MINNEAPOLIS - If guard Alex Boone has his way, Minnesota Vikings players won’t read any of their own press. He speaks from experience.
When Boone was with San Francisco, the 49ers played in three straight NFC championship games, with one Super Bowl appearance, from 2011-13.
“We started believing what people were saying,” Boone said.
They never won a Super Bowl, and fell off sharply in 2014. Coach Jim Harbaugh left after that season, and a year later Boone ended his seven-year run with the team to sign with Minnesota as a free agent.
With a 4-0 record, a world-class defense and an exciting new quarterback in Sam Bradford, the Vikings are starting to generate some hype of their own.
Block it out, Boone said.
“Don’t ever read anything anybody writes, good or bad,” he said. “Whatever anybody says out there, they can’t control any part of a game. … If you read that you’re a great player, then all of a sudden you think, ‘Maybe I don’t have to wake up and go lift. I don’t have to go out there and get extra reps.’ ”
With victories already over Green Bay and Carolina, and two in nationally televised night games, more and more NFL watchers are noticing the Vikings’ story, which is only enhanced by the fact that they’re doing it without quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (knee) and left tackle Matt Kalil (hip), out for the season, and running back Adrian Peterson (knee) until at least December.
Sports Illustrated’s the MMQB website even called Bradford the NFL MVP for the first quarter of the season.
Minnesota doesn’t have a lot of players used to that kind of attention. Yes, the Vikings won the NFC North last season, but with late losses to the Packers and Seattle, they weren’t widely regarded as contenders.
Boone and nose tackle Linval Joseph (Giants) have played in Super Bowls; defensive end Brian Robison and linebacker Chad Greenway were on the Vikings team that lost to New Orleans in the 2009 NFC championship game. No other Vikings players have advanced that far in the postseason.
Robison, a team captain, said he doesn’t need to say anything to teammates about how to handle expectations.
“For the most part, our team understands you have to take this on a week-to-week basis,” he said. “A lot of times, when you get teams that start winning, they start looking to the future, but the thing I love about this team is we don’t look ahead.
“We just have to understand that none of (the media) stuff matters. The only thing that matters is what happens between the lines. … We’ve got a great coaching staff that keeps us grounded, so I don’t feel like there’s anything that needs to be said right now, but if there comes a need, obviously, I’ll say it.’’
Greenway, also a captain, said it helps to have teammates who have had great postseason success. Joseph has said “everybody comes around and asks what it takes to get” to the Super Bowl.
“The only thing that changes I think is expectations from the outside people,’’ Greenway said. “I mean, our expectations haven’t changed, our focus hasn’t changed.”
Boone believes the Vikings are better equipped for the hype than the 49ers were during their run, which included a 34-31 loss to Baltimore in Super Bowl XLVII in February 2013.
“I love these guys,” Boone said. “I was talking to one of my old teammates from the ’Niners back in the day, and I said this team reminds me of that team, only it has more heart and toughness.”
