Christian Ponder surprised by Kevin Williams' criticism

[Funkytown]

Williams didn't say anything earth shattering ... Or insulting for that matter. Ponder needs to make quicker decisions during games ... Ya think?

This is my favorite:

"Obviously, you want to be on the positive side of every player you play with. Honestly, I can learn some things and maybe try to get better at what he's talking about."

Yeah, maybe try.

The poor guy just seems so flustered. I kind of feel bad for him. He's probably getting tired of big-name Vikings players finding other teams and then talking about him. Poor Pondie.

[HardcoreVikesFan]

If anyone has the right to complain about Ponder - it is Kevin.

Kevin was here for eleven years. Of those eleven seasons, he only played with a legitimate quarterback for 3 seasons. He had a chance to play in six playoff games and was 'one and done' twice. The rest of the time, the team was consistently toiling in mediocrity and screwing around at the QB position. The guy hardly said anything throughout it all. I don't blame him for being salty now. I am biased because next to Randy, Kevin will always be my favorite Viking, but still, the guy deserved better.

[Purple bruise]

I was as William's fan while he was in Purple but he, like Winnfield, are way past their prime. Just like Winnfield got cut because he got beaten out, my money is that Williams won't even be on their roster day one. Good luck to him though and thanks for his many years of good play.

[Mothman]

If anyone has the right to complain about Ponder - it is Kevin.

Kevin was here for eleven years. Of those eleven seasons, he only played with a legitimate quarterback for 3 seasons. He had a chance to play in six playoff games and was 'one and done' twice. The rest of the time, the team was consistently toiling in mediocrity and screwing around at the QB position. The guy hardly said anything throughout it all. I don't blame him for being salty now. I am biased because next to Randy, Kevin will always be my favorite Viking, but still, the guy deserved better.

Then Ponder isn't who he should complain about.

[Purple bruise]

Then Ponder isn't who he should complain about.

Many do not ever miss a chance to bash Ponder, even if there is no chance or reason

[Eli]

Then Ponder isn't who he should complain about.

You don't read the subtext very well. He made a comment about Ponder, but the criticism was very clearly directed elsewhere.

[Mothman]

Many do not ever miss a chance to bash Ponder, even if there is no chance or reason

I understand where HardcoreVikesfan is coming from: it's tough to see another great Vikings player end his career with the team without a championship but that's on management, not Ponder or any of the other QBs who have been paraded in front of us over the past decade.

[Demi]

If anyone has the right to complain about Ponder - it is Kevin.

Kevin was here for eleven years. Of those eleven seasons, he only played with a legitimate quarterback for 3 seasons. He had a chance to play in six playoff games and was 'one and done' twice. The rest of the time, the team was consistently toiling in mediocrity and screwing around at the QB position. The guy hardly said anything throughout it all. I don't blame him for being salty now. I am biased because next to Randy, Kevin will always be my favorite Viking, but still, the guy deserved better.

Yep, same thing Love is going through. I think a lot of people would be upset, maybe most wouldn't voice their frustrations. Refreshing to hear...instead of the usual "He was a nice guy, good teammate, blah blah blah".

[HardcoreVikesFan]

Many do not ever miss a chance to bash Ponder, even if there is no chance or reason

Swerve. I was simply making a commentary on why Kevin has a legitimate reason to be critical of Ponder. Kevin was a team leader and his comments are hardly more than what everyone else can see when Ponder takes the field.

Then Ponder isn't who he should complain about.

It cuts both ways Jim. I am not going to sit here and say Ponder's performance against Green Bay wasn't a big reason why we made the post season in 2012. However, for as good as he was during that game, he was just as brutal in other games that year (i.e. the Arizona game *shudder*). So in a way, you are right. If we are solely talking about 2012, Kevin may not have a huge grievance.

However, this past season is a different story. Ponder was supposed to take another step and assume a leadership role. He failed to accomplish both things. The team subsequently suffered through a season in which we saw Ponder have more turnovers (interceptions and fumbles) than TDs. Kevin has every right to be critical. I cannot say much about Ponder during the 2011 season, as he was a rookie and it wouldn't be fair to make that judgement.

Regarding the rest of Kevin's time here, he still has the right to be upset. Sure, he did re-up with the after 2006, but management hardly did this team any favors during this tenure here. The list of questionable decision making regarding not only the QB position, but the team as whole is long. I am not going to get into it all, but the short and simple version is that Kevin may simply be expressing what many of us fans have been so frustrated with during the 2000s and early 2010s - mediocrity due to questionable decision making on the part of management.

That being said, our team is on the right track now that we finally have a player that will become our next franchise quarterback and a coaching staff that is actually worth a damn for once. I am very hopeful about our future as a team - which is something I haven't felt in quite awhile.

Skol.

[NextQuestion]

I'm putting money on Ponder going to SF next year. Guy seems to have talent but horrible decision making. Curious what a QB guru, like Harbaugh, could do with him.

Now, I totally agree with Kevin. Who cares if he's public? He's candid. We as Minnesotans have to get over the "nice" factor sometimes of family-safe interviews with player/coach speak.

[Texas Vike]

I'm putting money on Ponder going to SF next year. Guy seems to have talent but horrible decision making. Curious what a QB guru, like Harbaugh, could do with him.

Now, I totally agree with Kevin. Who cares if he's public? He's candid. We as Minnesotans have to get over the "nice" factor sometimes of family-safe interviews with player/coach speak.

Got over that about 19 years ago when I moved away from MN, but this still seems a bit petty to me. As if Ponder made the D worst in every measurable way. Be a man; own your own incompetencies. You look bad complaining about other players that underperformed when you didn't measure up either.

In my case, it's not a question of being too nice or too sensitive to straight talk, it's a question of holding back-biters accountable for their own play. If I were his agent or father, I'd tell him to shut up and play.

[Mothman]

It cuts both ways Jim. I am not going to sit here and say Ponder's performance against Green Bay wasn't a big reason why we made the post season in 2012. However, for as good as he was during that game, he was just as brutal in other games that year (i.e. the Arizona game *shudder*). So in a way, you are right. If we are solely talking about 2012, Kevin may not have a huge grievance.

However, this past season is a different story. Ponder was supposed to take another step and assume a leadership role. He failed to accomplish both things. The team subsequently suffered through a season in which we saw Ponder have more turnovers (interceptions and fumbles) than TDs. Kevin has every right to be critical. I cannot say much about Ponder during the 2011 season, as he was a rookie and it wouldn't be fair to make that judgement.

I'm not saying he doesn't have a right to be critical. Everybody does but in two of Ponder's 3 seasons, the Vikings gave up more TDs than any other team in the league. I realize there were turnovers, special teams TDs, etc. but no matter how you slice it, the defense was responsible for the majority of those scores. Ponder would be as justified to point fingers at the defense as Williams is to point fingers at him, which is why it's best for players not to point them at all. Imagine how Ponder felt about the night game against GB last year, when the defense basically allowed GB to score on every possession (or about the game @GB, where the defense collapsed and allowed the Packers to overcome a double digit deficit in the 4th quarter to force OT)? Later in the season, the discussion was all about how many games Ponder won vs. how many games Cassel won but the Vikings put up a total of 57 points against GB last year and didn't get a win.

In the one season of the past 3 where the Vikings didn't literally allow more TDs than every other team in the NFL, they made the playoffs. In other words, yes, it really does cut both ways. If anything has been worse than the Vikings QB play in the past 3 years, it's been their ability to keep opponents out of the endzone.

In the end, I think this is what's most relevant:

Regarding the rest of Kevin's time here, he still has the right to be upset. Sure, he did re-up with the after 2006, but management hardly did this team any favors during this tenure here. The list of questionable decision making regarding not only the QB position, but the team as whole is long. I am not going to get into it all, but the short and simple version is that Kevin may simply be expressing what many of us fans have been so frustrated with during the 2000s and early 2010s - mediocrity due to questionable decision making on the part of management.

Bingo! That was the point of my comment. Inadequate management is far and away the #1 reason the Vikings haven't been more successful during Williams' time with the team.

That being said, our team is on the right track now that we finally have a player that will become our next franchise quarterback and a coaching staff that is actually worth a damn for once. I am very hopeful about our future as a team - which is something I haven't felt in quite awhile.

We'll see. I'm optimistic but I'm not about to make such declarations until everyone involved proves themselves... with the Vikings. This coaching staff might not end up looking any better than the last few and Bridgewater hasn't played a down yet.

[Mothman]

Got over that about 19 years ago when I moved away from MN, but this still seems a bit petty to me. As if Ponder made the D worst in every measurable way. Be a man; own your own incompetencies. You look bad complaining about other players that underperformed when you didn't measure up either.

In my case, it's not a question of being too nice or too sensitive to straight talk, it's a question of holding back-biters accountable for their own play. If I were his agent or father, I'd tell him to shut up and play.

Exactly.

Here are some other recent comments from Williams:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... s-shocking

"It was shocking that they got back in the fold at the end there," Williams said. "I just think there were better pieces in place in Seattle. The familiarity with being in Minnesota was there, but a chance to (not) know if they're going to win 10 games or three games (played into it). I wish them luck, but there's no certainty there, and you have a proven quarterback in those two teams (Seattle and New England)."

Won't it be ironic if the Vikings bounce back with a playoff season and the Seahawks experience a Super Bowl hangover and don't even reach the postseason (which I'd love to see anyway)?

Here's another:

http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikin ... ut-frazier

"You've got to kind of take into account your players," Williams said. "A lot of the leaders there, when Coach Frazier was the head coach, tried to lend a helping hand to kind of steer the ship right. I think he could have done better with listening to his players, letting them contribute and have some input about some things, and things might have went a lot better. As a (defensive) coordinator, I mean, he was very receptive of his players. he did an awesome job with listening and helping us tell him what we saw on the defense and make things better. I think once he became a head coach, it's a lot of pressure, once again, to win games, and it takes its toll."

From the same post:

If there was one thing that got Frazier in trouble last year, it might have been that he was too deferential to his coordinators, and it seems that might have come at the cost of some trust from his players, based on Kevin Williams' comments on Tuesday.

It's an interesting point from Williams, partially because new coach Mike Zimmer is making the same transition that Frazier once did, from defensive coordinator to head coach, which means he'll also have to strike the right balance of communication with his players and authority in his decisions. It's a tough line to walk, and Williams' comments on Tuesday illustrated how quickly relationships can fray when losses and pressure start mounting.

[Mothman]

One more thing: I don't want to seem overly critical of Williams because it seems like he was just trying to speak his mind and be honest. I'd like to hear the whole interview and see if he was self-critical as he was critical of others. For example, he mentioned:

“At the end of the day, you realize that you need that elite quarterback to make that extra play and win those close games,’’ Williams said.

It seems to me he and his defensive teammates were allowing an awful lot of opposing QBs "make that extra play and win those close games" last year. I wonder if he said anything about the responsibility he and the other defensive players had for the multiple defensive collapses last season.

[mosscarter]

"invisible defensively for years." get real, he was one of our best players on defense for how many years? if kevin williams retired now he would have had a great career.