Vikings Colleges

There's been a decent amount of attention paid to the Minnesota Vikings apparent infatuation with Notre Dame players. It was often mentioned by draft talkingheads as one of the reasons that the team might be interested in linebacker Manti Teo. Personally, I think that the number of Irish Vikings is more a coincidence that anything else. Either way, there are five on the roster:

John Sullivan
Kyle Rudolph
John Carlson
Harrison Smith
Robert Blanton

Sullivan, Rudolph, and Smith are already impact players. Carlson and Blanton could join them in that capacity.

Notre Dame isn't the only college with a bunch of Vikings. USC also has five.

Matt Kalil
Rhett Ellison
Matt Cassel
Everson Griffen
Lawrence Jackson

After only one season, Kalil is well on his way to being one of the very best tackles in the game. Cassel and Jackson joined the team this offseason as free agents to form a fine group of Trojans in Minnesota. If the Vikings have to add USC players to the roster they had better be difference makers.

While I was well aware of all the Notre Dame and USC players on the Vikings roster, I was surprised to see that Florida St. had passed  them both. That happened draft weekend. Four rookies have joined Christian Ponder and Letroy Guion as teammates.

Christian Ponder
Letroy Guion
Xavier Rhodes
Everett Dawkins
Anthony McCloud
Rodney Smith

Nearby Iowa comes in at fourth with four:

Chad Greenway
Christian Ballard
Seth Olsen
James Vandenberg

While it's really no surprise that the Vikings find many terrific football players from established football colleges like Notre Dame, USC, Florida St., and Iowa. It's a little startling to see Furman checking in with three players heading to Mankato for training camp.

Jerome Felton
Colin Anderson
Jerodis Williams

Felton made the Pro Bowl last season as Adrian Peterson's lead blocker. That got him a nice extension and a bright future with the Vikings. Three Paladins and only one Golden Bear.

Through 53 years of Minnesota Vikings football there have been startling few players from Cal. While my school may have had a wildly inconsistent football team over the past several decades there have still been many excellent football players. Few have found their way to Minnesota. Right now there is only one. He was their most recent addition.

Cal:
Desmond Bishop