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The day after the Apocalypse was no better. The Vikings trudged into Winter Park on Monday looking ghostly and depressed.
"It's like a bad dream," running back Michael Bennett said. "We
still have that empty feeling, and I'm still at a loss for words."
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"It hurts," said safety Brian Russell. "We would have been a dangerous team in the playoffs. Against strong opposition we always seem to play our best. We would have been a dangerous team."
This isn't like the old days under Dennis Green, when several prominent players
would shed a few crocodile tears in the locker room then gather at a Minneapolis
nudie bar to forget their troubles. These guys are devastated.
Monday they went through the motions as if they were in a collective trance.
They attended a final meeting and then packed their personal belongings, all
the while looking like something out of "Night of the Living Dead."
Uncertainty hung in the air. How could it all go so wrong, so fast? What will
become of coach Mike Tice? Will they ever get over what happened to them on
Sunday?
"It just leaves you gasping for air," said safety Corey Chavous.
"It's kind of shocking to think that it's over," said center Matt
Birk. "We blew it."
One this is certain: If owner Red McCombs was looking for an excuse to fire
Tice, he now has it. The last two road games, at Chicago and Arizona, were enough
to give McCombs all the ammo he needed.
I'm not saying that's the right thing to do; the team has gotten better in each
of the past two years. But McCombs now at least can justify such an action,
if that's what he wants to do. There have been rumors that the coach and the
owner haven't gotten along so well in recent weeks. So we'll see.
McCombs issued a meaningless statement on Monday, saying he appreciated the
great fan support in Arizona. Maybe he's angling to move the team to Phoenix.
Who knows? The guy is a loose cannon.
"I love coach Tice. I don't even want to speculate," said Russell.
"That's up to Red," said linebacker Greg Biekert. "If it were
up to me, I'd say leave 'em all (coaches) here. But it may not even be up to
me if I'm here or not."
Although the players expressed support for Tice, it was clear they were so wrapped
up in their own misery that they couldn't bear to think about the future.
"We're all still in disbelief," said kicker Aaron Elling.
"Everyone is sick to their stomachs right now," said cornerback Ken
Irvin. "But I'm a Christian man, a firm believer that you learn and you
grow from adversity."
Then these Vikings will grow to be 10 feet tall because, brother, this is some
kind of adversity. This is a tragedy.
Tice says he hopes to be back but admits that he isn't sure what will happen.
He said McCombs gave him no indication during a recent phone conversation. If
the owner is as dejected and miserable as the players and coaches, he might
fire everybody, including the water boys.
"I'd be a fool to say I wasn't concerned about my job," Tice said.
The entire situation is frustrating. The Vikings continue to play down to the
level of their opposition. The problem is that they play conservatively against
the lousy teams — and Arizona is a lousy team — and that almost
always results in disaster. Why that lesson hasn't sunk in is a mystery.
Tice said that the games he'd like to have back are "the last two road
games against Chicago and Arizona."
Those are the two that may wind up doing him in. It probably depends on whether
or not Red has had somebody else in mind for the job right along. Some Division
II coach from Texas might have McCombs' ear.
Meanwhile, to a man the Vikings appeared to be in need of a blood transfusion.
The life had been sucked right out of them in the final seconds of Sunday's
game. This isn't one they can quickly put behind them, as much as they'd like
to.
Clearly it will be a long time before anyone can look ahead to perhaps brighter
days.
"This is one that really, really hurts," said Bennett.
"I didn't sleep very well," said running back Moe Williams.
There aren't many people in Minnesota who did.