Green A Different Man

During his tenure with the Vikings, Dennis Green had an ongoing battle with the media. Now he's one of us -- and doing a nice job.

When VU heard about Denny Green doing a fishing show as his first job away from coaching, we were skeptical. After all, coaching was in his blood and fishing just didn't seem like the job for Green.

We were right on that front, but have been quite surprised by how well Green has adapted to becoming a member of the same media he grew to loathe and despise during his coaching tenure.

For fans unaware of Green's new job, he is an analyst for ESPN, most noted for his contribution to the Monday Afternoon Quarterback segment -- which runs on both ESPN News and ESPN2 from 1 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Mondays.

Green has been stellar in these performances and has been much more forthcoming than Vikings fans have ever seen him. For example, he has discusssed that the relationship between Cris Carter and Randy Moss had deteriorated long before the blowup on the sidelines last year and that, if Dallas hadn't taken QB Quincy Carter with the 53rd pick of the 2001 college draft, the Vikings would have taken him instead of Willie Howard at pick No. 57.

While it seems a little oxymoronic to consider Green a member of the media, he is doing a great job as an analyst along with former player Eric Allen and it wouldn't surprise us to his visibility on the network continue to increase.

WEDNESDAY NOTES
* In other non-Viking news, Bryant McKinnie is being sued by a Miami man for his role in a beating of the man earlier this year. McKinnie is one of four people who allegedly took part in the attack, but, because none of the other three are expected to get a $9 million Christmas bonus from work, McKinnie is the only one being sued in the case.
* The NFL trade deadline came and went at 4 p.m. yesterday without the Vikings -- and nobody else for that matter -- making a trade. In the current NFL, trading is now done at or around the college draft, not during the season.