Thread: Vikings safety, coordinator played together in college

[size=18px]Vikings safety, coordinator played together in college[/size]

Vikings safety Darren Sharper and new defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin were college teammates at William & Mary.

Sid Hartman, Star Tribune
Last update: June 17, 2006 – 11:02 PM

Vikings safety Darren Sharper and new defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin were college teammates at William & Mary.
Now Tomlin is Sharper's coach, and Tomlin said past relationships are forgotten when the two are on the football field.

"That's just kind of the nature of the business. You know, we go back to when we both kids, probably a little bit further than either one of us would like to remember," Tomlin said. "But we keep it professional. You have to. He's got a job to do. I've got a job to do. Be honest with you, when we are out here working, or when we're in the classroom in there, very rarely does it cross my mind."

Will Tomlin favor Sharper in any way? "If anything, I might be guilty of going the other direction just because of where we come from," Tomlin said.

Tomlin has a lot of respect for Sharper, saying: "I think his stats speak for themselves. He's been the premier interception guy of kind of this generation of guys. The numbers say that. I think he's out far and ahead of anybody else since 2000, in terms of interceptions, 40 interceptions since the year 2000. That speaks for itself.

"He's a ballhog. He's always been a ballhog. He was a ballhog when he was 17 when I met him."

Tomlin was a receiver for William & Mary from 1990 to '94. Sharper played for the Division I-AA school from '93 to '96 and became a second-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers.

Speaking of Tomlin, yes he is only 36 years old, but all you hear from the Vikings defensive players is how good a coach he is.

Jottings

With this week's motorcycle-related injury to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Dan Gladden, the former Twins outfielder who is now a radio broadcaster for WCCO, recalled taking a slight pay cut so he could continue to ride a motorcycle without an accident voiding his contract. "I was dealing with [GM] Andy MacPhail and I love riding motorcycles, and Andy finally allowed me to continue to do so with a small cut in salary," Gladden recalled.

A few years ago, Mason and his assistants spotted a couple of good athletes in Mark Setterstrom and Greg Eslinger in their summer football camp and offered them scholarships on the spot. Well, the same thing happened the other day when Eden Prairie's Ryan Orton was offered a scholarship on the field, and he accepted it right away.

In an interview last week with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, former Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper, now with the Miami Dolphins, said: "This is really like a déjÃÂÂ* vu to me. When I came to the NFL in 1999, there was a lot of speculation about me. In 2000, when I became the starter, there was a lot of speculation because everyone wanted to know how I was going to do. And now since I've been here, I feel the same. There's a lot of questions, a lot of speculation. People want to know what I'm made of and how I'm going to do." As far as the condition of his injured knee, he said: "I'm just going to be smart about it. I'm not going to go out and make a crazy cut if I don't have to or do something crazy. I'm just going to go through the motions and get a feel for how I'm feeling."


Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO 830-AM at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. • [email protected]

Entire article: Vikings safety, coordinator played together in college

good to know he's got some chemistry with one of our defensive leaders =)

and good to hear he's not cotrell :lol:

I heard about this when Tomblin was first signed.

Yeah, it's all pretty old information with regards to the Vikings. The only new bit of information of any interest for me is the news that the Gophers have got a new O-Lineman named Ryan Orton on a scholarship in the same way they signed Setterstrom and Eslinger.

"Benet" wrote:

Yeah, it's all pretty old information with regards to the Vikings. The only new bit of information of any interest for me is the news that the Gophers have got a new O-Lineman named Ryan Orton on a scholarship in the same way they signed Setterstrom and Eslinger.

You know the offseason is slow when Hartman starts regurgitating news that was reported in back in January... :lol:

"NodakPaul" wrote:

"Benet" wrote:

Yeah, it's all pretty old information with regards to the Vikings. The only new bit of information of any interest for me is the news that the Gophers have got a new O-Lineman named Ryan Orton on a scholarship in the same way they signed Setterstrom and Eslinger.

You know the offseason is slow when Hartman starts regurgitating news that was reported in back in January... :lol:

It's not because of the off-season, it's due to senility. :wink:

I didn't know that! Pretty cool.

I will have to let one of my buddies that went to Willie and Millie know about that connection!