DAILY CLIPS SATURDAY, JULY 28, 2018 LOCAL NEWS: Saturday, July 28, 2018 Star Tribune Vikings say a final farewell to Tony Sparano at coach's funeral service By Ben Goessling http://www.startribune.com/vikings-say-a-final-farewell-to-tony-sparano-at-coach-s-funeral-service/489367051/ Pioneer Press ‘Not a dry eye’ at funeral for Vikings line coach Tony Sparano By Chris Tomasson https://www.twincities.com/2018/07/27/funeral-for-vikings-offensive-line-coach-tony-sparano-had-not-a-dry-eye/ VIKING Update Hughes’ house purchase for his mom was ‘dream come true’ By Tim Yotter https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Mike-Hughes-house-purchase-for-his-mom-was-dream-come-true-for- Minnesota-Vikings-first-round-pick-120140239/ NATIONAL NEWS: Saturday, July 28, 2018 ESPN Who is Kirk Cousins? A journey to the hometown of an $84 million underdog By Courtney Cronin http://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-vikings/post/_/id/26582/who-is-kirk-cousins-a-journey-to-hometown-of-84-million- underdog NFL.com Vikings RB Dalvin Cook sheds knee brace before camp By Kevin Patra http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000942480/article/vikings-rb-dalvin-cook-sheds-knee-brace-before-camp PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 7/28/18 Vikings say a final farewell to Tony Sparano at coach's funeral service By Ben Goessling On a day that would ordinarily mark the start of a new football season, the Vikings paused as a team to grieve and remember Tony Sparano's life. Vikings players, coaches, front office executives and owner Zygi Wilf were among the group of about 250 people who gathered at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Wayzata on Friday to honor Sparano, their offensive line coach who died Sunday of natural causes stemming from arteriosclerotic heart disease. People from around the NFL traveled to Wayzata for the 56-year-old Sparano's funeral, including New Orleans coach Sean Payton, former NFL coaches Rex and Rob Ryan and Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell. Recently retired Vikings offensive lineman Joe Berger, who played for Sparano in three cities, and Jake Long, who was with Sparano in Miami and Minnesota, were also in attendance. As mourners filed out of the church and congregated in the parking lot, Payton — who coached with Zimmer and Sparano with Dallas under Bill Parcells — placed his hand on Zimmer's shoulder while Berger joined current Vikings linemen Riley Reiff, Nick Easton, Pat Elflein, Mike Remmers and Rashod Hill as pallbearers, carrying Sparano's casket to a hearse. It was a final gesture of gratitude and support from players who have talked all week about what Sparano meant to them personally and professionally. "He took me to places I couldn't go as a player and as a man," Elflein said Thursday. "It wasn't just football with him. He really cared about his players, the well-being of his players. It hurts." Vikings veterans were scheduled to report to training camp on Friday, while the team went through its last of three practices with only rookies, quarterbacks and players rehabbing from injury. Instead, the Vikings canceled Friday's activities so they could attend services for Sparano as a group. They will hold their first full-team workouts Saturday at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, as their focus starts to shift back to the upcoming season and the task of following up on last year's trip to the NFC Championship Game. The Vikings have said they will work with Sparano's family on further plans to honor the coach during the 2018 season, and especially in the team's offensive line room, Sparano doesn't figure to be far from players' minds. "We can't control the things that happen to us in life all the time," Berger said Sunday. "It's up to us to respond to what happens. There's obviously a time to grieve, and that's important, but you can use that to maybe even be better because of it. "I think there's plenty of examples in sports and in life, where something like this happens and the guys rally behind the situation, get closer together as a group and are better because of it. I think it's up to the group now to respond to this in a way that can be positive at the end of it. The personal side of it, it really hits you hard." PUBLICATION: Pioneer Press DATE: 7/28/18 ‘Not a dry eye’ at funeral for Vikings line coach Tony Sparano By Chris Tomasson The Vikings took Friday off from practice to honor Tony Sparano. Four buses carried players, coaches and staff members from training camp at the TCO Performance Center in Eagan to The Church of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata for what attendees said was an emotional funeral service. Sparano, the Vikings’ offensive line coach the past two seasons, died Sunday from heart disease. He was 56. About 250 people attended the 1 1/2-hour service, the bulk of them from the Vikings, including owner Zygi Wilf, general manager Rick Spielman and coach Mike Zimmer. Others on hand included New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, who coached with Sparano in Dallas; ESPN analyst and former NFL head coach Rex Ryan, who had Sparano as his offensive coordinator with the New York Jets; Rex Ryan’s twin brother Rob Ryan, a longtime defensive coordinator, and many players from other teams Sparano coached in 17 NFL seasons. “It was absolutely terrific,” Rex Ryan said of the service, which was off limits to the media. “His wife (Jeanette) and (three) kids did the readings, and she was phenomenal, and it was special. It really was.” Pallbearers were Joe Berger and Vikings starting offensive linemen Riley Reiff, Mike Remmers, Nick Easton, Pat Elflein and Rashod Hill. Berger was a starter during both of Sparano’s seasons with the Vikings before announcing his retirement in March; he also played for Sparano in Dallas and Miami. Sparano had stints as a head coach with the Dolphins from 2008-11 and with Oakland on an interim basis in 2014. Former Dolphins players who attended included Jake Long, who played with Minnesota in his final NFL season of 2016, Ronnie Brown, Kendall Langford and tight end Matthew Mulligan. Dan Campbell, a Dolphins assistant under Sparano who is now a Saints assistant, also was on hand, and Miami general manager Mike Tannenbaum was at Thursday night’s wake. “I’m sure there will be an enormous grieving period for the family, and whatever it takes for them is right for them,” Mulligan said. “But I hope the family sees the amount of support they had from all these people coming out. There were people from Florida, from California. There were so many people who came to say, ‘He meant the world to us.’ Hopefully, (the family will) be able to look back at that at some point and say, ‘That helped.’ ” Mulligan, who played in the NFL from 2008-16, was on the Dolphins practice squad as a rookie when Sparano led the team to the AFC East title. Mulligan also played for Buffalo in 2015, when Sparano’s son, Tony Sparano Jr., was tight ends coach. “I thought that Jeanette was just amazing,” Mulligan said. “Her eulogy, there was not a dry eye in the place. The thing that I got from the whole deal, she was saying, ‘It was faith, family, football for Tony,’ but that he was the best father and unrivaled as far as his compassion and love for his family.” The Vikings did not make players available for interviews after the service. After Sparano was fired by the Dolphins in 2011, Rex Ryan hired him to serve as offensive coordinator of the Jets for 2012. Ryan said he knew Sparano well long before that and for a total of about 20 years. “He was a great coach (and) just a hell of a person,” Ryan said. “He was my kind of guy. He was a tough ass, but he was just special. He had a great rapport with his players. You knew what you were going to get from him. He was an honest man. Just a great coach.” Ryan is the son of longtime NFL coach Buddy Ryan, who died in 2016 at age 85. He said he was stunned when he heard about Sparano’s death. “I got a call from (Sparano Jr.), but I think he was in shock at the time,” Ryan said. “He was 56 years old. That happened to my dad a few years ago, and you can see it (at 85) years old. That never makes it easy, but you’re kind of prepared for it. At 56 years old, you’re not prepared for it, and I think it shocked everybody.” PUBLICATION: Viking Update DATE: 7/28/18 Hughes’ house purchase for his mom was ‘dream come true’ By Tim Yotter It’s been a busy last 10 days for Minnesota Vikings cornerback Mike Hughes. He signed his rookie contract, bought a house for his mother and started his first NFL training camp. Certainly, becoming a first-round draft pick was a dream fulfilled for Hughes, but after signing his four-year contract worth $9.87 million last week, he finalized the purchase of a house for his mother. His $5.25 million signing bonus, which he receives right away, came in handy. “It was a dream come true. She cried, it hit me,” Hughes said after the second day of training camp, one week after the purchase.