MANKATO, Minn. (AP) - Mike Hennegar enjoys when the Minnesota Vikings come to town because it gives him a chance to see some his favourite players up close. But he never thought he'd get this close.
On Tuesday at training camp, the Mankato resident spent about 15 minutes running non-contact drills with the offensive line - thanks to a motivational ploy by head coach Mike Tice.
Unhappy with the way guard Adam Goldberg was going through a footwork drill during the morning practice, Tice asked Hennegar, who was wearing a personalized No. 3 Vikings jersey with his name on the back, to join in.
"He said, 'Hey, No. 3, come here,'" Hennegar said after returning to the sideline.
With the Vikings practising only in shorts and jerseys, Hennegar jumped right in. After a bit of coaching from Tice, he lined up at right guard with centre Matt Birk on his left and tackle Mike Rosenthal on his right.
It was a comical scene, with Hennegar, who stands about five foot nine, working amid the mountains on the offensive line.
"I felt pretty small," Hennegar said.
Tice's point? That anyone can do the drills. He has been especially critical of the offensive line of late, especially after they were dominated in an intrasquad scrimmage last week.
At one point, Tice said to Goldberg, an Edina native, "Goldberg, go back to Edina, I got me a right guard."
Goldberg playfully began to take off his jersey before rejoining the action a few minutes later.
"It was an amazing experience," Hennegar said. "Something I never thought would happen."
That's great! Whatever you think of Mike Tice, he is a pretty funny gou. I saw the fan on Cold Pizze this morning and I just kept thinking "what a lucky guy."
"Nah, I trust the laws of nature to stay constant. I don't pray that the sun will rise tomorrow, and I don't need to pray that someone will beat the Cowboys in the playoffs." - Irn-Bru
Jake wrote:Nobody with a halo is allowed to stand in the same line as the Dirtbags.
Are you saying that Jesus couldn't hit!? I saw him play safety for the Galilee Guppie's! that dude can't lay some people out. When the play broke down in front of him he just opened up a chasm in the ground that the running back fell into. Later on offense he produced a screen pass for a touchdown from a few minnows and a crust of bread!
Jake wrote:Nobody with a halo is allowed to stand in the same line as the Dirtbags.
Are you saying that Jesus couldn't hit!? I saw him play safety for the Galilee Guppie's! that dude can't lay some people out. When the play broke down in front of him he just opened up a chasm in the ground that the running back fell into. Later on offense he produced a screen pass for a touchdown from a few minnows and a crust of bread!
Chad
I take it back. Only Jesus can decimate a defense single-handedly.
RIP Sean Taylor 1983-2007
RIP Kevin Mitchell 1971-2007
RIP Justin Skaggs 1979-2007
RIP Sammy Baugh 1914-2008
RIP JPFair
RIP VetSkinsFan
#60 Chris Samuels: 6-time 6-time 6-time 6-time 6-time 6-time Pro Bowl left tackle!
I got a chance to see Jesus play in the popmoses league (popwarner's predecessor).
Dude was off the hook. I remember one play where he actually hit a guy so hard that the guy started blowing snot bubbles.
Then Jesus magically turned each indivdual snot bubble into a billowy cloud that floated up to just 25 feet above the ground and on the 50-yard line. Then Jesus hand-picked 10 lucky fans to sit on the 10 special 'snot bubble clouds'. As far as I know this was the first set of 'extreme seats' ever but Jesus never gets the credit.
He changed football spectatorship forever that day.
:-"
As for the Vikings guy... it was pretty funny. Tice was funny afterwards too saying that he thought the guy was picking things up quickly and that he wished he was a little bigger.
Sean Taylor was one of a kind, may he rest in peace.
Maybe he can play DB, the Vikings secondary looked absolutely horrible last night. I saw one play where two guys on the starting unit tried making a tackle and ended up completely taking each other out while the Jet reciever just ran down the field. It was comical to say the least. I guess the only positive they have is that Smoot wasn't playing. Maybe he can help them but probably not much (see Denver Broncos in the Wild Card game).
"We're not going to be the pushovers of the NFL, we're gonna push over some people!" - Clinton Portis
