Training camp typically brings daily tweaks to an NFL roster. That appears to be especially true during a training camp that followed no offseason workouts. The Minnesota Vikings made a roster tweak yesterday that triggered some fond football memories. Hardy Nickerson Jr. was signed to bolster a linebacker group that was lacking some depth. It wasn't Nickerson's three years and nine starts with the Cincinnati Bengals that triggered those memories. Nor was it his final year of college at Illinois. It was his three years at Cal and his father that brought back memories of Golden Bear football fun.
Hardy Nickerson Sr's time in Berkeley matched my own. Despite having a lot of shitty football teams in the 1980s, Cal had a lot of fine linebackers. Gary Plummer, Ron Rivera, Ken Harvey, David Ortega, and especially Hardy Nickerson. Noon starts were the norm in the 1980s. Now, TV has Cal games starting any day from Thursday to Saturday and at any time of the day or night. Game times are so varied that Cal actually offers a class that breaks it all down. Except for a rainy night slaughter at the hands of a Mark Rypien-led Washington State team, every Cal home game during my student days was under a noon sun. Despite mostly losses, the football games were a blast. The Golden Bears were a scrappy, gritty football team. "The Bear will not quit. The Bear will not die." They lost a lot in the 1980s but they were fun to watch. At least my last game as a student and Nickerson's last game as a player was a 17-11 Big Game win. Former Vikings quarterback Joe Kapp was the head coach. That easily explains all the damn grit and fight in those Cal football teams. Harvey and Rivera were higher draft picks but I always felt that Nickerson was the better college linebacker. He easily had the better NFL career.
Five Pro Bowls
4x All-Pro
1990s All-Decade
Hardy Nickerson Sr. is right there with Joe Roth, Wesley Walker, Tony Gonzalez, Deltha O'Neal, Aaron Rodgers, Marshawn Lynch, Marvin Jones, Alex Mack, Mitchell Schwartz, Keenan Allen, and Evan Weaver among my favorite Cal players that I have cheered from the Memorial Stadium stands. When his son chose to play linebacker for Cal, I was thrilled. Unfortunately, he played for the Golden Bears while Sonny Dykes was the head coach. Junior saw more wins than his father but Dykes didn't believe in defense, didn't care about defense, and sure didn't play much of it. Despite having some fine players on that side of the ball, Cal's defense during the Dykes years were just brutal to watch. It was the complete opposite of the 1980s Golden Bears. When Lovie Smith hired Hardy Nickerson Sr. to be his defensive coordinator/linebacker coach at Illinois, it was an easy decision for Junior to bolt there for his final season as a graduate transfer.
Now, Hardy Nickerson Jr. is with the Minnesota Vikings. It's a personal reunion. Even if it's a one-sided reunion. With the limited depth, he has an opportunity. Cornerback Marcus Sayles was released to make room for Nickerson. There's always a disappointing side to these roster tweaks. I was excited when the Vikings signed Sayles early in the offseason out of the CFL. His size and feisty, physical play reminded me of Antoine Winfield. I thought that he might have a shot at as the nickel corner. That shot appeared to become less likely when the Vikings added corners Jeff Gladney, Cameron Dantzler, Harrison Hand, and Nevelle Clarke during and after the draft.
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