Top 5 Reason You Can't Blame: The Vikings

[sabotai]

Anyone else catch this? I love this show, but they rarely actually show it on ESPN or ESPN2 (and I don't get ESPN Classic). I saw this last night.

The episode was about the Hershal Walker trade, and reason why you couldn't blame The Vikings for making the trade. When this trade happened, it was still slightly before my time. I say that because while I followed the Giants pretty closely (as best as a South Jersey boy can), I didn't really follow the NFL or really understood strategy and varying philosophies. You know, I thought a great running back meants a great running game and if you didn't have a great running game, you didn't have a great back. I didn't realize at the time that you could use players differently (I was in grade school!)

Anyway, back then in the 90s, it was clearly seen as the worst trade ever. But some of the reasons they gave were good (as they usually are on the show). For instance, I didn't know that they were essentially in a bidding war with the Browns for Walker. Another reason was because a few blockbuster trades happened recently.. While this one was pretty lopsided in draft picks (which I don't think were valued quite as highly as they are now - and remember, all of those draft picks, if the Vikings did as well as they wanted to, would have been very late in the rounds), Wayne Gretzky a year earlier was traded for a really decent goal scorer and 3 1st round draft picks (and some cash and a few other names were mixed up in the trade too).

Another reason was because Jimmy Johnson used draft picks in a new way. From what I gathered from the show, teams didn't really trade up or down much, but Johnson did and used some of the picks from the Vikings to get even more picks.

And the top reason was because the Vikings just simply misused him. Walker, for the system they ran, could not possibly do all that well. Makes me wonder if Walker did turn out well for the Vikings, had they took advantage of Walker's strengths instead of trying to force him to use his weaknesses, if history would look back on that trade differently.

Anyway, I usually find "Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame" to be a refreshing, thought-provoking show. I wish they would replay it more oftan on ESPN2 (I only saw a few from the first season).

[thealmighty]

Alternatively, the top reason for not blaming the Vikes is that, as a Cowboy fan, the deal led, to a certain extent, to 3 Super Bowl wins for Dallas.

Instead of blame, I say 3 cheers for Minnesota!!!

[thealmighty]

dola...

...oh, and I also like these shows quite a bit, too.

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Anyway, back then in the 90s, it was clearly seen as the worst trade ever.

Not anymore.

A 1st rounder for Doug Jolley was much worse. As well as the trade Ditka made to draft Ricky Williams.

[Ryche]

I remember the first game Walker played for the Vikings where they actually used him correctly. Line him up in the I, pitch it to him and let him hit a hole at full steam. He had a huge game. After that for some reason they decided to go back to split backs and he just wasn't effective in that scheme.

[Grammaticus]

It was completely the Vikings fault. They got played or outsmarted. Dallas waived players to get the conditional draft picks. A case of Jimmy Johnson owning the Viking GM Mike Lynn. Then Dallas proceeded to trade higher picks for multiple lower (but still decent)picks.

[Grammaticus]

Dola,

I think it is still the worst football trade ever.

[Grammaticus]

Here is a link to an excellent breakdown of the trade:

http://vikings.scout.com/2/11653.html

From the link,

The end results of the trade after 1992:
Vikings have
WR Jake Reed

Cowboys have
RB Emmitt Smith
DT Russell Maryland
CB Kevin Smith
S Darren Woodson
CB Clayton Holmes

[JAG]

Sounds like a pretty cool show, and I wish I would've seen this one in particular. Here's some interesting details on the entire trade situation and what the final result of the trade was for players still on the roster in 1992:

EDIT: Beaten to the punch. There was a great newspaper article I found from around that time period that I'm trying to find...

The Herschel Walker Trade
It is simply referred to as "The Trade." It was the largest player trade in NFL history, and it led to a Super Bowl caliber Vikings squad being decimated, a 2-time Super Bowl champion Cowboys team being built, and Vikings GM Mike Lynn being perhaps the most hated man in the world by Vikings fans. The Trade took place on October 12, 1989. Believing the Vikings to be only a big-time RB away from winning it all, Lynn acquired Herschel Walker from the Cowboys and new owner Jerry Jones and new coach Jimmy Johnson for 5 roster players (LB Jesse Solomon, DB Issiac Holt, RB Darrin Nelson, LB David Howard, DE Alex Stewart), and 6 assorted draft picks (conditional 1st & 2nd round in '90 and '91; 1st round and conditional 3rd in '92).

Nelson, upset at being traded, refused to report to the Cowboys and was traded to the San Diego Chargers, ultimately returning to the Vikings. The result of the trade to San Diego was the Vikings sending a 6th round pick in 1990 and the original conditional 2nd round pick in 1991, and the Chargers sending their 5th round pick in 1990 to Minnesota via Dallas. The Cowboys then waived DE Alex Stewart and threatened to waive other players in order to get all of the conditional draft picks. In February 1990, the Cowboys traded their 3rd and 10th round picks and their 1991 3rd rounder to the Vikings so that they could keep the 3 remaining roster players and all of the conditional draft picks. So the initial trade looked as follows:

Please, spare the details and just tell me who ended up with with our picks and who was drafted with them. Fine. Be that way, click here.

Vikings Cowboys
RB Herschel Walker LB Jesse Solomon
Dallas's 3rd round pick - 1990 (54) LB David Howard
San Diego's 5th round pick - 1990 (116) CB Isaac Holt
Dallas's 10th round pick - 1990 (249) Minnesota's 1st round pick in 1991 (21)
Dallas's 3rd round pick - 1991 (68) Minnesota's 2nd round pick in 1990 (47)
Minnesota's 6th round pick in 1990 (158)
NOTE: Brackets () indicate Minnesota's 1st round pick in 1991 (conditional) - (11)
the overall pick number. Minnesota's 2nd round pick in 1991 (conditional) - (38)
Minnesota's 1st round pick in 1993 (conditional) - (13)
Minnesota's 2nd round pick in 1992 (conditional) - (40)
Minnesota's 3rd round pick in 1992 (conditional) - (71)

On April 19, 1990 Dallas traded Minnesota's 2nd pick and Kansas City's 3rd pick in 1990 to San Francisco for RB Terrence Flagler, DE Daniel Stubbs, SF 3rd round pick in 1990 and SF 11th round pick in 1990.

On April 22, 1990 (draft day), Dallas traded Minnesota's 1st pick in 1990 and SF 3rd pick in 1990 to Pittsburgh for Pitt's 1st round pick (#21 and #81 for #17) and selected RB Ambit Smith. With the #21 pick, Pittsburgh selected TE Eric Green. Minnesota picked TE Mike Jones with the #54 pick, WR Reggie Thorton with the #116 pick and WR Pat Newman with the #249 pick. San Francisco selected DT Dennis Brown with the #47 pick. Dallas traded Minnesota's 6th round pick, an 8th round pick from NE, a 9th round pick from Seattle, a 10th round pick from Indianapolis and an 11th round pick from San Francisco to the LA Raiders for LA's fifth round choice in 1990, DB Stan Smagala (#122 overall). Minnesota's 6th round pick (#158) ended up in New Orleans who selected LB James Williams (Mississippi State). San Francisco's 3rd and 11th round picks (#81 and #304 overall) ended up with New Orleans (DL Craig Veasey - Houston) and LA Raiders (RB Myron Jones from Fresno State) respectively.

On September 3, 1990 Dallas traded Minnesota's 2nd round pick in 1991 (#38 overall) and its own 5th round pick in 1991 (#105 overall) to Houston for RB Alonzo Highsmith.

On April 19, 1991 (draft) Dallas traded Minnesota's 1st pick, Dallas' 2nd, DB Ron Francis, LB David Howard and LB Eugene Lockhart to New England for New England's 1st pick (#1 overall) and selected DT Russell Maryland. With Minnesota's pick (#11 overall) New England selected OL Pat Harlow. With the #38 pick, Houston picked DB Darryl Lewis (Arizona). With Dallas' 3rd round pick (#68 overall) Minnesota selected WR Jake Reed.

On Sept. 16, 1991 Dallas traded LB Jesse Solomon to New England (who sent him to TB) for New England's 6th round pick (#149 overall) in 1992.

On April 26, 1992 (draft) Dallas traded Minnesota's 1st and 3rd round picks (#13 and #71 overall) to New England for NE 1st, 2nd and 4th round picks (#19, #37 and #104 overall). Dallas traded the #19 and #104 picks to Atlanta for Atlanta's 1st and 5th round picks (#17 and #120 overall). Dallas traded Minnesota's 2nd round pick (#40 overall) to Kansas City for 2nd and 3rd round picks (#47 and #74 overall). Dallas traded the #47, #74 picks to Washington for a 2nd and a 3rd round pick (#56 and #58 overall). Dallas traded the #56 pick to Detroit for 3rd, 4th and 9th round picks (#82, #109 and #250 overall).

In the 1992 draft Dallas selected CB Kevin Smith (#17 - Texas A&M), S Darren Woodson (#37 - Arizona State), CB Clayton Holmes (#58 - Carson Newman, OL James Brown (#82 - Virginia State), G Tom Myslinski (#109 - Tennessee), S Greg Briggs (#120 - Texas Southern), TE Fallon Wacasey (#149 - Tulsa), S Chris Hall (#250 - East Carolina). New England selected T Eugene Chung (#13 - Virginia Tech) and RB Kevin Turner (#71 - Alabama) and Kansas City selected QB Matt Blundin (#40 - Virginia) with Minnesota's original picks.

The 1992 draft completed the trade. Herschel Walker was released by the Vikings in May 1992 and was picked up by Philadelphia and eventually ended up back with the Cowboys in 1996. Mike Jones was supposed to be the replacement for Jordan but never lived up to expectations; he was waived in 1992. Thorton did not make the team, Newman was lost in Plan B (Saints). Jake Reed is still with the Vikings. The Cowboys waived Holt in 1993 (Kevin Smith took over); Highsmith, Fragler, Stubbs were disappointments and were waived after a year; the lower picks in 1992 did not make the team.

The end results of the trade after 1992: Vikings Cowboys
WR Jake Reed RB Emmitt Smith
DT Russell Maryland
CB Kevin Smith
S Darren Woodson
CB Clayton Holmes

Players selected with the actual picks traded to Dallas: 1990 1st Round (#21) TE Eric Green Pittsburgh
1990 2nd Round (#47) DT Dennis Brown San Francisco
1990 6th Round (#158) LB James Williams New Orleans
1991 1st Round (#11) OT Pat Harlow New England
1991 2nd Round (#38) DB Darryl Lewis Houston
1992 1st Round (#13) OL Eugene Chung New England
1992 2nd Round (#40) QB Matt Blundin Kansas City
1992 3rd Round (#71) RB Kevin Turner New England


Perhaps the Vikings could've salvaged something out of having decimated their team for one player (particularly their defense), but Walker was never used properly by the coaching brain trust (a total oxymoron in this case). Walker left the Vikings for Philadelphia soon after, and ultimately wound up back in Dallas, an ironic completion of Herschel's journey.

[JAG]

dola

The article isn't available for free anymore. I did find this one. It's interesting to hear the 1989 perspective on the trade:

Walker traded to Vikings // Cowboys get 5 players, 7 draft picks in blockbuster deal
[CITY Edition]



St. Petersburg Times - St. Petersburg, Fla.
Date: Oct 13, 1989
Start Page: 1.C
Section: SPORTS
Text Word Count: 1102



Document Text



Copyright Times Publishing Co. Oct 13, 1989
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - Herschel Walker shed his Dallas blues Thursday, moving to Minnesota in a blockbuster deal that gave the Cowboys five players and seven draft choices and may have given the Vikings a chance at returning to the Super Bowl in the near future.

``Depending on how things work out over the next three years, yes, we could have mortgaged our future for the good of the 1989 and 1990 teams,`` Vikings general manager Mike Lynn said after completing the trade that was speculated about this week.

The deal for the All-Pro running back is one of the biggest trades in NFL history.

Counting the draft choices as players, the Vikings, in effect, gave up 12 players for one.

Going to the Cowboys were four Viking regulars, if not always starters: linebackers Jesse Solomon and David Howard, cornerback Ike Holt and running back Darrin Nelson. Rookie defensive end Alex Stewart, who has spent the entire year on the disabled list, was included in the deal.

In addition, the Vikings gave up their first-round draft choice in 1992.

``We're interested in winning our division, interested in going to the Super Bowl and interested in winning the Super Bowl,`` Lynn said. ``And we felt that the last piece of the puzzle, the last spoke on the wheel, was a running back. And not just a running back, but a marquee running back.

``If we don't win the (NFC) Central Division, if we don't get to the Super Bowl while Herschel Walker is a member of the Minnesota Vikings, then we have not made a good trade.``

Walker, who sources said received more than $1.2-million from the Cowboys to accept the trade, will play for the Vikings on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, though Lynn said he didn't expect Walker to make more than a cameo appearance.

All the former Vikings will be at the Cowboys' practice today but won't play on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers in Texas Stadium, said head coach Jimmy Johnson.

In 1988, Walker became only the 10th player in NFL history to gain more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage. Walker, 27, in his fourth NFL season after three years in the U.S. Football League, had expressed dissatisfaction with how he was used this year in Dallas' pass-heavy attack.

``It's shocking, but I do want to play football,`` Walker said. ``They're (Dallas) doing something great for the Dallas Cowboys, and that's why people should respect their decision.``

The Cowboys' Johnson said: ``It was difficult for him but he's going to a team that can contend for a Super Bowl. We're rebuilding.``

Former Cowboys coach Tom Landry said he would not have traded Herschel Walker and that the Pro Bowl running back would have been a big part of his offense this year.

``It's their money and their team and I don't want to say it's a mistake because it would be construed as second-guessing,`` Landry said.

The Cowboys also got six ``conditional`` draft choices over the next three years - two first-round picks, three second-round choices and one third-round pick.

``We have the right to decide at any time what those conditions are,`` Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. ``Everything must be settled over the next three years. This is a draft-oriented trade.``

Nelson said the Cowboys got the best of the deal: ``We (the Vikings) gave up too much. We gave up an awful lot on defense.``

It was the league's biggest trade since the 1987 three-team deal that sent Eric Dickerson to the Indianapolis Colts, Cornelius Bennett to the Buffalo Bills and Greg Bell, Owen Gill, three first-round draft choices and two second-rounders to the Los Angeles Rams.

Sources close to the deal said Walker was paid at least $1.2-million, with one saying ``other considerations would work the total package up to around $1.4-million.`` Walker is in the fourth year of a five-year contract making $1-million a season.

From 1987-88, no runner bettered Walker's 3,625 rushing-receiving yards. His 1,514 rushing yards led the NFC in 1988, when he also caught 50 passes for 505 yards.

With 3,388 career yards, Walker is sixth on Dallas' all-time rushing list.

Walker's statistics have fallen off sharply this year, however. He has rushed 81 times for 246 yards - a 3-yard average that is almost 1 1/2 yards fewer than his career average entering the season.

``In any trade that involves players, you agonize over doing that particular trade,`` Lynn said. ``We would have much preferred to make this trade without moving any of our players. We're fortunate enough to have depth.``

Dallas has added some depth, but Cowboys linebacker Eugene Lockhart said, ``I can remember when we got Herschel and it was the biggest deal that ever happened to the Cowboys. Now, we're back to square one. I wish him the best. It's hard to replace a Herschel Walker but I'm not an owner or a coach.`` THE WALKER TRADE: REACTION AROUND THE NFL

Vikings general manager Mike Lynn: ``We hope this trade does for the Minnesota Vikings what the trade for Rickey Henderson did for the Oakland A's.``

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: ``It was very unique and in everybody's interests. We took a lot of time because we had a lot of feelings for Herschel's feelings.``

Former Cowboys coach Tom Landry: ``I know he (Walker) will adapt very quickly to the new system. He can be absolutely devastating if he is used properly.``

Bears coach Mike Ditka: ``In football, it's not the collection of the greatest players. It's the collection of the best team that wins.``

Vikings running back Herschel Walker: ``I love Dallas, but it's time to move on.`` NEW COWBOYS

Linebacker Jesse Solomon, 25. Led Vikings in solo tackles each of the past two seasons but injured his knee late last year and needed major surgery.

Linebacker David Howard, 28. Has started most of the last 3 1/2 seasons but would have lost his job to Mike Merriweather had Solomon been healthy.

Cornerback Ike Holt, 27. A sometime starter the last three years before Reggie Rutland beat him out in 1988. Returned interception 90 yards for a touchdown last Sunday.

Running back Darrin Nelson, 30. Has gained 4,016 yards in his eight-year career.

Rookie defensive end Alex Stewart, 25. An eighth-round draft choice out of Cal State-Fullerton.

[Maple Leafs]

Wow, didn't realize this deal was done in mid-season.