Vikings training camp: Chuck Foreman previews top storylines

Hi everybody and welcome to Fox 9 Sports Now and we are honored to have the man who helped the Vikings get to a Super Bowl. The last time. Chuck, you know how long it is? A long time. 49 years. This is going to be the 49th season. You were there in 1977 against the Oakland Raiders. Did it ever occur to you that after that game against Oakland, Vikings would never be back to a Super Bowl? No. I thought they would have a consistent program to continue. I think they had a great leader in Bud Graham. I thought Bud Graham and the other coaches would follow suit, but they've had some good teams. I thought Denny Green was an excellent coach. He did a lot of great things, but they just couldn't get over that hump. Getting to the Super Bowl is not an easy thing to do. It apparently is true because it's 49 years for almost 50 years. Because so much time has passed since the last time we saw you on the field, many of the young viewers tonight never saw your game, so we've got some footage for you. Just explain how Bud Grant, Jerry Burns, and yourself changed the game. You were a fullback, yet you led the NFL in receiving. First of all, I came out of University of Miami as a receiver, running back, cornerback, so I was very versatile. I could catch the ball for sure, run the ball. I could do pretty much anything I wanted to do football-wise. Jerry Burns and Bud Grant created this offense. We called it the Purple Offense, which took advantage of me as a receiver, as a runner, whether I was in the slot outside or getting the ball from out of the backfield. It was a great match for me to be with those two guys. They were way beyond as far as creating an offense. We were the first to do it. Don't get the credit, but... Right, because everybody renamed it the West Coast Offense. They named it the West Coast Offense, but that was our offense, and nobody did it like we did. Everyone now emulates that. Every running back in this league now has to catch the football. If you can't catch it and run it, you might not be on the team. That's the way I see it. As far as I'm concerned, when Jerry and Bud created that offense and they told me I was going to be moved from running back to fullback, I wasn't a happy camper because I just thought I was going to be blocked. Back in my time, that's what fullbacks did. Oscar Reed had to sit me down, him and Clint Jones, and calm me down and tell me exactly how it worked. Dave Osborne also, so I kind of fell in and it was just a perfect offense for my talent. Well, no doubt about it. This match should be in the Hall of Fame, but that's a whole other show. I'm not losing sleep. Because everybody thinks you're in. Everybody comes up to you and says, Chuck, you're in the Hall of Fame. Where'd you get the gold jacket? It's still in Canton. There's pressure on head coaches every year, but the seasons can be elevated some years. Could that be the case for Kevin O'Connell this time around? Not only does he have to get this quarterback situation squared out and figured out, he's yet to win a playoff game and he's going into year five now as the Vikings head coach. Right. Those guys have been fired for less than that, for a lot more than that, you know what I mean? But I think he's a really good young coach and I think he's had some good quarterbacks coming through and we've kind of moved them around. But I think if he gets in there, I'm cautiously optimistic, first of all, let me say that. But I think that he can put the talent they have put together. I think they can go into the playoffs and win the playoff game. Hopefully they can win more, but if they stay healthy up front, utilize the guys that they have. We've got a great running back room, exceptional receiving group. The offensive line has got to stay healthy and if they can do that, I think they can do some good things. Yeah, because it does seem like there is an overall positive feel with the players towards O'Connell and the league looks favorably on what he has done to this point, despite the lack of playoff success. I think so. I think he's run a good, he's brought a good product every year, no doubt about it. And the guys played for him. They've had a couple of really good young quarterbacks, you know, Donald came in and you see one of the things I feel about that, that move was like when you get a guy like that, that has the room, the players, like he did, you can't get rid of a guy like that. Cause that, that is, that's a sign of respect and that they will come play for him and with him, you know, and that, that's the way I feel about that. So, um, now they got another quarterback coming in and we'll get to that right now. All right. So, uh, Kevin O'Connell is hoping, hoping to hold an open quarterback competition for the starting position. Kyler Murray has to have the inside track just because of the numbers he's put up at his time in Arizona, but he has missed 27 starts in three of the last four years. That's number one. And number two, the Cardinals are paying him $37 million not to be their quarterback. So what does Kyler have to do here to take this job? Well, obviously they did that. They think there might've been, there may have been some issues there. We don't know what they were, but, uh, he comes here with a clean slate, uh, a bunch of talent and a bunch of a lot of talent around him. So if he comes in and does what he needs to do, and I think, uh, you know, McConnell will do the best to get him prepared and ready to play. Like he always does with his quarterbacks. And he's got all these people around offensively that are exceptional in my opinion. I think, um, he could do some great things here. All right. We will see. Then there's JJ McCarthy last year, the team anointed him the starter entering camp. It was his job. Now he's in the fight of his young professional career, trying to hold onto that job that he thought was his. So how important is it for JJ to come right out of the gate and show the coaches something? And what is it that he has to show them? No, I think he's got to serve some leadership. You know, he's got mature quite a bit for sure. And he's got to be as productive as he, as he can be on the football field. We know he's got an abundance of talent, but to me, it just seems like mentally, you know, he just wasn't, I don't know if that's a mate for lack of a better word, maybe it was just too immature. There's too many immature things in my opinion. And I don't know him, but I'm just saying when I'm watching the game, I'm seeing him do things that are just not in character for the kind of quarterback I would see us have. Do you think, it's got to be inside him though, right? Because of what he did at Michigan and because of his upbringing, you would think that, you know, maybe he assumed that it would be easier than it actually turned out to be for him. It may be when you got a lot of talent like that. Sometimes they react that way, but you know, he's a smart guy, no question about it. Talented, no question about that. He's just got to, you know, do what he needs to do. Take some, go look at some Tom Brady films or something, you know, but being, being cool and being productive under pressure is what he needs to be able to do. All right. A year ago, the Vikings led the NFL in getting picked off the team through 21 interceptions last year. That was tops in the NFL. We'll only throw in 18 touchdown passes. And there were only two occasions where the Vikings passed for over 300 yards. And the man at the helm both times, Carson Wentz. So he's back here again. Where does he really fit in, in your eyes? Because you don't see him as the long-term answer just because of his age, correct? Right. But I think he's a good guy to have. But I just think the other two guys, you know, I think Carson, I mean, I mean, Kyler Murray and JJ are the guys, you know, that are going to be in that battle for number one, but he's just going to be an insurance guy. All right. All right. That's the way I see. I'm not saying that's the way I see it from my perspective. And it's going to be interesting to see. It's going to be, they say a quarterback battle, but I already think they already know who's going to be the guy. All right. Now turning to the defense, Vikings have lived off pressure in the Brian Flores defense. You know, we've seen it all the time. Pressure came from Andrew Ranginkel, Jonathan Goddard, but in a salary cap move, the Vikings had to trade away Grenard. That means Dallas Turner has to step in. Do you think he has what it takes to take this spot over? He's the number one draft choice. True. And he better have that talent to take over because that's why they made him number one. Surely some guys get here in their first year or two, like, like Dallas, you know, they're just adjusting and things like that. But I saw some good things in him last year. So he'll get an opportunity to start. And if he's made of what I think he's made of, he'll take advantage of that. He's definitely got the talent. All right. And finally, we turn to your expertise Vikings, bringing back both Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason didn't have the greatest numbers. Vikings were 23rd, but can that group improve? Well, I think they will. I think, you know, a lot of things enter into that, you know, injuries up front, you know, the play calling with more, more passes than running, running plays. But I think both of those guys are, I really, really like their talent. So I think we're in good shape there. All right. Sorry about this is something's going on here. Chuck, thank you so much. Appreciate it. I'm not going to shake your hand because it just but it's awesome to see you. Thank you so much. Always good to be here, Jim. All right. All right. Thanks. I need a water break and we're going to talk twins.