Top 4 Times Minn. Vikings Have Been Accused Of Cheating
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With the New England Patriots still reeling from the #DeflateGate fallout (Tom Brady suspended four games and general finger wagging aimed at the team), we thought it'd be interesting to explore how the Minnesota Vikings stack up in terms of cheating.
According to YourTeamCheats.com, the Vikings are near the middle of the league in terms of cheating – No. 19. The team cheats, yes, but not really any more or less than others. That's good, right?
The Denver Broncos take the No. 1 spot (aka "THE BIGGEST NFL Cheaters"), the Patriots take the No. 17 spot and the Jacksonville Jaguars – who you'd think would have the most reason to cheat – come in as the least cheating team ("THE FEEBLEST NFL Cheaters").
But this list is about the Vikings. Those other cheaters can wait. So, without further ado, here's the top times the Vikes have been accused of cheating:
PLAYERS & PEDs
Since 1997, the Vikings have had seven players punished for illegally boosting their athletic performance by using PEDs, or performance-enhancing drugs. The most widely-covered punishment was that of the Williams Wall: Pat Williams and Kevin Williams, who may go down as one of the best defensive fronts in Vikings' history.
EXTRA NOISE PUMPED INTO STADIUM?
Long accused, never punished: Back when we had the Metrodome (goodbye, sweet prince..), the Vikings were often accused of adding artificial noise to an already extremely boisterous crowd.
Former coach Dennis Green's son apparently admitted to it, but Vikings (and the Colts, who also have been accused) have denied artificially turning the crowd noise "to 11."
BRETT FAVRE TAMPERING
Drama and Favre? No way!
Back in 2008 when Favre was "retired", but still the property of the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings were accused of talking to him, which lead to a tampering charge being filed by the Pack.
The NFL commissioner said the conversations were innocent, however, and no punishment was levied against the purple.
CRIS CARTER AND BOUNTIES
The issue of bounties on players is quite the sensitive subject for a lot of Vikings fans (if you need to know), but even our great wide receiver, the Cris Carter, has admitted to putting bounties on players who he says took "cheap shot(s)" on him.
Now, are the two controversies comparable? Not quite, but they are bounties nonetheless.
There have been more accusations of cheating, proven or not, so check out the list for more.
