Scanning the current post draft roster, I noticed 22 colleges have multiple players on the team. Seems higher than NFL average. I don’t know.
Do they get paired together in housing/motels when possible?
Is there a way to pair the college teammates together to raise charity money for each school by having fun challenges (like sack races, dodge ball, raw egg tossing, carnival type events)? Just thinking fun pr ways to show players out of the norm.
— Mark Leindecker in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
An interesting couple of thoughts from Mark here.
First, that’s a great observation with regard to 22 colleges with multiple players on the Vikings offseason 90-man roster. Out of the 90, I counted 12 players who attended colleges in the Carolinas.
In some situations, the college teammates have been drafted in the same year, like Patrick Jones II and Jalen Twyman were out of Pittsburgh in 2021. Other times, players have had a non-linear path from their campuses to Minnesota.
The occurrences likely can be attributed to the strength of certain college programs, an overlap of scouting efforts and possibly some particular system fits.
Connections and commonalities are welcome in building and maintaining relationships, but they aren’t a prerequisite. Players have options when it comes to housing.
The team is proud of the various philanthropic efforts that players undergo in the community and has a history of helping.
An egg or water balloon toss could certainly make for some interesting moments.
I think Coach O’Connell will have several ways of strengthening connections throughout the team, which included taking Vikings rookies to the Twins game Saturday. Stay tuned for future coverage of team-building events, as well as this week’s open OTA practice and media sessions.