TJ in the Housh

By MikeBullock  |   Wednesday, November 18, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

Minnesota Vikings
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TJ in the Housh

Before all the Brett Favre to Minnesota hoopla began last spring, another big name free agent made a splash with a visit to the Vikings’ Eden Prairie digs amidst fanfare and pageantry. Granted there were no helicopters involved, but there’s only one Favre. Just when it seemed all but a lock that Pro Bowl wide out and former NFL receptions leader T. J. Houshmandzadeh would sign with the purple pride, he mysteriously took off from the land of lakes to return home to San Diego, CA.

Rumors flew that Houshmandzadeh had been placed on the phone with grammatically challenged quarterback Tarvaris Jackson and said call ended any thoughts of playing in the Minnesota offense. Other rumors claimed Houshmandzadeh had spoken with Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselback, who had swayed him to check out what the Seahawks had to offer before committing anywhere. Yet another story stated Seattle was his choice due to its closer proximity to his home in Southern California.

No matter what really happened, the Vikings missed out on adding a star quality player to their receiving corps and Houshmandzadeh did what he felt best for his family and himself.

Hindsight being twenty-twenty, it’s easy to second guess his decision.

Many can’t help but wonder if Houshmandzadeh is kicking himself now. Had he known Brett “the Silver Fox” Favre was going to come out of retirement and pass his way to arguably the best season of his career (at the midway point of the season at least) would Houshmandzadeh have made a different choice? Would Hasselback once again have taken a back seat to Favre? Chances are, that question will come up often over the next few days, considering today is the first press day of NFL week eleven.

While many think this would have been the true lock to making the Vikings offense the best in the league, plugging great players into great offenses doesn’t always bring about in great results.

The first question to ponder is how would Houshmandzadeh have affected the chemistry in the Vikings locker room? Might he have been the cause of a real “schism”? Based on the performance of his former team, the Bengals (who are currently leading their division after losing him), as well as murmurs of personality conflicts in Seattle, that debate is firing live rounds.

Another factor to consider is the emergence of new Viking star receiver Sidney Rice, who has out gained Houshmandzadeh by 204 yards so far this season. Granted, Seattle running back Julius Jones is no Adrian Peterson and Matt Hasselback is still no Brett Favre, but Seattle is an underachieving sixteenth in the league in total offense. That team should be doing much better based on the talent they have. How would Rice look right now if Houshmandzadeh had joined the Vikings? My bet is not much different than he has without him.

Regardless of all the speculation going into this game, the Vikings should give Houshmandzadeh and the rest of the free agents out there a no holds barred view of why passing up the Vikings wasn’t a great move. Seattle’s front office may relish the fact they got another player away from the hated Vikings, but the last laugh will fall to Minnesota when the “W” is secured Sunday.

For more Vikings news and discussions, check out http://www.purplepride.org
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