Some interesting info about the '98 NFCCG

**i_bleed_purple** · 03-07-2011, 08:47 PM

Found this in a forum I'm a part of. The guy claims to have met Chris Walsh a while ago, and asked him a few questions

2) WR Chris Walsh, 1992 draft pick by the Bills in round 9, signed as a FA with the Vikings in 1994. He became the Vikings' special teams ace to his retirement in 2002 and was nicknamed Mr. Versatility because he could almost anything the coached asked of him.

So, I opened the conversation by reminding him about at game winning touchdown he caught against the Bears in CHI and that I remember seeing jumping up and down so excitedly, I thought he was going to jump out of his pants. He laughed and said that he vividly remembered that play and described it to me from the moment he was sent in with the play call to his teammates smothering him in EZ. He reminded me that QB Brad Johnson threw the pass and told me that B. Johnson is now in the Atalanta area coaching a lot of high school sports for the teams that his kids play on. Walsh is now a real estate speculator and developer in the PHX area.

He has asked me how I became a Viking fan, so I explained it to him and he then confessed to me that he had been a Vikings fan since he was 3 years old, telling his mom that for his 4-year birthday, he wanted present x ( I forgot what it was ) and to play for the Vikings. What a premonition because at the time, he was living in MN. To this day, he still is a Vikings fan and always will be and when he caught that game winning touchdown, he had fulfilled a lifelong dream he'd had since his early childhood.

As the conversation went on, I asked if I could ask him a question he might not be comfortable with. He responded that if he could he would. So I asked him about the '98 NFC Championship loss to the Falcon's when coach Denny Green had Cunningham kneel to end the game instead of trying to get in range for a FG.
He stated that the whole team was really beaten up in that game and that both Brad Johnson's and Randall Cunningham's throwing hands were were really hurting, more than the media ever really knew. When Green talked to his coaches, the consensus was if they kneeled down to end regulation, the team could buy enough time to work in Cunninghan's hand and scour through Atlanta's defensive plays and improvise a plan that could get Gary Anderson within his range. Add to it the fact that the crowd in the Metrodome was playing factor in disrupting the Falcon's offense and were cooperation with relative silence when we had the ball, so they had a big home field advantage that they felt would work in their favor. Well, most of us know how that went and the rest they say, is history.

So take it for what it's worth, just something to keep in mind next time the topic comes up.