My view of Jeff George's career is admittedly skewed by its duration, but in the one season I covered him, George was a good citizen and a highly productive quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings in 1999. I can't stamp out the stories that preceded and postdated his time with the Vikings, but I guess I'm not feeling the cyber-snickering that's erupted since the team acknowledged George is spending some time as a guest coach this spring.
Such arrangements are relatively common and are often done as a favor to the former player/aspiring coach rather than with the intent of providing additional tutoring to the new players. So no, the Vikings almost certainly didn't seek out George to help develop Christian Ponder.
(If they had, of course, we should remember that Jeff George was a much, much better NFL quarterback than Ponder has been to this point in his career.)
Ponder told reporters that he hasn't spoken too much with George, which fits perfectly in line with what a guest coach should do: Listen, observe and make an occasional suggestion. If they had spent the entire week together locked in the film room, I would worry about what that meant for quarterbacks coach Craig Johnson and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave.
Here's hoping that George can find the fulfillment in a coaching career that he didn't achieve as a player.
That sounds plausible and comes from a better informed source than...well...us. Given what Siefert says, I hope George's visit helps both him and the team.
The story on Jeff George is that he had all the physical tools you would ever want,
but the guy was impossible to get along with and most teammates hated the guy before
the season was half over.
This is getting mixed reviews, but what I think of is sometimes people are great coaches after being poor-avg players. Think about coaching staffs throughout professional sports. Some of the best coaches/coordinators weren't very good, but they can teach very well.
hibbingviking wrote:jeff George was let go prematurely by the Vikings imo. probably the best team he was on. he did have a bad attitude however like jay cutler.
He was let go because he embarrassed Denny Green on national television. There was some problem getting a play called on a critical 3rd down and George had to call a time out. As he took his helmet off to walk towards Green on the sideline, the cameras picked him up clearly mouthing "Why don't we know what the **** we are doing?"
He did a stellar job as the Vikes QB that season. Best pure passer I've ever seen in purple.
As far as George not coming back to Minny....I can't remember one way or the other if they wanted him or not. They had Culpepper and the article at the link said George took a pile of money from Washington to become a Redskin. He had a really good season in purple but I believe he was on a one year deal....
I just looked it up, here's what it says on his wiki page:
George next played for the Vikings, where he was backup to Randall Cunningham. Cunningham struggled at the start of the 1999 season and was benched. George took over the starting role, in 10 games as a starter going 8-2 with 23 touchdowns, 8.6 yards per attempt and a 94.2 rating in leading Minnesota to the playoffs. George won his first career playoff game, throwing three touchdown passes to lead the Vikings over the Dallas Cowboys 27-10. The Vikings lost the next week to the eventual Super Bowl champion Rams 49-37. When George took too long to agree to terms with the Vikings in the offseason[citation needed], they chose not to renew George's contract. George ended up signing with Washington.
As I can remember, he was one of the only quarterbacks that consistently hit Moss in stride and didn't have Moss coming back or holding up his route to catch the ball.
The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds,the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps.
Elenore Roosevelt. 1945
It's true that Jeff George wanted starter money, being he was clearly a starter. Denny wasn't interested and wouldn't offer him a good deal, wanting him to go away.
Instead, Denny signed Bubby Brister (ugh) and let George go to the Skins. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
George said publicly that he wanted to stay a Viking and that it was the best team he had ever played on. The 1999 Rams Vikings playoff game is online. Just google it and watch George throwing to Moss and Carter. It was amazing to watch.
Leroy Hoard (RB) was also sent packing due to Denny's ego. It seems Hoard used to do a pretty funny Denny Green impersonation in the locker room and Denny didn't appreciate it one bit.
80 PurplePride 84 wrote:It was the right move letting George go. You just spent a 1st round pick on Culpepper the year before and he was ready to take over. And that year we got to the NFCCG anyway with Pep. Does George make a difference in the 41-0 loss? I highly doubt it.
Good points, with the benefit of hindsight... but, at the time, it struck me as a dumb decision.
