good fortune of attending the week 15 game against the Bengals in which Teddy would take his last snaps as a Viking. The way the home crowd reacted by chanting Teddy’s name was incredible and the feeling inside of US Bank Stadium was special. Teddy’s departure is going to sting for quite some time but all Vikings fans, whether you were a fan of Teddy or not, should be appreciative of everything he did for this team. This even includes the monumental adversity faced during his rehab to be able to return to starting form. Teddy is a special person and player. We should be proud to have called him our quarterback.