McDaniel Gets Call to College Hall

Former Viking Randall McDaniel will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Plus, the agent for Darrion Scott responds to the former Viking’s arrest.

Former Vikings guard Randall McDaniel is hoping to get the call to the Pro Football Hall of Fame – an honor many Vikings fans believe should have already been bestowed upon him. But, McDaniel is still a Hall of Famer at another level.

On Thursday, McDaniel was one of 15 players and coaches named to the 2008 class of the College Football Hall of Fame. McDaniel, as a 12-time Pro Bowl player (11 of those with the Vikings) is joined in the class by former players QB Troy Aikman (UCLA), RB Billy Cannon (LSU), OT Jim Dombrowski (Virginia), LB Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), LB Wilbur Marshall (Florida), RB Ruben Mayes (Washington State), QB Don McPherson (Syracuse), TE Jay Novacek (Wyoming), WR Dave Sparks (Texas Tech), DT and former professional wrestler Ron Simmons (Florida State), RB Thurman Thomas (Oklahoma State) and QB Arnold Tucker (Army). Two coaches – John Cooper and Lou Holtz – were also among the inductees for the Class of 2008.

In a statement following the announcement, Cooper, who coached McDaniel at Arizona State, said of the Vikings great, “Randall McDaniel was one of the very best players I ever coached while at Arizona State and one of the best I’ve ever had the chance to coach. I always thought he would turn into a great player, and he had a phenomenal college and professional career.”

The College Football Hall of Fame was founded in 1947 by such luminaries as General Douglas McArthur, Army head coach Earl “Red” Blaik and journalist Grantland Rice. The Hall of Fame currently has 121 chapters across the country and 12,000 members.

The College Football Hall of Fame is located in South Bend, Ind., and the Class of 2008 will be inducted at the National Football Foundation banquet in New York in December and enshrined in the summer of 2009 at the Hall of Fame.

SCOTT’S AGENT RESPONDS

Calling his arrest Wednesday “a terrible mistake,” the agent for free agent defensive end Darrion Scott said his client is innocent of the felony assault charges for which he was booked in Hennepin County Jail. Scott’s agent, Tim DiPiero, said in a statement that Scott did not abuse the child involved in the case.

“I have been in contact with Darrion's parents in West Virginia, who are naturally upset and appalled at the charges,” DiPiero said. “Anyone who knows Darrion knows him to be a big ‘Teddy Bear’ type of guy, easy-going and never loud or abusive. We believe this nightmare is a terrible mistake and that the child has not been abused, at least not by Darrion. To my knowledge, Darrion has never in his life been placed under arrest. I expect Darrion will want to seek a speedy trial to prove his innocence.”

DiPiero said he has not personally talked with Scott, but he enlisted the help of Twin Cities attorney Joe Friedberg, along with Bruce Rivers, to help in the matter. Rivers has spoken with Scott.

FRIDAY NOTES

Move over, Joe Gibbs. Here comes Randy Moss. Moss announced this week that he has formed Moss Motorsports LLC, and said he hopes to have a team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series by the end of this year. He hopes to have a part-time race schedule this year and join the truck series on a full-time basis in 2009. The best part about the truck series? No traffic control officers. Moss has yet to hire a driver – or at least to announce his name publicly.

Former Viking Nate Burleson is expected to be named a starter for Seattle this season. With Deion Branch still recovering from a torn ACL and not expected to be ready for the regular-season opener, Burleson would step in as a starter, according to coach Mike Holmgren. If that happens, Burleson would be stripped of his punt-return duties. Not only do the Seahawks have to go without the injured Branch, the team lost D.J. Hackett during free agency.

Apparently Commissioner Roger Goodell was better at predicting the top draft picks than Paul Tagliabue. In recent years under the former commissioner, there always seemed to be an annual free-fall of some draft prospect, leaving him the green room for hours. This year under Goodell, six players were invited. They turned out to be the first six picks in the draft.