Former Viking Doug Chapman Looking to Become NFL Scout

Doug Chapman spent his five-year playing career trying to evade NFL defenders. Now, the former running back is trying to make it back in the league — this time in a completely different role.

Chapman, who was a third-round pick in 2000 with the Minnesota Vikings, was a part of the Gilliam-Reichow Scouting Fellowship program from Aug. 2-8 at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center. The program is designed for those who are looking to become scouts or personnel executives.

Mark Craig of the Star Tribune recently caught up with Chapman about his opportunity with the program. Craig wrote:

Chapman, [who turns 45 on Aug. 22], was one of three participants in this year’s Gilliam-Reichow fellowship, whose new name honors former Vikings Frank Gilliam, one of the NFL’s first Black scouts, and Jerry Reichow, an original Vikings player who became a longtime scout and personnel executive. The other participants were Tyrell Johnson, who played safety for the Vikings from 2008-11 and is now a high school teacher and coach in Little Rock, Arkansas; and Shantel Rodgers, a football operations intern with Exclusive Sports Group in Indianapolis.

The program is run in conjunction with the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship and Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship, which began in 2015. One of its alums, Ashton Washington, a Black woman, joined the Bears as a scouting assistant last year and was promoted to player personnel coordinator this year.

Craig said Chapman began his pursuit of becoming an NFL scout during his current role as director of player development and senior offensive analyst with his alma mater at Marshall University.

“I played on Sundays,” he said. “I know what a Sunday player looks like.

“To be honest with you, it’s often harder to evaluate talent at the college recruiting level than the NFL because sometimes you’re looking at a kid who is 6-foot-4, 230 pounds who’s going to graduate college 6-6, 300 pounds,” Chapman added. “Being able to understand how that…