Friday, November 09, 2007

The Minnesota Vikings suck

I just heard this story on the radio this morning. Here's the gist -

The Minnesota Vikings have docked wide receiver Troy Williamson one game check for missing last Sunday's game against the San Diego Chargers to attend the Monday funeral of his maternal grandmother.
My feelings on bereavement time in any organization are that when and whether to attend the funeral of family members should be left entirely up to the employee. I also dislike bereavement policies that differentiate between family members. So I don't think that Williamson's relationship with his grandmother is any of the Vikings' business, but let's pretend that it was.
Williamson's maternal grandmother, who helped to raise him and with whom he was very close, died last week and he returned to South Carolina, where he played a large role in arranging her funeral. He also had to make travel arrangements for several of his siblings, some of whom are in the armed services.
The coach had this to say -
Coach Brad Childress told Twin Cities-area media following Thursday's practice that the decision was on a "business principle" of the Vikings organization
....
Childress cited the cases of two players, Minnesota defensive tackle Pat Williams and Indianapolis wide receiver Reggie Wayne, who appeared in games shortly after the deaths of family members.
I'm nearly speechless. So because Reggie Wayne played shortly after a death in his family, Williamson should too? Screwing over your employees who have their priorities straight is a "business principle" of the Vikings organization? WTF?

I realize that the NFL is not like a regular company, but this is patently ridiculous. In any organization, family-friendly policies foster a better working environment. In the NFL, it's especially important that the organization as a whole, including players, coaches, front office and ownership are all working together. This is a bad PR move, a bad move for team unity, and just a bad way to treat a person.

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5 comments:

John Howard said...

That's just disgusting. I bet if Adrian Peterson wanted to go to a funeral, the Vikings would let him go and pay for his expenses. They apparently have no interest in resigning Williamson whenever his contract might be up. After reading this, I hope his contract is up soon, and he signs with someone else and goes on to become the next Jerry Rice, preferably for someone in the same division.

But, I guess if Williamson was really a team player, he would have told his grandmother to die when it was more convenient to the team.

Anonymous said...

Nightshift here. Gotta agree, that's a totally shit-ass move by the Vikings. It's both evil and stupid, since I doubt he or his closest friends on the team are going to have a strong desire to stay with that team in the future.

John Howard said...

Sounds like they did the right thing after all the bad PR. And Williamson donated it to charity.

michelline said...

And Williamson donated it to charity.

Wow, makes them look even shittier for denying him in the first place. Williamson sounds like a good guy. That's a significant portion of your income to give to charity.

Mr Furious said...

Awesome move by Williamson..."It was never about the money, you cheap fucks, it was the principle. See? I don't need your guilt money.."

At least that's what I'd be thinking...