As the lockout lingers, more and more players from more and more teams are looking for ways to get back to football. For the Vikings, some players will be getting together soon to work out, but the workouts won’t be happening anywhere close to Minnesota.
Tom Pelissero of 1500espn.com reports that players will get together beginning on May 30 in Tampa.
Leading the charge are first-round quarterback Christian Ponder and an unlikely candidate -- sixth-round rookie safety Mistral Raymond, who played at USF.
“I talked to my coaching staff and everything,” Raymond said. “They said it’s perfectly fine with them. So, if Christian [Ponder] gets this stuff together, we’ll have the opportunity to get some of the Vikings’ skill players down here right on campus at USF.”
Though the value of the workouts remains unclear, if nothing else the practice enhances relationships and builds camaraderie. And for teams with new coaches and coordinators and quarterbacks, the more that the players can accomplish on their own, the better.