December 27, 2024 • 32 mins
Welcome to Skol Stories presented by 3M - The official science partner of the Minnesota Vikings. Tonight, Mark Rosen and Pete Bercich catch up with former Viking and prominent businessman, Tim Baylor. Tim looks back on his early NFL days with the Colts and Vikings, the decisions early on in his playing days that led to his current business acumen, the transition from pro sports to the corporate world, and why the current Vikings leadership has what it takes to get this team to a Super Bowl. All of this and more is in this edition of Skol Stories presented by 3M - The official science partner of the Minnesota Vikings.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Vikings fans, been over here. I'm so excited to
(00:02):
be a new Lifetime member, and so are my kids.
They love the tennis, the pickaball, the basketball, and of
course the yummy cafe. Check them out at Lifetime dot
life to find a club nearest you.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to school Stories presented by three M, the official
science partner of the Minnesota Vikings. Tonight, we're joined by
former Viking Tim Baylor.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Thanks again for tuning into another episode of Schools Stories.
Tonight's guests played for the Baltimore Colts in your Minnesota Vikings,
but what he's done off the field has been even
more impressive. As a prominent business owner and leader, his
impact on the Twin Cities area is still growing every day.
Please enjoy tonight's conversation with former Viking and prominent CEO
(00:46):
Tim Baylor.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Well, Tim, it's a pleasure having you on our show
school Stories. You have had, as they say in the business,
two kind of full lifetimes in your professional life on
the football field and the other course the professional world,
especially here in the Twin Cities. Give the fans a
little backup story and where you're from and how you
grew up, and then how this all occurred in this
(01:11):
wonderful life of yours.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Well, thank you, Mark and Pete. I really appreciate the
time to chat with you and share a bit of
my story, which is not fantastic in my mind, but
it's just what we do when you know we're committed
and we find the right path. But growing up in Washington,
d C. I played football and basketball in high school,
(01:34):
went to Morgan State University, played football, graduated with a
Bachelor of Science degree, and I was fortunate enough to
get drafted by the Baltimore Cults in nineteen seventy six.
I stayed in Baltimore. Stayed in Baltimore for three years
before I got traded to the Minnesota Viking in seventy eight,
(01:56):
a late seventy eighth. In seventy nine, I actually played
with the Bike. In nineteen eighty, I got injured, but
I was still on the team and doing some statistical
work with the defensive coordinator at the time. And after
that year, I ended up going to Winnipeg and playing
with the winnippeg Blue Bombers for a year before I
(02:17):
decided to retire and my wife and I decided that
Minneapolis was a good place to settle down and raise
our family, and here we are.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So I just figured you were here in Minneapolis and
decided you said you were going to leave once the
weather got better.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
But interesting, I was certainly shocked when I got here
when it was so cold and snowy, and I wondered
how people survived here. And you know, as we became
more acclimated to the weather, into the friends that we
made and the family atmosphere with the Vikings, we decided
that this was a place to plant out flag in
(02:53):
our roots. And at the time we had a young
daughter and a young son on the way, and to
perceived wholesomeness of the Twin Cities, you know, led us
to stay here. And from a business standpoint, the business
climate with the industry that year, the diverse industry that
year in terms of the agricultural industry, the technology industry,
(03:16):
and the work effort of the people that live here
work here, you know, the decision became easy.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
What do you remember from your seventy nine season here
with the Minnesota Vikings, What games stand out, the teammates,
things that happened that year that you go back to, Well, you.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Know, we have I wasn't a starter, let me just
say that. But we took allowed pride in our special
teams and I did that year in seventy nine. We
set our records were block kicks that year. We were
certainly proud of that. We were through the playoffs that
year as well, and Bud Grant wants to coach, and
that was the time that near the end of some
(03:53):
of the legend's careers. I think that was Jim Marshall's
last year. Of course, uh, Page and Ella are not
in town. I think Pages in Chicago with the Bears,
and Ello was in Seattle with them h if imccar correctly.
But still some of the guys that there, Bobby Bobby
was there.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
And one of the defensive back Bobby Bryant.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Bobby Bryant, Matt Blair, Fred McNeill. So some of those
guys were still around and we had a good time.
Chuck Former was certainly there. Mt. Tinglehoff wasn't there, but
I think Ron, yeah, he was there, and it was
it was a great collective group and we had a
good time, and that's what I remember most.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I know you were a starter, but you did play
some defensive back and you're six ft six uh, how
did that happen?
Speaker 4 (04:37):
But I in college. I was the defensive back in
high school as well, and in college I played some
defensive safety as well as corner, and I actually made
I made two all of my other teams. When I
was in college and I came to the pros, I
was what was described at the time as the free safety.
But I also played some nickelback, and you know, the
(04:59):
nickel because the fifth defensive back when those passing situations
come up. And so yeah, I did end up playing
nickel and sometimes slipped out on the corner to play
some corner positions. But yeah, it was fun and I
was a lot skinnier than and a lot faster than
we all were.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
So Tim, I think the most interesting thing I read
with your background and everything was after you were done
with the Vikings and the Winnipeg Blue Brohmers, you decided
to make a transition to.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
The real world.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
At the time, you were in real estate. Not a
great time to be in real estate. You know, sixteen
percent interest rates, that whole thing. What is it that
got you and your wife through that time? That's That's
what I'm most interested in, you know, former players making
a transition of the real real world. It's it's it's different, uh,
(05:51):
But everyone faces that moment in their life where they
have to there's a fork in the road. What got
you through that and what motivated you to me obviously
to an unbelievable career in business.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
In retrospect, I think that everybody has somebody that mentored
them along the way, and somebody that maybe said something
or spoke to them about something that actually stuck. And
I would call when I made the Baltimore coach football
team at the tenth round draft shore, I started Morgan
State University and they gave me my five hundred dollars
(06:25):
signing bonus signing bonus. My mentor said, don't spend it
all in one place, and he led me to buy
a triplex in the city of Baltimore, and that worked
out pretty well. I was, I made a few dollars,
I was living Red Tree, and then I got the
bug and I started to take real estate courses even
(06:47):
in my rookie year in the city of Baltimore, and
as you know, you know, the workday is over at
four or five o'clock during the season, and I would
go there directly to school to study real estate, and
that's what got me started. And by the time I
left Baltimore, I was a licensed real estate brooker and
I was doing some transactions with some of the prayers
(07:07):
there came here and more of the same. So when
my career ended, that's a skill set that I had,
and you're right, it was a tough time. There weren't
a lot of sales happening. I pivoted and started to
do some real estate appraisals and I started with FHA
and VA appraiser rolls and continued to do coursework in
(07:28):
the real estate field and in the appraisal field, and
eventually started building commercial appraisals and then some consulting. And
during that time, when the interest rates so high, I
was focusing more on the appraising and I had to
work some side jobs. And it was at a point
where I could continue to bounce around and play football
or settle down and make sure that my daughter and
(07:50):
my wife had a stable home environment. And that's what
that's what caused me to pivot and to focusing more
on real estate and doing the doing that and this
inside jobs along the way to make ends meet. But
pretty soon things started to ease up. And I've recalled
when the interest rates fell into single digits. Interest rates
(08:13):
fell to nine percent, and we were all rejoicing about that.
The industry as back. We can now make some money,
We could do some deals. But I think about that
now and interest rates get to be six or seven percent,
and we think the sky is falling. And so it's
all relative, and there's always a way to make a deal,
and it depends on the circumstances and the environment, but
(08:33):
there's always a deal to be made, and there's always
a need for real estate services, and that's what got
me started. After some time, I was introduced to the
McDonald's Corporation to work in their real estate department as
a real estate representative, and I was fortunate in that
I was able to secure that and that helped me
to expand my knowledge by representing the world's largest Hamburger
(08:58):
corporation world and represent their real estate interest, which learning
the corporate side of the real estate industry was also
very helpful for me at the time.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Again, we're talking with Tim Baylor, former Viking and Twin
City long time Twin City's businessman, sharing his stories. You
recalled fondly getting at five hundred dollars check for your bonus.
Did was it commonplace among your teammates and the discussion saying,
look at we're not going to make a living. You know,
we're not going to retire on our football salary compared
(09:30):
to what you know, obviously the guys are making today.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
So it did it?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
It forced her hand, did not? I mean, along with
a lot of your other contemporaries, to make sure that
you know, we found work, real work outside of this
short football career.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
I think at the time, you know, you're twenty two
years old, right, you're twenty two to twenty three years old.
You follow them and vigor. You think the indestructible, nothing's
going to happen to you. You don't think you're going
to get injured, think you're going to play. And you know, frankly,
we didn't talk about investments or life after football. It
(10:06):
was about having fun playing football and the social aspect
of that and maybe getting to know and be a
part of the Viking family. And so a lot of
the post career discussions didn't happen at least in my circles.
Of course, after the after you retired, of course, then
you start to look up say Okay, what am I
(10:26):
going to do now? And fortunately I had something to
focus on because of my real estate experience. But I
think it's it's for young men who have spent most
of their life being the center of attention, because when
you get to that level, you've been good at football
for a long long time, and you've been a celebrity
of sorts, and you you haven't had to think about
(10:47):
those things that happened in the real world. But fortunately
I was able to pivot into something that I liked,
which was real estate, and that's been my past since then.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I guess my next question is this is you listen.
Are you meet with the leadership and business world and
they like to borrow a lot of things from the
sporting world. You actually doing it and being in sports
and then transitioning into business. Uh, what what did the
game of football teach you that you're able to impart
(11:18):
on the youth? I mean, you're you're part of a
you're on the board of directors for a number of companies,
and that's that's a leadership position. So what what did
you learn in athletics that's carried over into this into
this life.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Well, I think that athletics, not just professional athletics, but
in sports, and athletics are important in all fasces of development.
And you know, we all played little league baseball and basketball.
And even then, you learn the concept of team, You
learn about taking instruction, You learn about being disciplined to
(11:52):
get your skill sets to a level where you can
help the team and maybe get some personal variety as well.
And as you as you developed, you think, well what
can this do for me? And so you get into
high school and I happen to be the first child
in my family, immediate family to go to college, and
my folks did not have the money the vicinity to college.
(12:14):
So the motivation was I need to be good so
that I can get to college COLEGHI. And so those
types of things become like branches on that tree of development.
And you know that in order for that tree to grow,
you got to have you gotta have roots, you got
to have nourishment, you got to have motivation to continue
to grow and development. I think that as you get
(12:35):
into you know, at every level high school you're good.
Then you go to college and you got to start
over because there are other good guys. And then you
go from college to the pros. Yeah, you want all
America in college, but to get into the pros and
everybody's good. You know, there's one of the things that
I tell lay people who are not in the sports world.
We talked about teams with a poor record, like the
(12:56):
Chicago Bears, or we're going to kill those guys. They're
not good players. And I have to remind them those
guys the professionals, okay, and they all won championships in
high school, they all went championships in college. You can't
get your butt cake if you go out there with
the wrong mindset. And if you go out there and
you don't study, if you don't do your work, you
don't train, you're going to get beat. And I use
when I'm talking to groups, I use those analogies a
(13:18):
lot about dedication, sports, teamwork, having the vision and having
the determination and discipline to do those things. And it's
not different you get into the business world. Whatever you
choose to do, you got to have the same mentality,
you know, and you can't you can't say you want
to do some things, but then you don't study what
(13:39):
it takes to make that come to fruition or even worse,
you say you want to do something, you know what
it takes to get to the next level, and you
don't exhibit that same determination that you did a training
camp to get to that point. And I think that's
a part of finding the right flot and then working
that flot once you find it is I think to
(14:00):
not this business, but to like your family relationship, the
spiritual relationship, you need to find that plot and work
on it and study that. They are allowed to go
doctor debt what it is, or study that business discipline
if that's what you concerns are. If you want to coach,
you have to learn to give back and learn to
a coach because, as you know, because you were a
(14:22):
good player didn't mean you're going to be a good coach.
So there are nuances to whatever you want to do.
And I think the key is to be able to
humble yourself and to realize that just like when you
were from high school to college, you got to start over.
And that's what I think I've been able to be
a relatively.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Successfully Stick around for more from Tim Baylor right here
on School Stories presented by three M From the field
to the roof and everywhere in between. Three M. The
official science partner of the Minnesota Vikings is here. Visit
Vikings dot com slash school Science to learn more.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Unreal is back with their limited edition Vikings Drop at
do U n r L dot com for more details.
Welcome back to tonight's edition of Skull Stories, presented by
three M. Let's get back into our conversation with Vikings
legend Tim Baylor.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Tom. I know you're keeping a watchful eye on this
year's Vikings team, which is, of course, you know, on
a great role right now, but beyond their one loss record,
I want to get your observations just from an organizational standpoint,
and maybe there's a lot of a lot of comparisons
with business, but I mean what the Vikings are doing
right now and recognizing players kind of under the radar
(15:35):
a little bit that that the general manager Quasia Dopa
Mensa and others are are seeing and and you know,
the the Tim Baylors of the world. Uh, you know,
I mean that that seemed to be meshing pretty well.
I want to get your thoughts on this team in general,
but also just do organizations win championships.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
As a business owner and as a leader. Let me
let me just say that we have. We operate two businesses.
We operate, as you know, Mark restaurants. We have eleven
eleven McDonald's restaurants. We have almost six hundred employees under
the McDonald's umbrella. And I do know that they look
to me and being their leader. They have a challenge
(16:15):
and a task to not only do their job, but
to do it well. And they know that I expect
them to do it well. But I think that they
my wife, daughters, and I am Justin, and my son
who actually runs the day to day of the McDonald's operation.
They it's important for us that they value who we
are as owners and business family. And what I've learned
(16:37):
is that it's not so much about the salary that
they make or the holiti ways that they make. It's
about how they're treated. It's about how they're felt. It's
about them knowing that if they need something, they can
come to us and we can earnestly look at it
and help them. We have two or three generations of
families working in our organization now. It's because of that
(16:58):
and that makes a difference. You know. We we have
one of them within the McDonald's family. We have won
awards for our speed of service, our quality of the food,
and involvement in the community, and all of that happens
because of the commitment that we have to make sure
that they're comfortable, make sure that they're incentivized, and make
(17:20):
sure that they like what they do. And I think
that's the same for any organization like a football team.
Their will family has come in and they have let
the Twin Cities and they have let the NFL know
that they mean business, and they went out and they
hired what I think is a superlative team with Kasi
and coach O'Connell. I mean, I've talked to them on
(17:42):
a couple of occasions, and not only are they good people,
but they're smart. They're very smart and very savvy about
what they do, and they get along. And I think
that that commitment and that cohesiveness cascades down through the organization.
And so when you're a player, and you when you're
player at that level, like I mentioned earlier, all these
guys are professionals, and oftentimes the edge is given to
(18:04):
the guy that wanted more, or that's committed more, or
that once to satisfy that coach and that his teammates
more and I think that's what we have seen in
the last two or three years. We've seen guys that
want to be here. We've seen guys that want to
make sure that the organization is proud of him and
that they do all that they can do. And while
(18:25):
these guys compete at the National role Football League level,
they all are very power of what they do and
they're confident and they can win, and they do it.
They win. Sometimes that's pretty Sometimes you know it's a squeaker,
but they win. And that's the bottom line. How many
ws can you put away and how many naysayers can
you just engage? And I'm looking forward to the disengagement
(18:47):
of those they sayers as we've finished off the season,
as you go through the playoffs, and I am I
tell people that you know, if you think the Vikings
have been stumbling along all year, you know you haven't
seen anything impressive. Oh oh yeah, those other Bikings. But
they know they aren't one of the top teams in
the league. But they keep winning. And I look forward
(19:07):
to the cohesiveness as we moved through December and January.
And it took the playoffs when they all put it together,
when they put the I haven't seen them put the
total game together yet. They beat the Bears last say,
but they you know, the offense was a little rough
around the edges. When they put that all together, I
think that the league is going to take notice, and
well we'll on maybe buying tickets to New Orleans in Sebruary.
(19:30):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
And you know, it's there's a difference as a player
between having a great career and leaving a legacy. And
I you know, personally, I hope that these guys understand, Uh,
seasons like this don't come by very often. The opportunity
to go into the go deep into the season, postseason,
perhaps the super Bowl. I mean, you won a Super
(19:53):
Bowl here, You're going to be remembered forever. That's a legacy.
And then every guy, every guy on the team, regardless
of your role, is going to be remembered for that.
Now you, personally, what do you want your legacy to be?
Talk about the people that work, you know at the
restaurants and that family and and what the reciprocity that's
(20:16):
there between the you know, ownership and management and the employees.
That's a that's an amazing thing. And for you is
that the legacy that you want to lead that leadership
style or just yeah, just let us know what you
want that to be.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
What do you want to be remembered as am I
writing my appiitet now.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
It's good practice, it's good practice.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
But I think that for me, I want to be
an access to the community that I live in. And
over the years i've been I've tried to do that
and at the level that I think can create the
most impact. As an example, would I run the city council? No,
because I think I have more impact than that, right,
(21:04):
you know. I was back in two thousand and six,
I don't know if you know this, and that I
was asked by city council members in Minneapolis to run
for lieutenant governor and I did that back in two
thousand and six with Becky Lory because I thought that
I could impact change or impact a voice of reason
(21:24):
at the state level. And so since that time, I've
been recently, I was a commissioner at the airport at
the Saint Paul Airport. In the past, I was on
the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. As the Dome was ending
its useful life, I did that and I've been on
(21:45):
several boards around town to be able to create that impact.
And whether it's my family, whether it's a community, or
whether it's for employees. I want to be regarded as
a solid guy, savvy business owned that gave back to
the community and owners that cared about his customers, internal
(22:06):
customers and external customers. Because I viewed my employees as
customers to do what I'm trying to sell them. And
that's what you know. Am I the nicer guy in
the world. No, sometimes I may have to kick you butt.
Am I the fairs guy in the world. I try
to be fair, but I don't like for anybody to
bs me. And sometimes I think, like a defensive back.
(22:30):
You know, you catch that ball in front of me
and you're not supposed to catch it, I'm going to
hit you as hard as I can. And so I
talk about those athletic analogies all the time, about being prepared,
standing the ground, working as a team, and giving it
all you've got. And that's how I'd like to be remembered.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Well, that's a great philosophy. And Tim Baylor, we really
appreciate your time today sharing your skull stories and your
success both in the NFL, but more import as a
businessman who does give back a lot and your family
does to the Twin Cities and continued success and good health.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Thank you, Mark, Thank you Pete, and thank you to
the listening audience for listening to me and putting up
with my banter. I hope to see you guys around
sometimes and maybe we'll see each other at Super Bowl.
How about that.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I think that sounds like a great way to end
this segment. It's perfect. Thanks to him.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Thank you guys.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
All right, Pete versa till the Vikings ten and again
eighth straight win the most difficult of environments you could
possibly have on the road, playing in Seattle with the
so called twelfth Man twenty seven to twenty four in
the rain. I just want to start the discussion with
Sam Darnold running out of superlatives to describe the kind
of season he's having, how he plays under pressure, and
(23:49):
that last throw that to Justin Jefferson for the game
winning touchdown pass was a great example of how Sam
has been able to read defense, to step up in
the pocket, shake off link, bring injuries perhaps in the environment.
What can what can you say about this man? At
this point?
Speaker 3 (24:06):
It's it's kind of amazing because we've seen a career's
worth of progress in one season. Right, because he obviously
this isn't his first season as a quarterback, but up
until this point, yeah, I'm sure he would even agree,
it's just been disappointing. We have to assume that this
has a lot to do with environment, and it helps
(24:27):
to have a former quarterback as a head coach in
the system that he's in. And then justin Jefferson and
Jalen Naylor and Jordan Addison and TJ. Hockinson and the
offensive line, he's it's it's amazing how he's gone from
being good to just now be Now he's good, but
he's clutch as well. And I think the big thing
(24:49):
is just protecting the football. Yeah, the interceptions, you remember
Jacksonville games like that, but also one under pressure, protecting
the football not giving it away. And and that's you know,
that's you play a team like Seattle, who had scored
I believe thirty six points in the previous three weeks
off of turnovers. Right, they beat Arizona because Arizona turned
(25:10):
the ball over twice early, they scored two touchdowns. You
couldn't you just didn't want to do that. And it's
a physical team, very good team, and we just didn't.
So that's something that this team is taking care of.
They've taken care of the football over the last couple
of weeks and it's made a big difference because it
keeps you no matter what happens, it keeps you in
the game. And yeah, that the throws, the two touchdown
(25:34):
throws of Jefferson, they were both absolute things of beauty
at the exact times when you needed them. So not
only is he good, he's also clutch now apparently, and
you need that to the playoffs because if you want
to make a run at this thing, the legend is
going to get is going to grow even more.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
You study this Vikings defense extensively, and obviously they had
some great individual performances Andrew Van King Dallas turn against
his first interception, but it did appear to Layman that
they got a little gassed at the end there that
you know, Seattle was able to do a lot of
good things and they got to They have a very
good offensive team. Geno Smith is talk about resurrecting your career,
(26:13):
he's done that with Seattle as well. So how how
did what was your interpretation about how the defense I.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Think Gino Smith is exactly. He kind of lived up
to what we what you thought he was going in
and just that if you're going to pressure him, you
want to pressure him up the middle, and that's where
he made his mistakes, right. He had two interceptions, should
have thrown maybe four. He had two that were We
had two that were dropped, you know, So getting pressure
on him is key, especially even at last play jehad
(26:40):
Ward a three man rush, spind move on the center
gets pressure, Boom, we get the interception. At the end
of the game a.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Lot, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
I like the way our defensive backs competed. You see,
you saw more fire out of Stefan gilmore than we've
seen in a long time Byronn Murphy. And we made
some mistakes. Two of the touchdowns, the Jackson Smith and
jig A touchdown early was just man to man coverage here.
And so that takes me back to like the Detroit game,
(27:09):
and it's like, guys, you know, you have to know
your adjustments and we can't. We can't do those. You're
making it easy for the offense. And then there was
another air I think Shack Griffin kind of on the
tight end. That just the touchdown the tight end score.
So if you could just eliminate, you know, those couple
of mistakes. You know, who knows how good this group
(27:31):
can be. But they're they're they're flying around, they're having fun.
They need to tackle a little better. That was something
that kind of showed up a little bit in this game.
But they made the plays they needed to win when
the time called for.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
And let's keep in mind that both veteran Harrison Smith
and I've and Pace are due back against the Packers
on Sunday. The Vikings have been getting off to some
great starts. I mean they've been starting fast. An emphasis
that koc has been putting on this team and what
what do you look for and what will be arguably
one of the greatest atmospheres league any of us have
seen at us Peak Stadium. Yeah, with the Packers coming
(28:06):
to town, knowing what's at stake, in particular for the Vikings,
you win two, uh, you get home field and a
first round by.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Right, and that's I think that's the thing is that
if if you went out, you deserve to have a
first round by because you're gonna be you're gonna be
Green Bay, one of the better teams in the entire NFL,
and then you're playing Detroit, which since the beginning of
the season has been raised. Unfortunately they're both in our division.
It's awesome too as a player to have that in
(28:35):
front of you. Still, right, two games left to the season,
you have the opportunity to have, you know, to get
the first first round by home field advantage, just an
opportunity at that despite all the work that you've already done, right,
you can't you can't rest on that. You still have
to continue to fight and battle. And if you can
get these next two games, if this team wins these
(28:57):
next two games you're talking about, you talk about the
moment mentum taking you into the playoffs, it's pretty incredible.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I know we'll have plenty of time to kind of
really take a step back and analyze this entire season.
But as I'm sitting here with you today, I think
back to, you know, going to OTAs or training camp.
You just shake your head and you've been around this
game a long time, right, thirteen and two is what
the record is?
Speaker 4 (29:21):
Right now?
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Am I missing something?
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Nobody does this happen nobody? But PA would have taken
that back.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Nobody, not even I don't think even PA would have
taken that.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
And we've talked about before. It's a matter of all
the free agents. The most important spot in the entire NFL,
or in all sports. The quarterback position was a huge
question mark. Everybody just assumed that Donald would play maybe better,
but similar to how he has played his entire career.
This is a quantum leap from what everything that he's
(29:50):
done in San Francisco or with the Jets. Nobody projected
him to be this good, right And I mean the
coaches might have seen it. That's their job, and they
I've brought it out of him. But the quarterback plays
has far exceeded anything. And then all the free agents
we brought in, I think Blake Brandella has played better
at guard than anybody knew or expected him to play.
(30:13):
So with all these question marks that you had going
into the season, every single one of them. Jerry Tillery,
I mean Jerry Tillery bounced around the league for a
long time. I mean it's like Cashman, who would have
thought that he would know he's undefeated now as a starter.
He was out for two weeks right or at least
a week injured himself, and I believe in London is
(30:34):
where he messed up his foot. But you know, with
him on the field, we haven't lost the game. It's like,
who would have thought, right, So just enjoy it and
ride with it. I still think that's a big reason
why nationally no one's jumping on the bandwagon right because
it's still yeah, it's still East Coast dominated, right with
(30:55):
the media and everything else. But at the same time,
people are just waiting for for Donald to kind of
he's not who he was, right, and that again, that's that.
It's like, it's how you predict every season. Detroit's gonna
be number one, Green Bay man a running playoffs, They're
gonna be number two, they'll fight it out for the division.
The Bears are gonna get better because of the draft.
And then oh yeah, there's the vikings with this with
(31:17):
Donald at quarterback, they're going to be fourth in the division.
Well that's that, and so just remember this going forward
when you start talking about season predictions.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
It might be the last thing on Sam Donald's mind
right now as we wrap things up here, but he's
certainly making it difficult for the guys upstairs. To say,
I want to let this guy ever get out of
our building.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Because see, good problems to have. That's a nice problem
to have, good problems to have. And what's in his
best interest is to play and win as many games
as he possibly can.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
All right, well, Pete, there's not much more that needs
to be said than the Vikings and the Packers Sunday
at US Bank Stadium. Keep in mind now it's a
three twenty five pm kickoff over on Fox here the
Twin Cities no longer noon three twenty five, so be
sure to check your local listings for details. You can
also catch, of course, Paul Allen ben Lee Brand the
one and only Pete Ursus with the call right here
(32:07):
all across the Vikings radio network. The Vikings Football Sunday
pregame show starts at one pm on Kfan, so be
sure to tune in with host Mike Musbin and the
rest of the crew leading up to kickoff. Thanks again
to Tim Baylor for joining the show, and thank you
fans for tuning into another edition of Skulls Stories presented
by three M the official science partner of the Minnesota Vikings,
(32:30):
and we will see you all again next week.
Hey, Vikings fans, been over here. I'm so excited to
(00:02):
be a new Lifetime member, and so are my kids.
They love the tennis, the pickaball, the basketball, and of
course the yummy cafe. Check them out at Lifetime dot
life to find a club nearest you.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to school Stories presented by three M, the official
science partner of the Minnesota Vikings. Tonight, we're joined by
former Viking Tim Baylor.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Thanks again for tuning into another episode of Schools Stories.
Tonight's guests played for the Baltimore Colts in your Minnesota Vikings,
but what he's done off the field has been even
more impressive. As a prominent business owner and leader, his
impact on the Twin Cities area is still growing every day.
Please enjoy tonight's conversation with former Viking and prominent CEO
(00:46):
Tim Baylor.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Well, Tim, it's a pleasure having you on our show
school Stories. You have had, as they say in the business,
two kind of full lifetimes in your professional life on
the football field and the other course the professional world,
especially here in the Twin Cities. Give the fans a
little backup story and where you're from and how you
grew up, and then how this all occurred in this
(01:11):
wonderful life of yours.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Well, thank you, Mark and Pete. I really appreciate the
time to chat with you and share a bit of
my story, which is not fantastic in my mind, but
it's just what we do when you know we're committed
and we find the right path. But growing up in Washington,
d C. I played football and basketball in high school,
(01:34):
went to Morgan State University, played football, graduated with a
Bachelor of Science degree, and I was fortunate enough to
get drafted by the Baltimore Cults in nineteen seventy six.
I stayed in Baltimore. Stayed in Baltimore for three years
before I got traded to the Minnesota Viking in seventy eight,
(01:56):
a late seventy eighth. In seventy nine, I actually played
with the Bike. In nineteen eighty, I got injured, but
I was still on the team and doing some statistical
work with the defensive coordinator at the time. And after
that year, I ended up going to Winnipeg and playing
with the winnippeg Blue Bombers for a year before I
(02:17):
decided to retire and my wife and I decided that
Minneapolis was a good place to settle down and raise
our family, and here we are.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So I just figured you were here in Minneapolis and
decided you said you were going to leave once the
weather got better.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
But interesting, I was certainly shocked when I got here
when it was so cold and snowy, and I wondered
how people survived here. And you know, as we became
more acclimated to the weather, into the friends that we
made and the family atmosphere with the Vikings, we decided
that this was a place to plant out flag in
(02:53):
our roots. And at the time we had a young
daughter and a young son on the way, and to
perceived wholesomeness of the Twin Cities, you know, led us
to stay here. And from a business standpoint, the business
climate with the industry that year, the diverse industry that
year in terms of the agricultural industry, the technology industry,
(03:16):
and the work effort of the people that live here
work here, you know, the decision became easy.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
What do you remember from your seventy nine season here
with the Minnesota Vikings, What games stand out, the teammates,
things that happened that year that you go back to, Well, you.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Know, we have I wasn't a starter, let me just
say that. But we took allowed pride in our special
teams and I did that year in seventy nine. We
set our records were block kicks that year. We were
certainly proud of that. We were through the playoffs that
year as well, and Bud Grant wants to coach, and
that was the time that near the end of some
(03:53):
of the legend's careers. I think that was Jim Marshall's
last year. Of course, uh, Page and Ella are not
in town. I think Pages in Chicago with the Bears,
and Ello was in Seattle with them h if imccar correctly.
But still some of the guys that there, Bobby Bobby
was there.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
And one of the defensive back Bobby Bryant.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Bobby Bryant, Matt Blair, Fred McNeill. So some of those
guys were still around and we had a good time.
Chuck Former was certainly there. Mt. Tinglehoff wasn't there, but
I think Ron, yeah, he was there, and it was
it was a great collective group and we had a
good time, and that's what I remember most.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I know you were a starter, but you did play
some defensive back and you're six ft six uh, how
did that happen?
Speaker 4 (04:37):
But I in college. I was the defensive back in
high school as well, and in college I played some
defensive safety as well as corner, and I actually made
I made two all of my other teams. When I
was in college and I came to the pros, I
was what was described at the time as the free safety.
But I also played some nickelback, and you know, the
(04:59):
nickel because the fifth defensive back when those passing situations
come up. And so yeah, I did end up playing
nickel and sometimes slipped out on the corner to play
some corner positions. But yeah, it was fun and I
was a lot skinnier than and a lot faster than
we all were.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
So Tim, I think the most interesting thing I read
with your background and everything was after you were done
with the Vikings and the Winnipeg Blue Brohmers, you decided
to make a transition to.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
The real world.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
At the time, you were in real estate. Not a
great time to be in real estate. You know, sixteen
percent interest rates, that whole thing. What is it that
got you and your wife through that time? That's That's
what I'm most interested in, you know, former players making
a transition of the real real world. It's it's it's different, uh,
(05:51):
But everyone faces that moment in their life where they
have to there's a fork in the road. What got
you through that and what motivated you to me obviously
to an unbelievable career in business.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
In retrospect, I think that everybody has somebody that mentored
them along the way, and somebody that maybe said something
or spoke to them about something that actually stuck. And
I would call when I made the Baltimore coach football
team at the tenth round draft shore, I started Morgan
State University and they gave me my five hundred dollars
(06:25):
signing bonus signing bonus. My mentor said, don't spend it
all in one place, and he led me to buy
a triplex in the city of Baltimore, and that worked
out pretty well. I was, I made a few dollars,
I was living Red Tree, and then I got the
bug and I started to take real estate courses even
(06:47):
in my rookie year in the city of Baltimore, and
as you know, you know, the workday is over at
four or five o'clock during the season, and I would
go there directly to school to study real estate, and
that's what got me started. And by the time I
left Baltimore, I was a licensed real estate brooker and
I was doing some transactions with some of the prayers
(07:07):
there came here and more of the same. So when
my career ended, that's a skill set that I had,
and you're right, it was a tough time. There weren't
a lot of sales happening. I pivoted and started to
do some real estate appraisals and I started with FHA
and VA appraiser rolls and continued to do coursework in
(07:28):
the real estate field and in the appraisal field, and
eventually started building commercial appraisals and then some consulting. And
during that time, when the interest rates so high, I
was focusing more on the appraising and I had to
work some side jobs. And it was at a point
where I could continue to bounce around and play football
or settle down and make sure that my daughter and
(07:50):
my wife had a stable home environment. And that's what
that's what caused me to pivot and to focusing more
on real estate and doing the doing that and this
inside jobs along the way to make ends meet. But
pretty soon things started to ease up. And I've recalled
when the interest rates fell into single digits. Interest rates
(08:13):
fell to nine percent, and we were all rejoicing about that.
The industry as back. We can now make some money,
We could do some deals. But I think about that
now and interest rates get to be six or seven percent,
and we think the sky is falling. And so it's
all relative, and there's always a way to make a deal,
and it depends on the circumstances and the environment, but
(08:33):
there's always a deal to be made, and there's always
a need for real estate services, and that's what got
me started. After some time, I was introduced to the
McDonald's Corporation to work in their real estate department as
a real estate representative, and I was fortunate in that
I was able to secure that and that helped me
to expand my knowledge by representing the world's largest Hamburger
(08:58):
corporation world and represent their real estate interest, which learning
the corporate side of the real estate industry was also
very helpful for me at the time.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Again, we're talking with Tim Baylor, former Viking and Twin
City long time Twin City's businessman, sharing his stories. You
recalled fondly getting at five hundred dollars check for your bonus.
Did was it commonplace among your teammates and the discussion saying,
look at we're not going to make a living. You know,
we're not going to retire on our football salary compared
(09:30):
to what you know, obviously the guys are making today.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
So it did it?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
It forced her hand, did not? I mean, along with
a lot of your other contemporaries, to make sure that
you know, we found work, real work outside of this
short football career.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
I think at the time, you know, you're twenty two
years old, right, you're twenty two to twenty three years old.
You follow them and vigor. You think the indestructible, nothing's
going to happen to you. You don't think you're going
to get injured, think you're going to play. And you know, frankly,
we didn't talk about investments or life after football. It
(10:06):
was about having fun playing football and the social aspect
of that and maybe getting to know and be a
part of the Viking family. And so a lot of
the post career discussions didn't happen at least in my circles.
Of course, after the after you retired, of course, then
you start to look up say Okay, what am I
(10:26):
going to do now? And fortunately I had something to
focus on because of my real estate experience. But I
think it's it's for young men who have spent most
of their life being the center of attention, because when
you get to that level, you've been good at football
for a long long time, and you've been a celebrity
of sorts, and you you haven't had to think about
(10:47):
those things that happened in the real world. But fortunately
I was able to pivot into something that I liked,
which was real estate, and that's been my past since then.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I guess my next question is this is you listen.
Are you meet with the leadership and business world and
they like to borrow a lot of things from the
sporting world. You actually doing it and being in sports
and then transitioning into business. Uh, what what did the
game of football teach you that you're able to impart
(11:18):
on the youth? I mean, you're you're part of a
you're on the board of directors for a number of companies,
and that's that's a leadership position. So what what did
you learn in athletics that's carried over into this into
this life.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Well, I think that athletics, not just professional athletics, but
in sports, and athletics are important in all fasces of development.
And you know, we all played little league baseball and basketball.
And even then, you learn the concept of team, You
learn about taking instruction, You learn about being disciplined to
(11:52):
get your skill sets to a level where you can
help the team and maybe get some personal variety as well.
And as you as you developed, you think, well what
can this do for me? And so you get into
high school and I happen to be the first child
in my family, immediate family to go to college, and
my folks did not have the money the vicinity to college.
(12:14):
So the motivation was I need to be good so
that I can get to college COLEGHI. And so those
types of things become like branches on that tree of development.
And you know that in order for that tree to grow,
you got to have you gotta have roots, you got
to have nourishment, you got to have motivation to continue
to grow and development. I think that as you get
(12:35):
into you know, at every level high school you're good.
Then you go to college and you got to start
over because there are other good guys. And then you
go from college to the pros. Yeah, you want all
America in college, but to get into the pros and
everybody's good. You know, there's one of the things that
I tell lay people who are not in the sports world.
We talked about teams with a poor record, like the
(12:56):
Chicago Bears, or we're going to kill those guys. They're
not good players. And I have to remind them those
guys the professionals, okay, and they all won championships in
high school, they all went championships in college. You can't
get your butt cake if you go out there with
the wrong mindset. And if you go out there and
you don't study, if you don't do your work, you
don't train, you're going to get beat. And I use
when I'm talking to groups, I use those analogies a
(13:18):
lot about dedication, sports, teamwork, having the vision and having
the determination and discipline to do those things. And it's
not different you get into the business world. Whatever you
choose to do, you got to have the same mentality,
you know, and you can't you can't say you want
to do some things, but then you don't study what
(13:39):
it takes to make that come to fruition or even worse,
you say you want to do something, you know what
it takes to get to the next level, and you
don't exhibit that same determination that you did a training
camp to get to that point. And I think that's
a part of finding the right flot and then working
that flot once you find it is I think to
(14:00):
not this business, but to like your family relationship, the
spiritual relationship, you need to find that plot and work
on it and study that. They are allowed to go
doctor debt what it is, or study that business discipline
if that's what you concerns are. If you want to coach,
you have to learn to give back and learn to
a coach because, as you know, because you were a
(14:22):
good player didn't mean you're going to be a good coach.
So there are nuances to whatever you want to do.
And I think the key is to be able to
humble yourself and to realize that just like when you
were from high school to college, you got to start over.
And that's what I think I've been able to be
a relatively.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Successfully Stick around for more from Tim Baylor right here
on School Stories presented by three M From the field
to the roof and everywhere in between. Three M. The
official science partner of the Minnesota Vikings is here. Visit
Vikings dot com slash school Science to learn more.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Unreal is back with their limited edition Vikings Drop at
do U n r L dot com for more details.
Welcome back to tonight's edition of Skull Stories, presented by
three M. Let's get back into our conversation with Vikings
legend Tim Baylor.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Tom. I know you're keeping a watchful eye on this
year's Vikings team, which is, of course, you know, on
a great role right now, but beyond their one loss record,
I want to get your observations just from an organizational standpoint,
and maybe there's a lot of a lot of comparisons
with business, but I mean what the Vikings are doing
right now and recognizing players kind of under the radar
(15:35):
a little bit that that the general manager Quasia Dopa
Mensa and others are are seeing and and you know,
the the Tim Baylors of the world. Uh, you know,
I mean that that seemed to be meshing pretty well.
I want to get your thoughts on this team in general,
but also just do organizations win championships.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
As a business owner and as a leader. Let me
let me just say that we have. We operate two businesses.
We operate, as you know, Mark restaurants. We have eleven
eleven McDonald's restaurants. We have almost six hundred employees under
the McDonald's umbrella. And I do know that they look
to me and being their leader. They have a challenge
(16:15):
and a task to not only do their job, but
to do it well. And they know that I expect
them to do it well. But I think that they
my wife, daughters, and I am Justin, and my son
who actually runs the day to day of the McDonald's operation.
They it's important for us that they value who we
are as owners and business family. And what I've learned
(16:37):
is that it's not so much about the salary that
they make or the holiti ways that they make. It's
about how they're treated. It's about how they're felt. It's
about them knowing that if they need something, they can
come to us and we can earnestly look at it
and help them. We have two or three generations of
families working in our organization now. It's because of that
(16:58):
and that makes a difference. You know. We we have
one of them within the McDonald's family. We have won
awards for our speed of service, our quality of the food,
and involvement in the community, and all of that happens
because of the commitment that we have to make sure
that they're comfortable, make sure that they're incentivized, and make
(17:20):
sure that they like what they do. And I think
that's the same for any organization like a football team.
Their will family has come in and they have let
the Twin Cities and they have let the NFL know
that they mean business, and they went out and they
hired what I think is a superlative team with Kasi
and coach O'Connell. I mean, I've talked to them on
(17:42):
a couple of occasions, and not only are they good people,
but they're smart. They're very smart and very savvy about
what they do, and they get along. And I think
that that commitment and that cohesiveness cascades down through the organization.
And so when you're a player, and you when you're
player at that level, like I mentioned earlier, all these
guys are professionals, and oftentimes the edge is given to
(18:04):
the guy that wanted more, or that's committed more, or
that once to satisfy that coach and that his teammates
more and I think that's what we have seen in
the last two or three years. We've seen guys that
want to be here. We've seen guys that want to
make sure that the organization is proud of him and
that they do all that they can do. And while
(18:25):
these guys compete at the National role Football League level,
they all are very power of what they do and
they're confident and they can win, and they do it.
They win. Sometimes that's pretty Sometimes you know it's a squeaker,
but they win. And that's the bottom line. How many
ws can you put away and how many naysayers can
you just engage? And I'm looking forward to the disengagement
(18:47):
of those they sayers as we've finished off the season,
as you go through the playoffs, and I am I
tell people that you know, if you think the Vikings
have been stumbling along all year, you know you haven't
seen anything impressive. Oh oh yeah, those other Bikings. But
they know they aren't one of the top teams in
the league. But they keep winning. And I look forward
(19:07):
to the cohesiveness as we moved through December and January.
And it took the playoffs when they all put it together,
when they put the I haven't seen them put the
total game together yet. They beat the Bears last say,
but they you know, the offense was a little rough
around the edges. When they put that all together, I
think that the league is going to take notice, and
well we'll on maybe buying tickets to New Orleans in Sebruary.
(19:30):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
And you know, it's there's a difference as a player
between having a great career and leaving a legacy. And
I you know, personally, I hope that these guys understand, Uh,
seasons like this don't come by very often. The opportunity
to go into the go deep into the season, postseason,
perhaps the super Bowl. I mean, you won a Super
(19:53):
Bowl here, You're going to be remembered forever. That's a legacy.
And then every guy, every guy on the team, regardless
of your role, is going to be remembered for that.
Now you, personally, what do you want your legacy to be?
Talk about the people that work, you know at the
restaurants and that family and and what the reciprocity that's
(20:16):
there between the you know, ownership and management and the employees.
That's a that's an amazing thing. And for you is
that the legacy that you want to lead that leadership
style or just yeah, just let us know what you
want that to be.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
What do you want to be remembered as am I
writing my appiitet now.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
It's good practice, it's good practice.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
But I think that for me, I want to be
an access to the community that I live in. And
over the years i've been I've tried to do that
and at the level that I think can create the
most impact. As an example, would I run the city council? No,
because I think I have more impact than that, right,
(21:04):
you know. I was back in two thousand and six,
I don't know if you know this, and that I
was asked by city council members in Minneapolis to run
for lieutenant governor and I did that back in two
thousand and six with Becky Lory because I thought that
I could impact change or impact a voice of reason
(21:24):
at the state level. And so since that time, I've
been recently, I was a commissioner at the airport at
the Saint Paul Airport. In the past, I was on
the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. As the Dome was ending
its useful life, I did that and I've been on
(21:45):
several boards around town to be able to create that impact.
And whether it's my family, whether it's a community, or
whether it's for employees. I want to be regarded as
a solid guy, savvy business owned that gave back to
the community and owners that cared about his customers, internal
(22:06):
customers and external customers. Because I viewed my employees as
customers to do what I'm trying to sell them. And
that's what you know. Am I the nicer guy in
the world. No, sometimes I may have to kick you butt.
Am I the fairs guy in the world. I try
to be fair, but I don't like for anybody to
bs me. And sometimes I think, like a defensive back.
(22:30):
You know, you catch that ball in front of me
and you're not supposed to catch it, I'm going to
hit you as hard as I can. And so I
talk about those athletic analogies all the time, about being prepared,
standing the ground, working as a team, and giving it
all you've got. And that's how I'd like to be remembered.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Well, that's a great philosophy. And Tim Baylor, we really
appreciate your time today sharing your skull stories and your
success both in the NFL, but more import as a
businessman who does give back a lot and your family
does to the Twin Cities and continued success and good health.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Thank you, Mark, Thank you Pete, and thank you to
the listening audience for listening to me and putting up
with my banter. I hope to see you guys around
sometimes and maybe we'll see each other at Super Bowl.
How about that.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I think that sounds like a great way to end
this segment. It's perfect. Thanks to him.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Thank you guys.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
All right, Pete versa till the Vikings ten and again
eighth straight win the most difficult of environments you could
possibly have on the road, playing in Seattle with the
so called twelfth Man twenty seven to twenty four in
the rain. I just want to start the discussion with
Sam Darnold running out of superlatives to describe the kind
of season he's having, how he plays under pressure, and
(23:49):
that last throw that to Justin Jefferson for the game
winning touchdown pass was a great example of how Sam
has been able to read defense, to step up in
the pocket, shake off link, bring injuries perhaps in the environment.
What can what can you say about this man? At
this point?
Speaker 3 (24:06):
It's it's kind of amazing because we've seen a career's
worth of progress in one season. Right, because he obviously
this isn't his first season as a quarterback, but up
until this point, yeah, I'm sure he would even agree,
it's just been disappointing. We have to assume that this
has a lot to do with environment, and it helps
(24:27):
to have a former quarterback as a head coach in
the system that he's in. And then justin Jefferson and
Jalen Naylor and Jordan Addison and TJ. Hockinson and the
offensive line, he's it's it's amazing how he's gone from
being good to just now be Now he's good, but
he's clutch as well. And I think the big thing
(24:49):
is just protecting the football. Yeah, the interceptions, you remember
Jacksonville games like that, but also one under pressure, protecting
the football not giving it away. And and that's you know,
that's you play a team like Seattle, who had scored
I believe thirty six points in the previous three weeks
off of turnovers. Right, they beat Arizona because Arizona turned
(25:10):
the ball over twice early, they scored two touchdowns. You
couldn't you just didn't want to do that. And it's
a physical team, very good team, and we just didn't.
So that's something that this team is taking care of.
They've taken care of the football over the last couple
of weeks and it's made a big difference because it
keeps you no matter what happens, it keeps you in
the game. And yeah, that the throws, the two touchdown
(25:34):
throws of Jefferson, they were both absolute things of beauty
at the exact times when you needed them. So not
only is he good, he's also clutch now apparently, and
you need that to the playoffs because if you want
to make a run at this thing, the legend is
going to get is going to grow even more.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
You study this Vikings defense extensively, and obviously they had
some great individual performances Andrew Van King Dallas turn against
his first interception, but it did appear to Layman that
they got a little gassed at the end there that
you know, Seattle was able to do a lot of
good things and they got to They have a very
good offensive team. Geno Smith is talk about resurrecting your career,
(26:13):
he's done that with Seattle as well. So how how
did what was your interpretation about how the defense I.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Think Gino Smith is exactly. He kind of lived up
to what we what you thought he was going in
and just that if you're going to pressure him, you
want to pressure him up the middle, and that's where
he made his mistakes, right. He had two interceptions, should
have thrown maybe four. He had two that were We
had two that were dropped, you know, So getting pressure
on him is key, especially even at last play jehad
(26:40):
Ward a three man rush, spind move on the center
gets pressure, Boom, we get the interception. At the end
of the game a.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Lot, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
I like the way our defensive backs competed. You see,
you saw more fire out of Stefan gilmore than we've
seen in a long time Byronn Murphy. And we made
some mistakes. Two of the touchdowns, the Jackson Smith and
jig A touchdown early was just man to man coverage here.
And so that takes me back to like the Detroit game,
(27:09):
and it's like, guys, you know, you have to know
your adjustments and we can't. We can't do those. You're
making it easy for the offense. And then there was
another air I think Shack Griffin kind of on the
tight end. That just the touchdown the tight end score.
So if you could just eliminate, you know, those couple
of mistakes. You know, who knows how good this group
(27:31):
can be. But they're they're they're flying around, they're having fun.
They need to tackle a little better. That was something
that kind of showed up a little bit in this game.
But they made the plays they needed to win when
the time called for.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
And let's keep in mind that both veteran Harrison Smith
and I've and Pace are due back against the Packers
on Sunday. The Vikings have been getting off to some
great starts. I mean they've been starting fast. An emphasis
that koc has been putting on this team and what
what do you look for and what will be arguably
one of the greatest atmospheres league any of us have
seen at us Peak Stadium. Yeah, with the Packers coming
(28:06):
to town, knowing what's at stake, in particular for the Vikings,
you win two, uh, you get home field and a
first round by.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Right, and that's I think that's the thing is that
if if you went out, you deserve to have a
first round by because you're gonna be you're gonna be
Green Bay, one of the better teams in the entire NFL,
and then you're playing Detroit, which since the beginning of
the season has been raised. Unfortunately they're both in our division.
It's awesome too as a player to have that in
(28:35):
front of you. Still, right, two games left to the season,
you have the opportunity to have, you know, to get
the first first round by home field advantage, just an
opportunity at that despite all the work that you've already done, right,
you can't you can't rest on that. You still have
to continue to fight and battle. And if you can
get these next two games, if this team wins these
(28:57):
next two games you're talking about, you talk about the
moment mentum taking you into the playoffs, it's pretty incredible.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I know we'll have plenty of time to kind of
really take a step back and analyze this entire season.
But as I'm sitting here with you today, I think
back to, you know, going to OTAs or training camp.
You just shake your head and you've been around this
game a long time, right, thirteen and two is what
the record is?
Speaker 4 (29:21):
Right now?
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Am I missing something?
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Nobody does this happen nobody? But PA would have taken
that back.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Nobody, not even I don't think even PA would have
taken that.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
And we've talked about before. It's a matter of all
the free agents. The most important spot in the entire NFL,
or in all sports. The quarterback position was a huge
question mark. Everybody just assumed that Donald would play maybe better,
but similar to how he has played his entire career.
This is a quantum leap from what everything that he's
(29:50):
done in San Francisco or with the Jets. Nobody projected
him to be this good, right And I mean the
coaches might have seen it. That's their job, and they
I've brought it out of him. But the quarterback plays
has far exceeded anything. And then all the free agents
we brought in, I think Blake Brandella has played better
at guard than anybody knew or expected him to play.
(30:13):
So with all these question marks that you had going
into the season, every single one of them. Jerry Tillery,
I mean Jerry Tillery bounced around the league for a
long time. I mean it's like Cashman, who would have
thought that he would know he's undefeated now as a starter.
He was out for two weeks right or at least
a week injured himself, and I believe in London is
(30:34):
where he messed up his foot. But you know, with
him on the field, we haven't lost the game. It's like,
who would have thought, right, So just enjoy it and
ride with it. I still think that's a big reason
why nationally no one's jumping on the bandwagon right because
it's still yeah, it's still East Coast dominated, right with
(30:55):
the media and everything else. But at the same time,
people are just waiting for for Donald to kind of
he's not who he was, right, and that again, that's that.
It's like, it's how you predict every season. Detroit's gonna
be number one, Green Bay man a running playoffs, They're
gonna be number two, they'll fight it out for the division.
The Bears are gonna get better because of the draft.
And then oh yeah, there's the vikings with this with
(31:17):
Donald at quarterback, they're going to be fourth in the division.
Well that's that, and so just remember this going forward
when you start talking about season predictions.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
It might be the last thing on Sam Donald's mind
right now as we wrap things up here, but he's
certainly making it difficult for the guys upstairs. To say,
I want to let this guy ever get out of
our building.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Because see, good problems to have. That's a nice problem
to have, good problems to have. And what's in his
best interest is to play and win as many games
as he possibly can.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
All right, well, Pete, there's not much more that needs
to be said than the Vikings and the Packers Sunday
at US Bank Stadium. Keep in mind now it's a
three twenty five pm kickoff over on Fox here the
Twin Cities no longer noon three twenty five, so be
sure to check your local listings for details. You can
also catch, of course, Paul Allen ben Lee Brand the
one and only Pete Ursus with the call right here
(32:07):
all across the Vikings radio network. The Vikings Football Sunday
pregame show starts at one pm on Kfan, so be
sure to tune in with host Mike Musbin and the
rest of the crew leading up to kickoff. Thanks again
to Tim Baylor for joining the show, and thank you
fans for tuning into another edition of Skulls Stories presented
by three M the official science partner of the Minnesota Vikings,
(32:30):
and we will see you all again next week.
Popular Podcasts
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!