As their Vikings teammates shoved their belongings into garbage bags Monday morning, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, cornerback Captain Munnerlyn and defensive Everson Griffen lingered in the locker room. They sat side by side on tiny stools and shared a few laughs as they engaged in a quiet conversation.
They were not ready to go home.
A day earlier, after Bridgewater had moved the Vikings into field-goal range late in the fourth quarter, they figured they would spend Monday morning breaking down film of a victory over the Seattle Seahawks and starting to prepare for the Arizona Cardinals.
But in an instant, Blair Walsh's 27-yard kick went wide left and their season was over, and they were left with an entire offseason to wonder what might have been.
"The finality … " Munnerlyn said, pausing to rehash the heartbreak. "It definitely happened fast. I wasn't expecting to come here today to clean out my locker."
But there the Vikings were Monday morning, less than 24 hours after their stunning 10-9 playoff loss to the Seahawks, grabbing what they needed out of their stalls and saying their goodbyes until the spring — or in the case of pending free agents or potential salary cap casualties, until they crossed paths again.
"Nothing in this league stays the same," Bridgewater said. "The things that we did accomplish this year were pretty special, but we want to make a run for something even bigger. To know that it could have been the last time taking the field with some of the guys in the locker room is very emotional.''
Once they can step away far enough for the big picture to come into focus, the Vikings will see that the 2015 season was a smash-mouth success. With a fast and physical defense and a punishing running game, they improved by four wins from 2014, went 11-5 and won the NFC North for the first time since 2009.