Defensive End Jared Allen and Head Coach Brad Childress
Childress: Just a couple of thoughts here, and I know you want to hear from Jared. We had an opportunity to acquire a tremendously talented football player and a talented teammate. He’s a guy that readily acknowledges his past. I think he is ready to have a positive influence on this team and on this organization, both on and off the field. You all know how I feel about that. I think we took what we thought was a thorough process through this decision-making process. I had extensive conversations with people that raised Jared, with people that played with Jared and with people that coached with Jared. Very sensitive when you talk to a lot of different people and you’re trying to pull off a deal like this that you can talk to some and you can’t talk to others because as we know, information moves fast these days. But in conjunction with the positive feedback that we got from all of those people, we really felt like we have every reason to believe that this should be a good fit for us. I think he has learned from his mistakes and realizes what it takes to become positive and productive. He’s going to share some of that thought with you, and I think at the end of the day you have to trust your intuition and your homework on the decision that you make. I believe that it will be positive for the organization. Zygi (Wilf) was involved in this process right from the start to the finish. This has been going on for seven or eight weeks now and it’s a process that included him getting to know and spending time with Jared. I know Jared has some thoughts for you on that, being able to feel and understand what the Wilf family is about, and then obviously all of us feeling comfortable that it would be a good, solid fit for our football team and the organization. I think it’s a great sign again of the Wilfs’ commitment to wanting to build a championship-caliber football team that competes on the football field, not only passionately but relentlessly and then professionally. Without further ado, Jared Allen.
Allen: How are you guys doing? I feel like I’m 22 again on draft day. This time a few more people showed up. This is going to be an awesome opportunity for me. This organization, back when this was just kind of a thought of Minnesota would be a great fit for me and maybe we can get something done, to the whole process that we have been through to actually get this thing done, has been awesome. This organization has been first class since day one. Obviously they had some questions they had to ask and I answered them truthfully and humbly and we moved on past that to what was going to be best for this organization and best for winning championships. So my whole goal for being here is obviously a little selfish because I get to play with two of the best d-tackles in the league (Pat and Kevin Williams). I’m excited to come in here and really just start playing football and be a part of this organization and be a part of this community, and getting to know all of you guys and letting you guys get to know me. Obviously I had four years in Kansas City and Kansas City will always have a part of my life just because of the fact that I met some great people there and I’ve got some great relationships down there that will always be there. I hope to build those same relationships here, and as you guys will find out through me being here that I am always accessible and I live my life to the fullest and I play football to the fullest. My only goal football-wise is to win championships, and I think Coach has made me a piece of this puzzle. It’s going to be a continually growing puzzle; as we know football is always changing, especially the NFL. One day you are in and one day you are out. I am excited that this process is over and that I can call Minnesota my home and that I can get ready to start winning some championships wearing the purple and gold now.
Q: What was it about Kansas City that made you want to start fresh somewhere else?
A: It was just as the years went on I could see that it wasn’t going to be the right place for me. It was no secret that me and management had clashes over contract extensions and just as the process moved on and this just happened to be the right opportunity that they are in a situation where they need to rebuild. They weren’t in a situation where we were going to come to terms on any sort of extension or anything like that and I happened to be a valuable commodity for that team and they were able to get picks that they needed to be hopefully a dominant franchise in the future. Obviously I was able to come to an organization that is on the brink of being contenders every year, and I am ecstatic for that. To come here and to be able to be a part of a great organization, first of all from Mr. Wilf down. When I got to meet him the first words that came out of his mouth was we want to win championships. To hear that from your owner is a dream come true. Like I said, from the facilities down to everybody that I’ve met here, the one common goal has been winning championships. For me as a player you couldn’t ask for any more. That makes me want to get on the field and give even more than what I can give to get that done. As you said, you go through this process and it’s the right fit. It’s the right fit here. Like I said, for me selfishly, those two d-tackles, I think the biggest problem we’re going to have is who is going to hit the quarterback first. According to Pat I’ve just got to leave the running back alone. The running back is all is.
Q: How difficult was it for you to have to answer questions about your past during this process?
A: Yeah, you expect that. I’ve never run from my mistakes. I’ve owned up to them. I’ve made the changes necessary to be a better man, and that’s what I explained to them. Obviously we went into greater detail about it. My biggest thing is you don’t have to hear me tell you how I’ve changed; you can come and see me live. People in the community and you guys will get to know me and see, wow, this is how he lives and this is his life. The important thing for me to express to him was these changes were not made just so I would look good in the eyes of the NFL. These changes were made for me as a man and to be a better man for my family, to represent the name on the back of this jersey. Like I told Coach, now that I am a part of this family, and as I told Mr. Wilf, now that I am a part of his family and a part of the Vikings family, I will do everything to represent that family as if I am representing my personal family. All I can ever do is be truthful and honest. If you are truthful and honest you don’t ever have to worry about what you say because you know what, that’s what it is. Like I told Coach, God gave me eyes in the front of my head to look forward and not in the back so I don’t have to look back. I’ve dealt with it and I’ve moved on, and now all you can do is watch me live and you can see what I’ve told you is true.
Q: So the Vikings did not take a gamble with you regarding your background?
A: No, not at all.
Q: How close do you think this team is to being a contender?
A: That is what was so attractive to me. Now that I am on the opposite side we don’t have to scrimmage you guys up at Mankato every year now. But scrimmaging you guys and the Vikings throughout the training camp through playing you guys in Week 3 I think it was and knowing a couple of the players at the Pro Bowl, it was like man, you guys are close. The running game, and I am a firm believer that you have to run the ball in the NFL, especially in November and December if you want to win championships. The way this offensive line plays and the way that Adrian Peterson runs the ball, and just being around here with the chemistry of the organization, there is no reason year in and year out we shouldn’t be contending. That’s what was so attractive about it. It wasn’t like we’re on the brink and we’ll get a couple of players here and there and maybe next year. No, it’s now. We want to win championships now and that attitude to me is so attractive. I’m getting all excited. I told Coach that I haven’t been this excited since I got drafted and I’m probably even more excited now. My mom could hear it in my voice; I was talking to my mom this morning at breakfast. She goes, ‘I know you didn’t want to say too much last week, but I knew you were excited. I could hear it in your voice.’ So for me, football is my life. I love football and the biggest and the greatest honor in the world would be able to hang a banner up saying world champions, and being a part of that.
Q: Some people have referred to you as the missing link for this team; do you like being looked at as one of the leaders on this team to help them get over that hump?
A: I think every football player wants to be that guy. As far as final link, like I said before, this puzzle is always growing. It’s an endless chain. Each person in an organization has a different role. Some have a bigger role and some have a smaller role, but it’s an intricate role. Every piece of that puzzle, if it’s not fitting big or small, obviously you are missing a piece. Like I said, I don’t think I am ‘the’ piece. As a collective whole I think I am part of the puzzle. As a football player, you do want to be that guy. You do want to have that hat. You want to be a leader, and that’s how I was raised to play and that’s how I was raised to live my life is be a guy people can count on. Be accountable and for me to go out there and demonstrate my talents on the field and to help my team win and to be a guy people can count on on fourth-and-one when the game is on the line, and guys in the huddle can look to you. That’s the kind of player I want to be because I ultimately want to be the best at what I do.
Q: Are you in the midst of your prime or do you feel like you are just entering it?
A: That’s a good question. I would say I’m just getting started. Every year I get older I feel one year younger. Each year I try to get better. I think as a football player I can always develop something new. Not this past year but the year before that, at that time I felt that was one of my best years as a whole and my sack numbers were actually down. I think I only had like 7.5 that year, so I watched film and I went back and I said, wow, OK, I lead the league in pressures so what do I have to get better at? I’ve got to get better at finishing the play, so that last offseason I changed up my diet and did some things like that, get back in the gym harder, do things technique-wise to go back and study film on myself and do a nice self-scout. I do a nice self-scout every year and look at where I can improve. I went back and made the improvements and had what my best year was to this date was this last year. I plan on doing the same process this year. Each year I plan on having my best year. I think as long as I keep that attitude and now I have got the coaches that are going to direct me in that pattern and give me the assistance, that are going to hold me accountable to my technique and to what I’ve got to do as a player, that each year I should just continue to get better. The year that it’s not your best, the year when you start sliding, that’s when you have to start thinking it’s over.
Q: Was there one thing that you changed? Using your hands better?
A: No, again from last year to this year it was about finish. My whole mindset was finishing. After I watched film, I was like, man, I was there. Then you change some alignment and some technique stuff; I am not going to tell everybody what that is because the opposing tackles might be watching this.
Q: The franchise tag is designed for teams to keep their top players. When this whole process started eight or nine weeks ago, how realistic did you think it was for you to end up here?
A: You know what, it was one of those things where it sounded nice but realistically you are like this is maybe a couple of percent chance that this is going to happen. I remember talking to my agent because at first I wanted all of the updates. Who did you talk to? Who has called? Who has done this? I called him and said, you know what, just do me a favor and tell me who I am playing with next year because I need to concentrate on my game. I need to concentrate. Whoever I am playing with, I’ve got to be the best. So I turned my phone off and just went back to the gym and was in the gym, and then all of a sudden I got a couple of more calls like, hey (talking about the Vikings). It was kind of an up-and-down ride. You get excited but you don’t want to get too excited because of the fact that the possibility of it happening is pretty slim, but then as the closer as it got to it and then when I got to come up here and I got to see the organization, there was no doubt in my mind that this was the place for me and that this is a place where great things can happen.
Q: Mike Tomlin started it here and then Leslie Frazier continued the success with the defense. Is that another thing that excites you about the Vikings?
A: Definitely, and like I told the coaches when I came here, I said as much as they are interviewing me, I am also interviewing them because I’m not going to go to a place where I don’t think I can’t continue to get better. I think as a player if you ever think you have arrived, you might as well just hang it up. You might as well just walk off and turn in your retirement papers and call it a day because in this league, as you know, you have never arrived. And to have a coaching staff that is going to say you do some great things, we don’t want to change you, but we want to improve on those things. We want to continue to give you tools in your toolbox that you can use when you get in a situation on the field that you have that technique and you have that ability to get out of. To here that and to hear the direction that the coaches want to go, that is awesome. It’s one thing to know every year only one team is going to win the championship, so we have a one out of 32 to win it. But to have that on your mind that that is your goal every year, that is all you can ask for. To be working toward that and coaches pushing you toward that every year, will it happen? You don’t know, but you can’t ever go into a season thinking, ehh, next year will be our year. That is an organization that is not going to go anywhere, and like I said, the first thing that came out of people’s mouths around here was we’re going to win championships.
Q: Have you been able to get your mind around the fact that just a few years ago you were a fourth-round pick and now you are one of the highest-paid players in the league?
A: I got chills right now. It’s just starting to sink in. As a player it’s cool because it shows appreciation for what you have done, but at the same time personally I look at it as a new challenge. The day I got drafted my dad called me because I told my old man when I was eight years old that I was going to play pro football, and the day I got drafted he called me to say congratulations. You did it, you accomplished a life dream. That was a scary moment for me because now I’ve got to come up with new goals. So this is kind of the same thing. I accomplished something I wanted to accomplish but for me it’s just a new challenge. Now that I have been recognized as one of the best, you’ve got to be the best. I’ve always said this and I told Coach this before too, the easy part is getting to be up top. The hardest part is staying there. As a player and as a human being I love that challenge. I love the fact that once you get up top, that’s when the real fight starts. You’ve got put in extra. If people are running 10 gassers, you’ve got to run 11, and that’s the kind of player I am and that’s the kind of challenge I am looking forward to. I can’t say enough that I know I’ve got the right people surrounding me in this organization to continue and I can bring other people with and they are going to continue to push me.
Q: Was Tampa Bay ever in the mix and when was it apparent that you wanted to be in Minnesota?
A: They were in the mix. They kind of jumped back and forth a little bit. I think it was apparent that I wanted to be in Minnesota when I came here and I got to see the organization. Like I said, I got to kind of do my interview process. Obviously Kevin and Pat Williams are just…that stands out as oh, this is great for me with two great d-tackles, but to come here and to really spend some time with Mr. Wilf and with Coach Childress and Coach Frazier and Coach (Karl) Dunbar, and just really seeing how everybody interacted together, I just kind of would take a step back and watch everybody in this organization, from how the offices are set up. Just little things that I was like OK, you know what, this place right here, this is a special place. These people are headed in the right direction. Their focus is in the right direction and I want to be a part of that.
A: No, I did not.
Q: Were you so frustrated in Kansas City that you would have pretty much gone anywhere?
A: You don’t say anywhere, but things have to come into play because you obviously can’t go from one situation you are not happy with to another. I’m just happy that Minnesota, this is the right situation. It all worked out. I’m here today and I’m ready to start my new career as a Minnesota Viking. Like I said, I’m just ecstatic and I am excited. I can’t wait to put the pads on and get out on the field.
Q: The 69 at the end of your guaranteed money, was that just a fun thing to do or are you superstitious?
A: It’s hilarious. It’s cool. We were laughing and joking about it. Actually my girlfriend kind of brought it up and she said it would be kind of funny. I think her word was cute; I say funny. If I said cute I might get looked at differently up here. But yeah, stuff like that, it just shows that the organization, they want this to be a fun experience. They want this to be a memorable experience and it’s kind of one of those things where you laugh and joke about it and they actually do it and you’re like that’s hilarious. That’s just the kind of people that are here. That’s the kind of person that I am. Like I said, I couldn’t be happier and I think it’s a great fit.
Childress: Just one more quick word here and I think this is as key as anything. When you do something like this, there are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that have to come together organizationally. Obviously from the top and Zygi, to the personnel, to doing the contracts, there are a lot of different variables here with compensation, with negotiating a contract, being under a window, with the logistical people, the people that were moving people in and out and trying to do it in a good fashion with the coaches interacting. Just a lot of different moving parts and I think the team did a great job of, obviously Zygi puts his name on the check and that is significant, but as he said, he had to feel it. Just like I felt like when I came in here to interview for the job, you are selling. You want the business, but as he mentioned, he’s coming in and seeing what he’s looking at as well. At the end of the day, it’s about your intuition and do you believe you should be here.
Q: Does this embolden you in terms of your goals for the season?
A: I always want to win now. It’s funny, I read Kevin’s (Seifert) piece this morning about this is the piece. Is this the final piece? We had that discussion on Saturday I think with his agent and Zygi and I forget who else was in the room with his agent. I’m going to have that room swept. In this business, is it the final piece? It’s never the end play. It’s never the final piece. Like we talked about, I come in here every day, we all come in here every day to try to get this place a day better. We’re going to get better here in another couple days, but you know what? It doesn’t mean we are not coming in tomorrow. What’s tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday to try to look at another way to get better. We know the draft starts on Saturday, but it’s never the end. You have to try to get better every day, and if the sense is you think you’ve arrived, that is where you have your biggest problems in this business.
Q: Did you to come to the realization that sitting at number 17 there wouldn’t be player of his caliber?
A: When we come down and introduce him at the draft party as our number-one draft pick, I think we are getting a pretty good player. Then our value system in terms of the rest of the draft picks, Rick did a great job obviously of getting us an extra three (third-round pick) last year from Denver. So we couldn’t have done this deal, compensation-wise, without that thing sitting there or we wouldn’t have enough firepower. We are losing two players there but we are gaining a great one here and we’ll get one in the second round. I look at it as it cost us a third-round draft pick and a flip of a sixth.
Q: How does it make you feel that players want to come here?
A: It just makes me feel that we are putting it together brick by brick. It can be fine to be an up-and-coming team, but you’ve got to walk the walk and you’ve got to back it up when you get into September.
Q: At what point were you confident that you would be able to get the deal done?
A: This morning at 10:00 when he signed all the papers. FedEx arrived on time. We got him in here to do it. There were a lot of…the contract has got to be looked at by the league, the players association. There are just a swirl of things that Rob (Brzezinski) could talk to you about and Rick (Spielman) could talk to you about, but it’s not just as simple as yes, we agree and shake hands. Then the work starts.
A: I’d let Rob talk about that, but it’s a fluid situation. It was (up and down). That’s why they call it a negotiation.
Q: Any extra pressure on you or did you feel it so much already that this doesn’t really add much?
A: It’s not pressure to add a good football player. I always feel good to add good football players.
Q: Do you feel he is one of the best defensive ends in football or the best?
A: You know what, I’ll say this, this guy is not a guy that can just rush the passer. His numbers say that he lead the NFL in sacks last year but he’s a guy that loves to play the run and play it aggressively, so he is not a guy that you can only play for a third down. He can play every down, so I feel like I got the best defensive end pass rusher that plays the run combination there is.
Q: Was that something you were aware of before you watched film of him?
A: Well, I had to coach against him this year. He was coming back, he was all rested up in the third game of the year. You don’t live in a vacuum. You get a chance to watch him play last year. We got a chance to practice against him back-to-back days. We kind of knew who that guy was.
Q: Ideally does Ray Edwards move over to the left side then?
A: Yeah, that’s what we’ll end up doing is move Ray over there. Ray will have capabilities to go both ways. You never can tell, he plays right, he plays left. It could be a ‘Where’s Waldo’ depending on what week it is.
A: I’m not sure. Rob, is there an asterisk in there at all? I don’t know. I’m going to let everybody kind of sleuth that out and see if there is anything in there. It certainly was lobbied for. That’s one of those (signaling up and down) that he said.
Q: He had 15.5 sacks in 14 games. Does that raise the bar where 18 or 20 sacks are expected?
A: That’s what he just said, wasn’t it? You’ve got to keep raising the bar.
Q: So people should expect 20 from him?
A: You know what, numbers are all relative. I don’t how many games he is going to play. Is he going to play 20, is he going to play 16, is he going to play 13?
Q: Does the team’s history of struggling to find a top defensive end play a part in this signing?
A: I just think it was kind of a perfect storm of events. We’re living in the now, so history is what it is. We’re living in the now and there was an opportunity that we had that they were amenable to. Like I said, a lot of different moving parts but we ended up working it out.
Q: How much responsibility do you feel to really look into a guy’s background before you sign him?
A: I wish you could see our draft board. Don’t you wish they could see it, Rick?
Childress: Do you want to take all of these people up in the room upstairs? Yeah, I do. And I tell you, I’ll give you one interesting conversation from somebody that you know that said I could use it and I’m sure you can follow up with him. Tony Richardson, we know who Tony Richardson is. There is probably not a better guy to be able to cast a gaze on a young Jared Allen to Jared Allen that is a four-year player in this league. They happened to get on a plane in Phoenix and fly to Hawaii together for the Pro Bowl. They got a chance to visit there and they got a chance to visit a bunch by the pool out in Hawaii. He said it was palpable. You could feel Jared Allen and where he is at right now and how his life has changed from when he first came into this league to who he is right now, not only as a player but obviously as a person. Yeah, I felt compelled to any and all means, whether it is who coached him, who raised him, who he played with. You take that all in and it was obviously positive feedback.