Revisiting The Vikings’ 2003 Draft Day Debacle

2023 NFL Draft
Apr 26, 2018; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys on the clock in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

With the 2022 NFL Draft a few days away, fans across the country are waiting in anticipation of the league’s premier off-season highlight. Some fans will be upset that their team didn’t get the guy they wanted. Others will be convinced they added the final piece to a Super Bowl contender.

In 2003, however, fans of the Minnesota Vikings were taken for a ride that no expert could have predicted. A year earlier, the team failed to execute a trade up with the Cowboys to snag defensive tackle Ryan Sims with the 6th overall pick. Somehow, the Vikings didn’t get their draft card in on time (back then, teams had 15 minutes to make their pick in the first round) and the Chiefs traded up with Dallas to select Sims. Fortunately, Minnesota wound up with a better player in left tackle Bryant McKinnie one pick later. Surely history wouldn’t repeat itself in 2003. Right?

It was the second year of the Mike Tice regime. The Vikings, wouldn’t you know it, held the 7th overall selection. Somehow, Minnesota again failed to turn their pick in and became the draft’s punchline.

The Vikings wanted to select defensive tackle Kevin Williams at pick No. 7, but owner Red McCombs ordered the team to trade out of the pick and move down, believing the team could still get Williams while getting additional draft capital.

So, Minnesota got on the phone with the Baltimore Ravens, owners of the 10th overall selection. The proposed trade was that Baltimore would get the No. 7 pick and a seventh-round pick. Minnesota would slide down to pick No. 10 while also receiving picks in the fourth- and sixth-rounds.

But while the two teams were discussing the trade, the clock ran out for the second year in a row on Minnesota. With no trade finalized, the Jacksonville Jaguars picked quarterback Byron Leftwich with pick No. 7. The clock began to tick once again at pick No. 8. The Vikings were still talking to Baltimore about trading down. And then… the clock hit 0:00 for a second straight selection. Carolina took offensive tackle Jordan Gross with pick No. 8, and it was mass hysteria among Vikings fans at Winter Park.

Pick No. 9 rolled around, and Minnesota finally selected Williams. They received no additional draft capital or sympathy picks despite selecting two slots later than planned. At pick No. 10, the Ravens selected outside linebacker Terrell Suggs. Although the optics were horrible, Tice and the Vikings insisted that they got the player they had wanted all along.

Tice had to then stand in front of the hostile fans at Winter Park and try to calm their nerves. Predictably, that tactic didn’t work out. Fans had just witnessed another draft day meltdown, and the Vikings had been below .500 for two consecutive seasons.

Fortunately, Williams became one of the best defensive tackles in Vikings history. He started all 16 games his rookie season, getting to the quarterback 10.5 times. Between 2004 and 2010, Williams was selected to five first-team All-Pros and six Pro Bowls. He even returned two interceptions for touchdowns, a rarity for any defensive lineman, especially on the interior.

The moral of this story is (and yours truly has been guilty of this) that no one truly knows how good or bad a draft pick is the night of the draft. These are unproven prospects who have to adapt to scheme and cultural changes while also receiving millions of dollars just out of college. So get excited, get mad, and enjoy the ride this Thursday night. Just know that, ultimately, we won’t know the results of these picks for several years.



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