DAILY CLIPS

FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2020

LOCAL NEWS: Friday, July 3, 2020

The Athletic

Where the voice of the Vikings was born: Paul Allen’s bond with Canterbury Park By Chad Graff https://theathletic.com/1905029/2020/07/02/paul-allen-canterbury-park-voice-of-the-vikings-kfan/

Purple Insider

10 intriguing players we might not see because of shortened preseason By Matthew Coller https://purpleinsider.substack.com/p/10-intriguing-players-we-might-not

NATIONAL NEWS: Friday, July 3, 2020

Maven Media

Vikings Who Could be Cut if the NFL Reduces Roster Sizes for Training Camp By Will Ragatz https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/vikings-coronavirus-nfl-reduced-roster-sizes-training-camp

73 Days Until Vikings Football: Is Ready to Start at Right Guard? By Will Ragatz https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/73-days-vikings-football-countdown-dru-samia-right-guard

MULTIMEDIA NEWS: Friday, July 3, 2020

Garafolo With The Latest On The Two-Game Preseason Proposal By NFL Network https://www.vikings.com/video/garafolo-with-the-latest-on-the-two-game-preseason-proposal

PUBLICATION: The Athletic DATE: 7/3/20

Where the voice of the Vikings was born: Paul Allen’s bond with Canterbury Park

By Chad Graff

In the corner of each photo that hangs on the wall in the announcer’s booth at Canterbury Park, there’s a date written in black marker. It helps keep track of memories that go back 26 years.

There are ones where Paul Allen’s children are young and enamored with the track, then more recent ones as the children have grown into teenagers, including one of the shared race call Allen did with his 19-year-old son, Derek, on Father’s Day last year. There is memorabilia, too, including Adrian Peterson’s autograph on the credential Allen wore the day Peterson rushed for a record 296 yards against the Chargers. And, of course, there are pictures with winning horses, including one with Mike Zimmer and Norv Turner. They’re both smiling.

They cover nearly every inch of the wall in the long, narrow room, and on this scorching day at the end of June, Allen is looking back at nearly three decades here via the photos that hang on the wall. He’s waxing about life and memories and lessons the way his loyal radio listeners are used to when the horses begin cramming into the starting gate for race No. 2.

Allen casually puts his headset on, flips the microphone’s switch, and peers into his massive, 10×70 field binoculars. Most race announcers prefer a wider view through their lenses, but Allen likes these because he watches the jockey’s hands. The hands, he says, provide a clue about whether the jockey is about to begin a push or whether the horse has already given all that it has.

The call, somewhere around the 35,000th of his career, goes off without a hitch. The No. 6 horse wins relatively easily, causing Allen to exclaim that the horse is “into social distancing,” at the end of his call.

Allen turned and quickly dove back into a tour of the space. He wore jeans and a collared shirt. And slippers. He’d never really worn them before stay-at-home orders, but now he doesn’t take them off. On opening day at Canterbury Park last month, Allen wore one of his nicest suits, a black ensemble with a light purple shirt underneath. And he still had the slippers on.

In some ways, it’s fitting. This is his second home. In the years since Allen first arrived in Minnesota to call horse races here, he’s become more known for his other work. His work as the play-by-play announcer of the Vikings has made him a beloved figure in the state because his passion on the call matches that of fans. His morning show on KFAN goes well beyond the Vikings and features an expansive array of guests across the local sports scene (including writers from The Athletic).

But here, among the same people he’s worked with since he was hired in 1995, is where Allen is most at home.

“Without Canterbury,” he said, “there is no KFAN, and there is no voice of the Vikings.”

Paul Allen From his perch high above the track, Allen and his binoculars have been calling races at Canterbury Park for 26 years. “Without Canterbury … there is no voice of the Vikings,” Allen says. (Chad Graff) Allen grew up outside a racetrack in Washington, D.C., then moved during his teenage years outside Los Angeles. He laid in bed at night listening on the radio to Vin Scully call Dodgers games and Chick Hearn call Lakers games. He wanted to be just like Hearn.

But school wasn’t really for him. His mom did his homework to get him through senior year of high school and five years of community college offered evidence that the traditional path wouldn’t work for him. That also meant his dreams of being like Hearn would require a different avenue. Broadcasters usually study the field in college, then start broadcasting high school games and work their way up.

But no one hires a broadcaster without experience or a college degree. So Allen got a gig as a sports reporter for the Pasadena Star-News. He covered prep sports and horse racing at Santa Anita. He liked learning about grammar and sentence structure. But he really took to the evenings at the track where the legendary Trevor Denman called races.

Suddenly, he had a new goal. If he couldn’t be Hearn, he wanted to be Denman. He devised a microphone setup out of a clothes hanger that went around his head. He held binoculars in one hand and a race program in the other. He sat on the roof of Santa Anita, out of sight from anyone else so they wouldn’t know what he was doing. And he recorded each race that was called to an audience of one.

Eventually, he gained the nerve to ask Denman for feedback. Denman offered it politely, then Allen went and taped another 50 races. Rinse and repeat. Feedback, reps, more feedback, more reps.

He wanted to enunciate the horse names so if he ever got the chance to do it professionally, those in the grandstands would know what was happening. So he practiced by biting down on one end of a wine cork and reading aloud.

“And then you take it out, you read the same thing and it flows unbelievably smoother,” Allen said. “So I did that a lot and I built my muscles around my mouth to articulate and enunciate better.”

In 1993, Allen learned of a job opening calling races at Bay Meadows outside San Francisco. He drove up the next day, found the track’s president, Jack Liebau, and asked him to listen to the recordings he’d made atop Santa Anita. The reception was fine. So Allen returned the next day with more recordings. Finally, he scored an interview.

“I was the first one that they interviewed, and I was the only one with no professional experience,” Allen said. “So I said to Mr. Liebau, what does the job pay? And he said, ‘$225 a day,’ and I said, ‘I’ll do it for $125 a day.’”

A few days later, Allen learned he got the job. It paid $225 a day.

When Canterbury Park was returning in 1995, they faced a decision. Do they seek a buttoned-up, traditional race announcer, the position that essentially amounts to the face of the track? Or do they go for a younger, more energetic person that might appeal to a wider audience?

David Miller, who worked at the park and was among those tasked with helping find candidates, recommended the latter. And there was this kid out of California with a style unlike others. He was raw, sure, but he might be perfect for this kind of setting, Miller thought.

The bosses at Canterbury Park immediately took a liking to Allen, gave him the job, and hoped his style would endear itself to locals and casual fans.

At the end of his first weekend in Minnesota, Allen prepped for his final call of that Sunday, a short two-turn sprint. He began with his usual, “And they’re off,” call.

The No. 8 horse opened slow and was quickly in dead last, maybe 10 lengths behind the field as Miller recalls.

“And Paul goes, ‘That horse is farther behind than my truck payment,’” Miller said. “And the place just erupts. I looked around like, ‘We got a winner.’”

Allen spent his first three years at the track rotating between Canterbury in the summer, then back to Bay Meadows for winter racing. A job at KFAN got him to move to Minnesota full-time and three years after that, he landed the gig calling Vikings games.

But Allen had never been a play-by-play announcer. He had called plenty of races but not a single football game.

“So for better or for worse in the early stages, when I was wilder and less refined than I am now, there were some plays in games that were rodeos,” Allen said. “I was so up and down. I mean, I had bosses at KFAN tell me, you have to stop getting so depressed on the radio when they’re not doing well, because we’re losing listeners.”

But as Allen refined his style, he leaned on what he knew. Announcing horse racing is all about building a crescendo and so is each play in football. That part came easy. So he took more of what he learned at the horse track and brought it to the football field. His calls sounded different because of it.

“And he crosses the 50, makes a man misses at the 40 and so-and-so isssssss goneeeeeeee, as opposed to 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, touchdown,” Allen said as an example. “So then I have other play-by-play guys being like, ‘Whoa, man, we’ve never heard that.’ So I brought a bunch of stuff like that that nobody had ever heard. But I had been doing it here. It was just unconventional.”

Allen’s first gig at KFAN turned into a co-hosted show after Jesse Ventura became governor. That eventually became his own morning show. It’s among the most listened to programs in the state.

His work with the Vikings has made him one of best-known play-by-play announcers in the NFL and he now leads shows with the team’s entertainment network. He coined the term “Minneapolis Miracle” after the most improbable and thrilling play in franchise history.

So, yes, he could easily spend his summers elsewhere, tucked into a pontoon boat up north without the grind of four- days-a-week race calls through the dog days of summer.

“But this place is so deeply rooted in the fabric of who I am,” Allen said.

Canterbury’s modified schedule this summer — with races Monday-Thursday — means that Allen has summer weekends off for the first time in 26 years. But after his radio show ended last Friday, he got in his car and drove back here, walked up the same stairs, and found the same familiar faces in Canterbury’s press box.

He’s almost three decades into his tenure here and enjoys this place more than ever. His son Derek now works in the café downstairs and he likes to go down and see him between races. He’ll occasionally surprise him with a bet slip for a horse he likes.

The job is not necessary, of course. Allen could probably live just fine without the paycheck from Canterbury. And he certainly doesn’t need it to boost his resume. But this place, slippers and all, feels like home. He comes back each year for the people and the conversations and because, well, you don’t leave home unless you have to.

“It’s not a money thing here. It’s this,” Allen said, looking around at the memories hung on the wall. “It’s exactly this.” PUBLICATION: Purple Insider DATE: 7/3/20

10 intriguing players we might not see because of shortened preseason

By Matthew Coller

The first major domino could be falling soon when it comes to the impact of COVID-19 on the NFL.

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that that league plans to cut two playoff games and the NFL Players Association may push for the elimination of the preseason altogether.

Mike Garafolo @MikeGarafolo Second part of the report on the preseason from @NFLTotalAccess: The NFLPA has been vocal about the health and safety of their players, and not just publicly. The union will continue to discuss whether it's safe to play any preseason games. July 1st 2020

29 Retweets48 Likes Before we go any further, it’s worth noting that the health and safety of players is far more important than how changes to the preseason could impact roster decisions.

Nonetheless, changes to the preseason could impact roster decisions.

There’s two ways of looking at it. On one hand, teams could sit starters to protect them and treat preseason games entirely as roster battle contests. It’s also plausible that teams would play starters far more than they have in the past because of the limitations caused by a derailed offseason.

Option 2 seems more likely.

Plus it would stand to reason that practice time would be more heavily focused on the starters and second-team players getting up to speed rather than giving third-stringers a chance to surprise.

If that opportunity is lost, here’s 10 interesting players whose chances of being “Mr. Mankato” (or whatever we’re calling it now) could be diminished by a lack of preseason.

WR, Alexander Hollins After being dead last on the depth chart entering camp last season, Hollins made the practice squad and was eventually bumped up to the active roster in Week 13. The former Eastern Illinois standout saw just one target until Week 17, when he caught two passes from Sean Mannion for 46 yards.

Hollins does not have an NFL prototype body or any particular skill that makes him stand out from the pack but he overachieved already by playing in games last season. Sometimes players like that (ahem, ) end up continuing their growth and becoming starters. But with the signing of former Titan Tajae Sharpe and addition of and KJ Osborn in the draft, it could become harder for Hollins to shine in practice as players with more experience or higher ceilings get first dibs.

WR, Mitchell is definitely one of those players with a higher ceiling but he will have limited chances to show the Vikings that he can catch onto the offense this time around and reach that ceiling. The highly-productive Oregon Duck was picked in the seventh-round by the Vikings in 2019 and made some “late-round steal” articles after the draft but failed to stand out during training camp and largely rode the pine in preseason games. This is a make-or-break camp for Mitchell and now he might not get many preseason snaps — if any — to show he belongs.

WR, Bralon Addison

There’s always a CFL guy.

Two years ago, Brandon Zylstra made the team and caught one pass during the regular season as The CFL Guy. Addison is this year’s version. And his CFL stats, like Zylstra’s, were eye-popping. He caught 95 passes for 1,236 yards and seven touchdowns last season for the Hamilton Tiger Cats. Before spending the last two years in Canada, he had cups of coffee with Denver and Chicago.

At 5-foot-9 and with a 4.66 40-yard dash at the Combine in 2016, it would take a spectacular practice performance for Addison to make the team because he won’t be able to shine in games as either a slot receiver or punt returners. Coming out in the draft, some experts liked his ability to separate from corners but seems to have that role filled.

TE, Brandon Dillon Mike Zimmer raved about Dillon in camp last season but where he really stood out was preseason games. The UDFA from Marian ( called him the “Marian Flash”) grabbed eight passes for 95 yards, including a five- catch performance in the fourth preseason games that earned him an initial roster spot (and later a job on the practice squad). The Vikings’ three tight ends are set with Kyle Rudolph, Irv Smith and but Dillon might normally have had a chance to give the Vikings no choice on a roster spot. That will be a lot more challenging if he doesn’t get many reps in preseason games.

CB, In a deep group of corners jockeying for position, Hand could get lost in the flood. The Vikings will likely be rotating first and second team reps with , Holton Hill, Mike Hughes Kris Boyd and Cam Dantzler so it will be hard for anyone outside of that group to push for first-team action.

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein doesn’t see the raw skills that suggest Hand can be a regular.

“Hand is fairly competitive and disciplined in coverage, but the skill level appears to be average. He might have a future as a backup for a zone-heavy cover team, but he needs to improve his run support and prove he can handle some special teams duties.”

But adapting to a special teams role might also not be easy considering the lack of real game reps to go around. In practice, they do not do full speed contact kick and punt returns.

CB, Nevelle Clarke A classic Zimmer-sized cornerback at 6-foot-1 who has serious upside, Clarke is much more on the developmental- prospect side than someone who will be fighting for a starting job.

Zierlein wrote:

“High-cut press cornerback with good height and length that he uses to his advantage. When Clarke reads the release correctly, he does a nice job of beating up receivers over the early stages of the pattern, but he's missing fluid hips and reactive agility to recover quickly when beaten.”

Clarke led UCF in pass breakups and he was first-team All-Conference in 2018 so he has the credentials to be in the mix. It’s just difficult to see him making a name without the benefit of some outstanding preseason performances.

DE,

*Photo courtesy of Michigan State

After posting monster tackle for loss (49) and sack numbers (23.5) over three years in college, Willekes fell under the radar in the draft (despite being a top 100 player by Pro Football Focus. The door could still be open to the former Michigan State star mauling in early practices and getting a look as a rotational rusher but the D-line room is thick with competition for those spots. Veteran free agent Anthony Zettel will be in the mix along with higher draft picks James Lynch and DJ Wonnum.

G, One of the most athletic guards in the draft, Hinton’s small school status dropped him to the seventh round. He hasn’t played against competition that’s anywhere in the ballpark of the NFL so the transition would already be tough enough under normal circumstances. Without the late moments of preseason games to put himself on the map, Hinton will have a tough time getting into the competition for a spot on the guard depth chart.

T, Tackle has become a very deep position for the Vikings with taken in the second round and development project showing in Week 17 that he can stand up to NFL players. Brandel was one of the best pass blocking tackles in all of college football last season but save for injuries there isn’t going to be many reps to give him aside from third team in practice.

S, Myles Dorn The backup safety positions are undecided so Dorn could stick his nose into a spot that would start out as having and Brian Cole (both seventh-round picks) as the No. 3 and 4 safeties behind Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris. If the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Tarheel doesn’t jump off to an early lead in camp practices, it will be hard to show playmaking skill in preseason games if, well, there aren’t any preseason games.

PUBLICATION: Maven Media DATE: 7/3/20

Vikings Who Could be Cut if the NFL Reduces Roster Sizes for Training Camp

By Will Ragatz

News emerged on Thursday that the NFL is unlikely to keep rosters at the typical 90 players for training camp this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that roster sizes are almost certainly going to be reduced to 75 or 80 players.

The NFL has already cut the preseason in half, so this is a logical next step when it comes to safety precautions. With only two preseason games, teams don't necessarily need the full 90 players anyways.

"The league and NFLPA are trying to figure out the right number of players each team can bring to camp, and that appears to be between 75 and 80," Schefter wrote. "One plan being further discussed is splitting the roster into two groups and having each practice at a different time, no matter how many players are allowed to report to camp."

ADVERTISEMENTSCROLL TO CONTINUE READING The Vikings currently have 87 players on their roster. Here are some of the end-of-the-roster guys who might not be brought to camp if the Vikings are forced to cut seven to 12 players.

2020 UDFAs/late-round picks

This could be bad news for some of the 27 rookies the Vikings brought in this offseason. Obviously, I'd expect everyone drafted through the first five or six rounds to be safe, but some late-round picks and especially the undrafted free agents could potentially be in trouble.

OT Blake Brandel (sixth round) S Josh Metellus (sixth round) DE Kenny Willekes (seventh round) QB (seventh round) S Brian Cole II (seventh round) G Kyle Hinton (seventh round) CB Nevelle Clarke (UDFA) S Myles Dorn (UDFA) WR Quartney Davis (UDFA) WR (UDFA) OT Brady Aiello (UDFA) G Tyler Higby (UDFA) C Jake Lacina (UDFA) TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart (UDFA) FB (UDFA) LB Jordan Fehr (UDFA) LB (UDFA) DT David Moa (UDFA) Non-rookie cut candidates

If the Vikings decide they want to keep some of their undrafted free agents in camp to get a long look at their abilities, they could cut some players who have already had at least one training camp to prove themselves.

RB Tony Brooks-James WR Bralon Addison WR Dillon Mitchell WR Alexander Hollins WR Davion Davis QB TE Brandon Dillon DE Stacy Keely DE Eddie Yarbrough CB Mark Fields CB Nate Meadors CB Marcus Sayles CB Kemon Hall The Vikings will still have to trim their roster down to 53 players after training camp, with 12 practice squad spots available. However, it's possible that practice squads could be expanded even further this year due to COVID-19.

Training camp is still scheduled to begin on July 28th, though Schefter is reporting that there are "increasing questions from league sources about whether camp can start on time with the number of coronavirus cases around the country spiking."

We'll continue to provide all of the latest updates on COVID-19 and the NFL right here at InsideTheVikings.

Check out all of our Vikings 2020 season preview content right here. PUBLICATION: Maven Media DATE: 7/3/20

73 Days Until Vikings Football: Is Dru Samia Ready to Start at Right Guard?

By Will Ragatz

As we count down the days until the Vikings' opener against the Packers on September 13th, InsideTheVikings will be previewing every single player on the roster. The amount of days remaining corresponds with the jersey number of the player being examined on that day. Today is July 2nd, and there are 73 days until kickoff for the 2020 regular season. Thus, our next preview looks at the heavy favorite to be the Vikings' starting right guard in 2020.

Countdown to Vikings-Packers on September 13th: 73 Days

Player Preview: Dru Samia (No. 73, Guard) College: Oklahoma Drafted: 2019 fourth round (114th overall) NFL experience: One year Age: 22 (Turns 23 in August) Size: 6'5", 308 2019 PFF Grade: 47.8

When the Vikings traded up to land Oklahoma's Dru Samia in the fourth round of last year's draft, it was seen by many as a savvy move by Rick Spielman. The 2018 Big 12 Co-Offensive Lineman of the Year was a highly intriguing guard prospect who most draft analysts projected to come off the board on Day 2. Though he needed to improve his hand technique and become more consistent, Samia's zone-blocking ability, athleticism, and strength made him a high-upside pick for the Vikings in Gary Kubiak's offensive scheme.

All of that remains true one year later, even though he played just 31 snaps as a rookie. Samia essentially redshirted last year, working with Rick Dennison and the Vikings' coaching staff in practice but sitting on game days as Josh Kline started at right guard. The Vikings liked what they saw from him throughout the year and in Week 17, when Samia got a chance to play late in the first half and the entire second half against the Bears.

"I think we've got some young guys that we basically redshirted this year that I think are going to have opportunities to be good football players," Mike Zimmer said after the season. "I'm hoping [the offensive line] becomes even more of a strength for us next year."

The players Zimmer is referring to are Oli Udoh and Samia. There's a chance that those two 2019 Day 3 picks are the Vikings' starting guards in 2020, though Samia has a much clearer path due to the release of Kline this offseason. From everything we've heard, the right guard job is Samia's to lose. The Vikings are very high on his potential in Kubiak's offense, and the primary competition is made up of underachieving veterans (, Aviante Collins) and a seventh-round rookie (Kyle Hinton).

Samia is a native of Danville, CA, which is just 30 minutes east of Oakland. A four-star recruit, he chose Oklahoma over dozens of offers from west coast schools like UCLA and Cal. He started nine games for OU at right tackle as a true freshman in 2015, then became the Sooners' full-time starter at right guard for the next three years. In 2018, Samia was named to the All-Big 12 first team and was a second-team All-American after not allowing a sack on over 400 pass-blocking snaps.

While at Oklahoma, Samia became known for his toughness. He's an ultra-competitive player who is always looking for someone to block and isn't afraid to play through the whistle. That type of mentality goes a long way on the interior of the offensive line. Samia also demonstrated plenty of athleticism as a zone blocker and the power – he did 28 reps on the bench press at the 2019 combine – to anchor against defensive tackles on passing downs.

After a solid preseason performance, Samia got his first NFL regular season action out of the way by playing six series in the meaningless finale against Chicago. He had some good moments and some bad ones, but overall I thought his tape looked better than the 47.8 grade PFF gave him. Samia showed off his athleticism, held up in pass protection for the most part, and continued to demonstrate his 'nastiness' by always looking for someone to hit. There were definitely some things he needs to clean up, but the Vikings reportedly liked what they saw from him in that game.

Unless the Vikings re-sign Kline or bring in another free agent guard, I'd be shocked if Samia isn't the Week 1 starter at right guard. He's got all of the tools, now it's time to see if he can emerge in his second season.

Previous OL player previews:

No. 78: Dakota Dozier No. 76: Aviante Collins No. 75: Brian O'Neill No. 74: Oli Udoh You can find every single player preview to date – plus other offseason content – in this handy spreadsheet.