No Joke

I’m taken with Kevin O’Connell. I think that all of Minnesota is taken with the Vikings new head coach. A young offensive head coach. If that’s all that he is, it’s probably enough to win over a very cynical fan base. Sean McVay, Zac Taylor, Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFluer. Young offensive play callers have been the NFL head coaching trend. Even an old offensive play caller like Andy Reid is preferred over a defensive dinosaur. If a team has a defensive head coach, they start the Super Bowl race in the middle of the pack. Tell that to Bill Belichick or Sean McDermott. Many fans and nearly all football pundits honk on and on about having an offensive head coach as the only way to win in this NFL. After all, the only path to a Super Bowl title is the same path taken by the last team to win it. Anyway, the Vikings young head coach was energetic, thoughtful, and well-spoken in a sparkling introduction on Thursday. He even told a joke. That might be a surprise as many in attendance seemed to miss it. 

"I've used this joke before, but my career as a player provided a great platform for me as a coach because I did spend a lot of time watching games from the sideline."

O’Connell even advertised it as a joke. Maybe that was a mistake. I thought that his joke was hilarious. It gave me more than a chuckle, maybe a hearty laugh. I’m glad that I wasn’t eating a snack. I was a little surprised when I didn’t hear a similar response from those in attendance. Maybe they smiled or gave a happy nod. Maybe I had to be there. It was a funny joke. If I ever have a chance to meet O’Connell, I’ll tell him so. I like that he can poke fun at his modest playing career. He threw six passes and spent some time with six different teams. That’s an interesting stat. He completed four of those six passes for 23 yards. He’ll always have that. 

I like the Vikings new head coach. It might be a little thing but I like him even more after his telling that joke.