Vikings encourage fans in stadium push

The Vikings are asking fans to contact their state representatives and senators to let their voice be heard on the stadium issue. A rally at the Mall of America Saturday included Gov. Mark Dayton and Vikings defensive end Jared Allen.

While Gov. Mark Dayton didn’t exactly look natural in his Vikings jersey Saturday at the Mall of America, he was doing his part for a final push toward getting a stadium done.

At a rally at the M.O.A. that included Dayton, Jared Allen, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Vikings Vice President of Stadium Development Lester Bagley and legislative leaders, Dayton made it clear that he is doing what he can to try to get the votes needed for the stadium bill to pass on Monday.

“I don’t want them to be the Los Angeles Vikings or the Tucson Vikings or the Vancouver Vikings,” Dayton told a crowd of about 500 Vikings fans at the mall. “I want them to be the Minnesota Vikings the rest of my life.”

Allen took to the microphone to urge fans to contact their legislators prior to Monday’s vote on the House of Representatives floor to let them know what the Vikings mean to the fans of Minnesota.

“Call your representatives,” Allen said. “Let them know how you feel. You guys are the taxpayers. Call them and let them you know what you want. What we want is a new stadium.”

The Vikings official website has a link for those who don’t know who their House representative is. It’s as easy as typing in your five-digit zip code. If you live in a city that has more than one state representative, a nine-digit zip code will be required.

The message from Allen, Dayton, Rybak and House advocates was simple and pretty straightforward – we are in the final hours until the stadium question is going to be answered for better or worse and the final push is on. If you are a Vikings fan, they want you to contact your representative and let your feelings be known.

It’s fourth-and-goal for the Vikings in Minnesota and the final push is being made before the clock hits :00.

SUNDAY NOTES

Austin Anderson, the son of former Vikings kicker Gary Anderson, was one of the players taking part in the Indianapolis Colts rookie minicamp. The younger Anderson, a kicker at McGill College in Montreal, is hoping to impress the team enough to get an invite to its training camp in July.

The family of Junior Seau, who committed suicide last week, is reconsidering donating his brain to be studied to determine if concussions had damaged his brain. What has some wondering if Seau was wanting to have his brain examined is the example of former Bear Dave Duerson. He also committed suicide and, like Seau, shot himself in the chest so as to leave his brain intact. In a suicide note, Duerson specifically asked that his brain be studied. It is believed that Seau left no suicide note expressing his wishes, but given the difficulty in a suicide by shooting oneself in the chest, it would seem Seau may have let his intentions be known by his actions.

The Vikings rookie minicamp will conclude today. Given the heavy rain overnight, it is expected that the final practice will be held at the team’s indoor practice field.

The team got their Saturday morning practice completed outdoors before the rain. Receiver Jarius Wright, who sat out the Friday afternoon practice after taking a hit that left him throwing up in the morning practice, returned to the field Saturday, according to the team’s web site.

---

John Holler has been writing about the Vikings for more than a decade for Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

---