Out of the mix?
October 23rd, 2006 – 5:01 PM by Judd ZulgadAfter some digging we believe we have gotten to the bottom of what happened to the Vikings’ purple pants. Despite the fact the Vikings were supposed to wear those bottoms on the road this season, they were wearing white pants with their white jerseys on Sunday in Seattle.
Quite simply the purple pants might be taking the bulk of the blame for the Vikings’ loss to the Bills. Here’s how we figure it. The Vikings opened the season at Washington wearing their home purple jerseys and white pants because the Redskins are in white at home.
The Vikings, of course, won that game. The purple pants made their debut in Week 4 at Buffalo and the Vikings lost 17-12. It was Brad Childress’ decision to go back to the white pants on Sunday at Seattle. The Vikings came away with a 31-13 victory.
What do you want to bet those purple pants don’t see the light of day when the Vikings travel to San Francisco on Nov. 5?
59 Responses to "Out of the mix?"
I agree with Judd (for once) about never seeing the purple pants again.
Thohse pants made their debut in Buffalo along with Brad Johnson’s gloved throwing hand. Did anyone else notice that Brad J hasn’t gone back to the glove on the throwing hand since that game in Buffalo? That glove needs to be burned and the ashes scattered.
Hey! Those pants are very cool
I like the white/white combo, and would like to see the purple/purple combo. The purple stripe carries through the whole uniform , as would the white stripe.
I’m happy to see that we made it through the bye week without any incidents. . .
I believe in superstitions like these and I agree fullheartedly with the decision not to wear the purple pants for the rest of the season. They played their worst game of the year that day and so why go back to the bad luck pants?
Thank God.
White jerseys with purple pants made the Vikings look like a high school team.
Apparently it made them play like one too.
Maybe they should just go back to their uniforms from last year. They look like a CFL team now.
I thought the Vikings had planned on wearing white pants and white jerseys as an alternate road uniform choice. I’d like to see them wear purple pants in San Francisco. It would bring back memories of Jim Marshall’s wrong way run for a safety against the ‘Niners. I hope they have the good sense to never wear purple pants and purple jerseys at the same time.
Yes, they lost to the Bills because their pants reflected less light. What a bunch of maroons.
TICE SMASH!
Purple pants should not see daylight. ONLY NIGHT LIGHT. They look like Northwestern during the daylight. or TCU. Tacky.
However, at night they seem like good idea.
Or as I stated earlier, ALL PURPPLE FOR NEW ENGLAND! DEVIL’s NIGHT!
Do IT, BRAD! DO IT!
Come on, give the purple pants another chance, they pay homage to the Vikings past and give the uniform some personality. It had nothing to do with losing at Buffalo, let’s not buy into silly superstitions.
It really should’nt matter what color pants they wear. But, if it was up to me (and it is’nt), I would only wear the purple pants (on the road) if the opposing team is wearing white pants.
For example: up in Buffalo, the Vikes should’ve worn the white pants because with the dark blue pants that the Bills wore, it just made things look confusing as far as watching it on t.v. As with yesterday’s game with Seattle, it looked a lot better because the Hawks were wearing dark pants. In other words, the contrast makes it pleasing to the eyes.
i liked the all white look. why not wear all white at home against the pats???
I love the purple. The more, the better. I think they should do purple jerseys and purple pants for the Pats game. No such thing as too much purple.
I love the black shoes and the new helmets, but can honestly say I’m not much for the new jerseys or the pants — regardless of color!
That faux-horn motif on the legs is just plain hokey!
I dig the purple pants. I remember reading a book about the Vikings when I was younger and seeing Jim Marshall and the team in the purple pants on road games. If I remember right, they wore them against Pittsburgh in pre-season and won. I know it is only pre-season, but if the team thinks it was the pants that lost the game for them in Buffalo…the horror…the horror.
The all white look was by far my favorite when the Vikes had the “old” uniforms. I hope they have a “throw-back” day once in a while like the Chargers do.
There is nothing redeeming about the new uniforms, in any combination, though the purple pants are easily the worst of the set. They are totally bush-league, XFL-like uniforms. The Vikes went from having one of the best, most classic in the NFL, to one of the worst. Only Seattle, Cincy have worse uniforms. Ridiculous - and for no good reason.
I agree with Ian. There was no need to revise the uniforms anyway. They were fine the way they were.
There is no good reason to have changed the uniform. The NY Yankees have had the same uniform for 100 plus years. I agree with those who say the Vikings had one of the best and classiest uniforms (and I was pissed when the Ravens chose purple as their color). Now the pants look like they belong to some sort of Gypsy cicus act, instead of an NFL team. Most good teams don’t feel the need to change uniforms. Hopefully the tradional uniform will return
I do like the white on white. but i dont esspecially think they won the game, or they’re some kind of luck charm. For big games on my high school team we like to switch up our attire just because it’s the big game, like homecoming or a rivalry game. I like the way the pants look but i wouldnt go so far to think they allow the vikings to win. I guess they did lose to Chicago at home…
Maui’s got it right, It’s like back in the 70’s Bloomington, real D,outside, I hope the new stadium is outdoors and keep the Whites
I like the new jerseys but the purple pants are hideous. good riddance.
Smuggla, you didn’t happen to notice if the glove was purple, did you?
What purple pants?…burn ‘em all. We’ll take any reason to win games.
How about purple underwear under white pants?
I think a purple jackstrap would be nice…. GEEZZ who cares??
I don’t care if they wear pink as LONG AS THEY ARE WINNING!!!!!!!!!
Fred Smoot has had 2 decent ganes in a row…. What’s up with that??
MMoore is still not injured..What’s up with that??
Bethel Johnson returns kicks - Like he wants too…. Looks good.
Go Vikes..
MICK TINGELHOFF FOR THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME!!!!!
Concerning the uniform I think we all need to ask the one most important question:
What would Hank Baskett like to wear if he were a Viking?
Smuggla- did you watch the game, Brad was wearing the glove. Maybe he should always wear the glove. I think the new uniforms are sharp. Old one are so plain, blah blah. Good game Vikings.
Alan- I agree, Smoot hasn’t been his normal self, did he learn how to play? I sure hope so.
Did you guys hear Hasselbeck said the hit on him by Hendrson was on purpose? What a fruit, you could clearly see he got pushed by the offensive lineman, maybe his lineman hates him and pushed EJ into him on purpose.
The whole reason behind the new uniforms was also to make them harder to grab as well as a new “modern” design. They’re not too bad, I did like the white pants also, but as someone else said I don’t care what they wear as long as they’re winning. I only would have to say if they were wearing pink the intimidation factor would be low. Pat Williams in pink, funny….but not intimidating.
Maybe Smoot is trying to prove something. After he got chewed out by da coach he’s been pretty decent I thought. At least I thought it was smoot who sat out the first series on defense one game. Who knows, I may have him confused.
I’m suprised we haven’t seen PBV in here, the Pack won a game. If we had lost and they had won, he would be all up in our bizness, but now he knows that the Packs aren’t even keeping pace with the Vikes.
Patriots game is tough, I think that if we were in Foxborough it would be a tough game to win, but I’m hoping the dome will be to our advantage.
Hasselbeck needs to do more bad Qwest commercials and shut up. I hope (now) that Seneca steps it up and has a steller month or so just to show Hasselbeck that he’s not the only one who can lead the team.
It was Smoot who sat out a series. I still like the play making moves by Cedric Griffin. I think he will be a huge contibution to our already strong defense.
The purple pants are very cool! All white is boring.
Ian Quiringmind, I couldn’t agree with you more. The Vikings had a great uniform set, and the changes made this year are definitely for the worse.
The Vikings went from a top 10 look, to a bottom 5. The new owner wanted to put his “mark” on the franchise, but I feel he is/was totally misguided in foisting this set on us and his players.
Lee
I agree that the purple pants don’t make for good TV if the other team is also wearing dark pants. Try the purple pants with the purple jerseys…just kidding. I actually like the white on white, the touch of purple on the leg looks cool. Wow! That sounds so “Queer Eye.”
Actually, it was FB Mack Strong who blocked/pushed EJ into Hasselbeck. The official is looking right at it when you watch the replay, he didn’t see anything wrong with it either. And the way they are coddling the QB’s this year…
Yes, it was Smoot who was benched earlier this year. He’s at least within 3-5 yards of the man he’s supposed to be covering now. That’s not really a knock, against most QB’s that’s all you have to do to have him progress to the next option. But, I agree, Cedric is looking like he belongs. NICE HITS!
In the Fan Forum of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer a discussion on whether or not EJ’s hit was “dirty” is going on, most are saying it wasn’t. There are a few SeahawksBeatVikes in there, but most seem to be sane individuals.
O PBV, where art thou? Listening to Fox Sports on XM yesterday afternoon (all ESPNradio wanted to talk about was Kenny Rogers’ dirty thumb - on a Monday!) and there were 3-4 Packers fans that called in to SERIOUSLY ask the radio guys if Green Bay was ready for the SUPER BOWL after beating Miami. One had to be PBV. The radio guys, by the way, said two wins over teams with 1 win each doesn’t make you primed for February.
Hasselbeck needs to check the replay and he’ll see it definitely wasn’t on purpose. Besides, at 7/17 for 127 with 72 coming on 1 play he wasn’t exactly lighting it up out there.
I definitely prefer the white on white uniforms. For some reason the player look faster in them. Chester was a blur running down the sideline.
Smoot has looked better although I haven’t really had much of an issue with his play all year. To me it seemed like we were in zones on a lot of plays he has appeared to be beat. C-Griff has looked really good. Whitaker has been a disappointment.
Gotta love the way Bethel attacks on KO returns. He looks like he really wants to do the job right.
Hwy wisvike - If you read more closely, you will see that the glove to which we refer is the one on Brad J’s THROWING hand. Yes, this season he continues to wear ONE black glove on his left hand. It was in the Buffalo game he in-explicibly wore gloves on BOTH hands and threw numerous errant passes- including a few which went for interceptions. Since then he has NOT worn a glove on his throwing hand. And let’s hope it stays that way…
My main concern was the fact that neither Judd, Sid, Rosen or any of our local “reporters” had the seeds to come out and actually ask “WHY the glove?” It certainly wasn’t cold out (week 3).
Will we ever have an answer? If a bear sh!ts in the woods and nobody smells it did he really lay a turd?
Yes Smuggla- I realized after I wrote it that you were right, just the one glove, my bad. Cedric Griffin is a great guy to have opposite Winfield. Lets try that out for a while and let Smoot come in on nickel.
I dig the new diggs. I don’t think they look like XFL, they are just a nice update. I like how the lines of the horns are the same as the lines on the sleeves, it’s subtle. I think they should do all white on the road all the time. At home they should throw in the all purple from time to time. I also feel they should wear the old style uniforms when they play the Bears or the Packers. Go back to the real old unis, the ones without the norseman on the sleeve. I was never a fan of that uniform change.
I’m attending the Min @ Niners game. I’d prefer to see purple pants - it will remind me of the Kezar days.
In reply to Ian Quiringmind above who said Seattle & Cincinnati have worst unis I disagree. They’re unique and instantly identifiable. Nothing wrong with them.
There aren’t really any bad NFL unis but some are too similar (Falcons, Cards)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again– Smoot is better than a lot of people say he is. Say what you will about his off-field behavior and his play early in the season last year, but he’s been pretty good (not necessarily great) this year. He’s given up some yardage between the 40’s this year, but rarely (if ever) a huge play or a TD. From what I’ve seen, our biggest weakness in the secondary is the Ronyell Whittaker/Dwight Smith combination. I think we’ll start seeing more of Griffin in that role. Put him on the outside and we will likely see what offensive coordinators like to do with rookie defensive backs.
Smoot is guilty of playing too far off the reciever at times, but the defensive scheme calls for the cornerbacks to give a big cushion then move up as the snap comes. He’s blown that move several times, but clamped down when it really mattered.
Where was Deon Branch during the Seattle game? After torching the Rams last week, Smoot lined up against him held him to four catches for 60 yards. For those who like stats– Smoot is in the top ten among cornerbacks in terms of tackles, giving the Vikings two cornerbacks in that category.
A. That was Smoot who was supposed to come over the top and cover Jackson in the zone on that 72 yd TD. Whaittaker had him underneath and Smoots job was to pick him up over the top. Smoot got burned a couple of more times and got flagged for either illegal contact or pass interference. He’s O.K. at best for an NFL caliber corner, but for the money we are paying him…as an elite corner, he sucks!
Where was it reported that Hasselbeck thinks Henderson did it on purpose.
To me, it looked like Henderson *might* have done it on purpose. The replay made it look like he got blocked in that direction and *maybe* kept the momentum going a bit to bump into Hasselbeck.
The video evidence is definitely not conclusive and, if anything, looks good for Henderson’s side of the story.
The only person who knows for sure is Henderson.
Purpleblood–
Smoot was supposed to come over the top and cover Jackson in the slot position, leaving the outside reciever open, and, apparently, running past Dwight Smith in the process? Doesn’t make sense–you’re reaching on that one.
Smoot is over rated, he still needs to prove he is what he says he is. He is doing alot better than last year and the first four games.
I’ll agree that Smoot is overrated and overpaid, but mainly because the hype and the money was impossible to live up to. He’s not an elite corner, but as part of a team, he makes an important contribution to the Vikes top ten defense.
My argument is that he is simply better than a lot of Vikes fans say he is. From what I’ve seen on this board, you’d think he’s given up TD’s all over the place. I don’t think people have forgotten the Steve Smith debacle or his involvement in the love boat last year, and it’s clouding people’s judgment to the point of thinking he is resposnsible for things he is not, like playing safety (see purpleblood above).
Winfield blows an assignment or draws a penalty and he’s forgiven immediately. Smoot does the same thing and people say “there we go again.”
I agree with ‘come on now’. For some reason around here, people want to try to say that any time our opponent moves the ball or scores a TD it’s Smoot’s fault. I got news for you, the offensive players on the teams the Vikes play have guys that can make plays. And simply blaming Smoot or saying Smoot sucks shows you don’t pay attention.
Alan Page has purple balls hehe
If you watch the replay of that actual play, you see where it was Smoots job to pick up the receiver over the top. Fortunately for us, we have professional coaches and not yourself setting up zone disguises in coverage, otherwise the opposing offense would know where our coverage is on every play. Smoot is #21, isn’t he? Safeties and corners trade coverage in basic zone schematics all the time to try and throw off the offense. And this has nothing to do with Smoot being on the party cruise. I actually gave him positive points for that, I wish I was there. I didn’t say he was that bad of a corner either, he just isn’t worth what we are paying him for. There’s an obvious reason that 73.4% of all passes from opposing teams are thrown in his direction. It’s just like the T.Williamson can’t hang on to the ball syndrome. Everyone drops a pass every once in a while, but when it happens multiple times, people key on it and are looking for it. The same thing has happened to Smoot.
Purpleblood–
I have watched the replay. And all I can say is I’m glad that we have professional coaches, and not people like you, designing “zone schematics” and disguises in coverage. If you expect an outside corner to come over and switch places with the safety on a quick slant, a play that takes about 2-3 seconds from snap to reception, you are sorely mistaken.
Watch the replay again. If anyone blew the coverage, it was Dwight Smith, who hesitates for a moment before he realizes that the ball is going to Jackson. By the time he sees it, it is too late.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETaj5MWC47M
73.4% is an interesting statistic. I’d like to know here you got it from. A more telling stat is number of yards and points given up on that side.
yes, the purple pants made them lose to buffalo. but this team has enough character to BREAK the HEX, and win wearing the purple britches at SF, AND I’m sure smoot’s magic trousers will make him knock down everything thrown his way 97.28% of the time…can’t wait to see ‘em here!
- Vikes fan in Oakland
I would imagine the wearing of the white pants had more to to with Seattle’s all-blue home uni’s more than superstition. But speaking of which, wasn’t Jim Marshall wearing purple pants when he ran the fumble the wrong way in San Fransisco?
I’d like to see the purple pants and purple jerseys together!
Thanks for providing that link CON. The play actually takes about one second from snap to catch - and there are 2 guys covering and chasing Jackson - 24 and 27. So according PB’s logic, Smoot should have been a 3rd guy responsible? There was supposed to be TRIPLE coverage on Jackson? - not likely. As our old friend Denny used to say ‘the proof is in the pudding’. I hate to say it PB, but you just got caught trying to blame Smoot for something that was not his fault.
I didn’t look at the numbers, but if Smoot is indeed over paid, then that will be addressed by Mr Wilf and the Triangle of authority when his contract nears the end. In the meantime, let’s not harrass him while he’s trying to do his job, ok?
Smuggla–
My thoughts exactly. I was being as liberal as possible on the 2-3 second thing– either way no outside corner could have covered Jackson on that play.
I think this just proves my point– people are so anxious to blame everything on Smoot that they just make things up.
Like you, I trust our coaches, and Tomlin especially, to assess our personnel in the offseason and make changes as necessary. If Smoot is in fact not doing his job, he won’t be playing the position anymore in ‘07.
TY HILL FOR THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
Wait a minute, folks, the Vikings did not start winning consistently until the purple pants were ditched by Bud Grant. For those of you who claim the purple pants bring back good memories, bone up on your history first.
I admit that what you wear should not have affect how you play on the field, but those purple pants make me want to throw up. Why don’t the Vikings wear gold pants both home and away? Look at the college teams that have purple as a predominant color. TCU and Northwestern wear purple pants, and they both look hideous. LSU and Kansas State have the good sense not to, and their uniforms look pretty sharp. Purple pants just do not work!
I dislike all teams that wear white jerseys and dark pants. It looks so high school. My least favorite uniform combo (other than the Vikings’ purple pants) is that disgusting outfit the Bears wear on the road. And although I live in Kansas and root for the Chiefs, I still don’t like those bright red pants!
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