When Brad Childress was asked if there was any possibility he might have rejected Percy Harvin and picked someone else after the Vikings coach returned from a personal visit in Florida with the team's No. 1 pick before last Saturday's draft, he said, "There were just some answers to some questions I had to get going down there."
Harvin, the speedy Florida receiver, is a proven playmaker but brings some extra baggage. Childress reached a comfort level after his visit.
"With the X's and O's stuff, the football spoke for itself, but really we only got exposed to him 15 minutes, 20 minutes [at the NFL scouting combine], and it's no different if you have a two-hour meeting," Childress said. "In my case, it was an eight-hour meeting with him, when you sit and visit throughout the day ... you overcommunicate so you get a little feel for questions -- not only the questions you have, but you kind of get to fill in the blanks on other things. ... Your questions and answers lend to more conversation and you get an overall feel for who a person is."
Was he thinking no at any time?
"Could have, yeah, could have. ... That's really why I went down there for, was to allay any fears or any questions that I had about him," Childress said. "Because, let's face it, it's a significant investment for the Vikings, the Wilfs, and you want to do the right thing in terms of football, in terms of character, all those things."
I get a kick out of all of these geniuses who question whether coaches from the Vikings or other teams decide to draft a player with some questionable history behind them.
If that same coach doesn't draft those players and he doesn't win, the first thing they want to do is fire the coach.
I recall a lot of criticism when the Vikings drafted Randy Moss. But once he started to make those big catches and become one of the greatest receivers in NFL history, his conduct before he was drafted was forgotten.