THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS SHUT DOWN TEAM FACLITY DUE TO COVID-19 CONCERNS

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, the Minnesota Vikings have shut down their team facility due to COVID-19 concerns.

On Sunday, Sept. 27, the Vikings hosted the Tennessee Titans in an NFL football game that had no fans due to the Vikings and the NFL Covid-19 policy.

On Monday, Sept 28, three Titans players and staffers test positive for COVID-19.

The Titans beat the Vikings 31-30 in a close game that came down to the wire.

The Vikings will continue testing players throughout the week. The Vikings are scheduled to play in Houston on Sunday, Oct. 4. They are currently 0-3.

First female NFL ref takes field for Packers-Chargers game - Minneapolis News and Weather KMSP FOX 9

By BARRY WILNER AP Pro Football Writer

The NFL's first female official is welcoming her role as a sports pioneer.

Shannon Eastin says she's excited and a bit nervous but not at all intimidated by the challenge of working a pro game. Eastin makes her NFL debut Thursday night as the line judge when the Green Bay Packers play at San Diego in the preseason opener for both teams. A 42-year-old referee in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference - college football's second-highest level - Eastin has 16 years of officiating experience.

She is among the replacement officials hired by the league while the regular officials are locked out. Like the rest of her current colleagues, she could easily be back to her regular officiating gig once a new labor deal is struck.

"I want to encourage women: Don't be afraid," Eastin said on a conference call Tuesday. "Pursue and have dreams. This is my dream. With very step I hope to show it really doesn't matter if you are male or female."

Eastin is in a particularly difficult spot for three reasons:

- No woman has officiated an NFL game;

- The Chargers host the Packers on national television;

- She is viewed by some of the NFL's regular officials as a scab.

Check out the link from Fox 9 for more information on this report. 

THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS RELEASE WIDE RECIEVER RANDY MOSS

According to ESPN News and the NFL Network, Vikings waive 7-time Pro Bowl WR Randy Moss. Moss was acquired from Patriots last month.

JAGUARS SIGN VETERAN QB TODD BOUMAN

According to Kare 11.com the Jaguars sign QB Todd Bouman

SPECIAL TEAMS COACH BREAKS BACK,11 OTHERS HURT IN ROOF COLLAPSE

By DAVID JIMENEZ and JAIME ARON, Associated Press

Whenever a storm hits while the Dallas Cowboys are inside their practice facility, the sound of rain pelting the tent-like structure can drown out conversation. No matter the noise, safety rarely was an issue, until Saturday.

Wind that was just shy of tornado strength, and perhaps stronger, ripped through the roof during a rookie minicamp practice, essentially popping the so-called bubble. Between the falling debris and the furor to get out, special teams coach Joe DeCamillis broke his back and 11 more people were hospitalized.

About 60 others felt lucky to escape with only cuts and bruises.

"I saw it coming down and didn't have time to react," secondary coach Dave Campo said. "I hit the ground and was able to get back up."

DeCamillis, hired a few months ago, is likely to need surgery to fix "a couple of broken vertebrae" in his lower back but is expected to recover, said his father-in-law, Dan Reeves, the longtime NFL coach.

DeCamillis was among 10 people taken away by emergency vehicles. Two others went to hospitals on their own.
"Right now, I think we don't have anybody who is in a life-threatening situation," said Dr. Paul Pepe, head of emergency medical services for Dallas County.

Those with more serious injuries included a person with a head injury, one with an open fracture below the knee and someone who was impaled with metal, said Tommy Gonzalez, Irving's city manager.
Names of the injured were not released due to privacy issues. Players were told not to discuss the episode with reporters.

Just before the facility was flattened, wind was clocked at 64 mph, a single mph shy of the threshold for a weak tornado. However, National Weather Service meteorologist Gary Woodall said a "microburst" may have pushed the wind beyond 70 mph at the top of the structure. A microburst also was to blame for a 1985 Delta Airlines crash at nearby DFW airport that killed 137 people.

"The fact that there weren't more injuries is rather miraculous," Woodall said.

Also incredible: An Irving police spokesman said there was hardly any damage beyond the Cowboys' facility.
Before Bill Parcells was hired as coach in 2003, the Cowboys rarely practiced indoors, unless weather was bad enough for them to ride buses to a high school team's bubble. Parcells suggested that owner Jerry Jones build one, and it was finished in time for Parcells' first season at a cost of more than $4 million.

The no-frills building was pretty much a 100-yard football field with a few more yards of clearance all the way around. The roof was 80 feet high, the equivalent of an eight-story building.

On Saturday, there were 27 players — almost all drafted last weekend or signed as undrafted rookies — working out when the storm hit. Also in the building were coaches, support staff and media.

Nick Eatman of DallasCowboys.com escaped, but was knocked down by something hitting his back. He then heard someone screaming for help and realized it was coming from under a door frame. He recognized that it was Todd Archer of The Dallas Morning News because of a tattoo on his ankle.

Eatman and colleague Josh Ellis tried freeing Archer but the structure wouldn't budge. "It was like a car," Eatman said. Then safety DeAngelo Smith and linebacker Brandon Williams managed to lift it just enough for Archer to squirm out.

"I was trapped. I couldn't move," said Archer, who figures he was down 20 to 25 seconds. "Then those guys lifted it up — not very far, but I was able to move from my side to my back. ... Once I got out of there, I looked back and the whole thing was down."

Eatman said one of the swaying lights wound up more than two football fields away. The giant blue star atop the building lay crumpled on the ground. The storm knocked out power at team headquarters and splintered trees across the property. Power was out at team headquarters for about an hour.

"We're lucky no one got electrocuted with all the water in the building," head coach Wade Phillips said.

Larry Rodriguez, a television cameraman who in 2005 was attacked by Kenny Rogers while filming the former Texas Rangers pitcher, received six stitches to close a cut on a hand.

The team canceled Sunday's practice, the final one for the rookies. The first voluntary full-squad minicamp is May 19-21.
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Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle and Schuyler Dixon in Dallas contributed to this report.

MARCUS FITZGERALD GETS HIS SHOT AT THE NFL

By JUDD ZULGAD, Star Tribune

The Vikings hope receiver Marcus Fitzgerald has more in common with his older brother than a last name.

Marcus Fitzgerald attended a handful of regular-season games in which his older brother, Arizona Cardinals standout Larry Jr., played last year. Marcus also was in attendance throughout the playoffs as Larry's numerous receptions helped the Cardinals reach the Super Bowl.

While Marcus was proud, he also longed for the chance to demonstrate his own skills. That wasn't possible after the wide receiver suffered a torn hamstring while doing the 40-yard dash at his 2008 Pro Day at Marshall. The injury meant Marcus didn't have the opportunity to catch on with a team in the spring and he ended up spending his time in the Twin Cities working out and keeping his focus on getting a chance.

That opportunity will come this weekend as Fitzgerald joins a group of players at the Vikings' three-day rookie camp on a tryout basis.

"Last year I pretty much stayed here and just kept training and kept grinding," said Fitzgerald, who trained at Velocity Sports Performance in Champlin. "I knew my opportunity would come eventually. My whole mind-set was to keep training like I knew this was going to happen."

The son of longtime Twin Cities journalist Larry Fitzgerald Sr., Marcus' invitation to the Vikings camp came after he had a discussion with Brad Childress last month while attending a fund-raising event named in honor of Marcus' late mother, Carol.

Fitzgerald, 23, got the opportunity to tell the Vikings coach about himself and his time at Marshall. Fitzgerald's best season came as a sophomore when he had 41 receptions for 448 yards and two touchdowns; he had only five catches for 71 yards as a senior. Childress liked what he heard enough to invite Fitzgerald to try out.

It was a dream scenario for Fitzgerald, who like his brother, had grown up rooting for the Vikings and served as a ball boy for the team from 1998-2003. At the time, Fitzgerald tried to work with the Vikings running backs because that was his position, but eventually he was converted to wide receiver at Marshall.

That, of course, is the same position his big brother plays. Marcus has talked to his brother about this tryout and Larry Jr., 25, is even sending some gloves. But while Marcus appreciates the help, his desire is to make a name for himself.

"My story is going to be different than Larry's," Marcus said. "Larry was the third pick overall [in 2004] and things just happened for him. He got a big contract, got to play right away. But with me having to go through the injury and come through adversity of not getting drafted -- it's a mental test, and really made me persevere and appreciate it that much more."