Bob Sansavere: Vikings Players Need to Grow Up

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http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=knight-bobsanseverevikingsplayer&prov=knight&type=lgns

Vikings players need to grow up

BOB SANSEVERE, Pioneer Press Columnist

Vikings coach Mike Tice has one of the tougher jobs in the NFL. He has to find a way to get his players to bash opponents on the field while keeping them from bashing people off it.

It's quite a challenge.

Three of Tice's players — linebackers E.J. Henderson and Mike Nattiel and tight end Steve Farmer — were arrested early Sunday morning for allegedly kicking, punching and stomping a man outside the Tabu Club and Lounge in Minneapolis.

Henderson and Nattiel, by the way, aren't strangers to run-ins with the law. Both have been arrested in the past year on drunken driving charges.

Henderson has a June 24 trial date in a Maryland court to face several charges. Meantime, after being charged with two counts of misdemeanor drunk driving this past July, Nattiel pleaded guilty to careless driving and was sentenced to 30 days in the county workhouse. His sentence was stayed for one year.

It's too bad he can't stay out of trouble.

Many young people believe they're invincible. That feeling ratchets up when those same young people also happen to be professional athletes. When Mike Lynn ran the Vikings in the 1970s and '80s, he often talked about how the combination of youth, money and fame could be a ****tail for trouble.

Not much has changed around Winter Park. Youth, money and fame still are a volatile mix.

The Vikings have never won a Super Bowl and don't always make the playoffs, but year-in and year-out they are among the league leaders in legal scrapes.

The truth now: When you hear a member of the Vikings has a record, can you really be sure if the reference is to a football record or a criminal record?

Some of these players never learn.

After facing drunk driving charges, you might think Henderson and Nattiel would steer away from nightclubs. Or at the very least, backpedal from trouble.

Tice was so frustrated by these latest arrests he talked about calling the players' parents. It's a good idea. Parents should be called when kids misbehave.

That is the problem here. Tice has players who refuse to grow up, or even act grown up. He has tried to accelerate the growth process, but some players choose to remain juvenile. And delinquent.

Last week, Tice had players attend a seminar with an attorney who counseled them on off-field behavior. Part of the presentation involved information on nightclubs and other places to avoid. Henderson, Nattiel and Farmer were in attendance. Apparently, they gave the Heisman stiff arm to some of the counsel, which included this bit advice: never be in a nightclub at closing time.

The incident involving them Sunday was at closing time.

"They have to make better decisions," Tice said.

They have to want to make better decisions. Until they do, they will risk their careers and maybe even their lives.

The word is Henderson and Nattiel were leaving Tabu in a vehicle when they noticed a man beating Farmer. They jumped in to help their teammate and friend. What if the man they allegedly kicked, punched and stomped had friends of his own? Friends with guns?

Tice might want to remind his players what happened 21 months ago to Brandon Hall, a defensive tackle at the University of Minnesota. Hall was shot and killed trying to help a friend who got into an altercation outside a nightclub once known as South Beach. Now known as Tabu.

The story of how Brandon Hall died might cause some Vikings to think twice. Then again, it could have no impact at all.

Which is the kind of impact Henderson, Nattiel and Farmer might have in the NFL.

Farmer is a long shot to make the Vikings, but Henderson and Nattiel were supposed to be starting linebackers this fall. In the days, weeks and months ahead, they need to make a choice about what is more important: hitting ball carriers or hitting nightclubs.

Bob Sansevere can be reached at bsansevere@pioneerpress.com.

[TerpSkin]

The word is Henderson and Nattiel were leaving Tabu in a vehicle when they noticed a man beating Farmer. They jumped in to help their teammate and friend. What if the man they allegedly kicked, punched and stomped had friends of his own? Friends with guns?

I understand the author's point that these guys should lay low and not get involved too heavily in the night club scene... but it's hard to just sit back and watch your friend get beaten. They probably took it to far, but if they had simply called the police and not gotten involved then they might have had to sit there and watch their friend get beaten to death waiting for the police to show up.