Subscribe
Follow Us
As the best organization in the NFL Players Association's first-ever team report card poll, the Minnesota Vikings have taken the idea of “Minnesota nice” to a whole new level. In the survey of 1,300 active NFL players, the Vikings finished among the top five in all eight categories (treatment of families, nutrition, weight room, strength coaches, training room, training staff, locker room, and team travel) and received top marks in four of them.
“The Minnesota Vikings are ranked as the best team in our guide,” the NFLPA wrote in their official team report. “100% of the players feel like owner Zygi Wilf is willing to spend money to upgrade the facilities, and that assessment makes sense since the Vikings have gone through three significant upgrades in recent years.”
In particular, players praised the team's 40-acre, 277,00 square foot training facility that opened in 2018; 98% of players feel that the team has enough strength coaches and 100% of players feel that they receive enough individualized care and instruction.
Similarly, head coach Kevin O'Connell was hailed as one of the NFL's most player-friendly coaches. In his first year on the job, O'Connell led the Vikings to a 13-4 record, good for the second-winningest season in franchise history. As part of the Sean McVay coaching tree that's taking over the NFL, O'Connell breathed new life into the Vikings' offense and turned Justin Jefferson into the league's preeminent wide receiver.
To a degree, it hardly seems like a coincidence that the Vikings were both the happiest and clutchest team in the NFL this year, as evidenced by their 11-0 record in one-score games during the regular season (as for their record in one-score games in the playoffs, who can say!). In a league obsessed with innovation and marginal advantages, the Vikings offered proof of the power of morale.
