The Minnesota Vikings and assistant coach Rick Dennison have parted ways after the coach refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine, according to ESPN on Friday. He is believed to be the first position coach to move on from his team because of the vaccine.
The move comes a day after an NFL memo revealed that teams will be forced to forfeit if there is a COVID-19 outbreak resulting from unvaccinated players. The rule was set to encourage players and coaches to receive the vaccine.
Any staff member who is labeled a “Tier 1” member is required to receive the vaccine. The league has also said that any unvaccinated Tier 1 member has to provide a religious or medical reason to not receive it. If they don’t, they would be stripped of their top-tier status and would face extreme protocols throughout the season. Only Tier 1 members can be on the field and in the meeting room with their players.
Dennison’s inability to conform with the league’s protocols come after several players spoke out on NFL’s new forfeiture rules, and he isn’t alone among coaches. Shortly after news of the Dennison-Vikings split, the Patriots parted ways with co-offensive line coach Cole Popovich in a decision reported to be related to the COVID-19 vaccine and NFL guidelines.
The Vikings don’t seem to be closing the door on Dennision, their offensive line coach/run game coordinator of the past two seasons.
“The Vikings continue to hold discussions with Offensive Line Coach Rick Dennison regarding the NFL-NFLPA COVID-19 Protocols for training camp and preseason games,” the team said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
Dennison has coached in the NFL for 27 years and has had stints with the Denver Broncos (1995-2009, 2015-16), Houston Texans (2010-13) and Baltimore Ravens (2014). He was also the Jets’ offensive line coach and run game coordinator in 2018 under Todd Bowles.
In a corresponding move, Phil Rauscher has been promoted from assistant offensive line coach. Rauscher has coached in the NFL for seven seasons. Before joining the Vikings, he was the offensive line coach in Washington. They have also hired Ben Steele to replace Rauscher as the assistant offensive line coach.
https://nypost.com/2021/07/23/rick-dennison-out-as-vikings-o-line-coach-after-refusing-vaccine/
The machine is eating its own tentacles of their propaganda
What is a “Vikings offensive line coach”?
Sounds important.
Lol
I appreciate, and needed that!
Considering the most team oriented teams tend to win and do well in playoffs, etc. and considering players tend to support good coaches (I mean he can’t be a lousy coach having coached 27 years), this nonsense will only continue to do what the NFL seems to be doing…destroying the NFL. Honestly I am so glad I don’t give a crap anymore…I used to be a huge football fan, for many years…not anymore! Let the woke bury the woke!
That’s an unusual article to see here, although I didn’t read it 🙂
Who?
Just gos to prove he’s a smart fellow
Hollywood….
They are just trying to normalize your employer forcing this on you, by using the NFL as an example of what will happen if you don’t comply. That’s all this is.
Future archeologists will unearth statues of these gladiators and coaches and will believe they must have been gods. One would believe that even today.
Deon Sanders put out a statement bashing “conspiracy theorists” (I guess that’s us) stating that “If the Government wanted you dead, your ass would be dead.” I responded that I believe its the other way around… if we wanted them dead, we outnumber them 10,000 to 1, and if we wanted them dead, we would destroy them in a weekend. I was basically mocked and laughed at, and people were saying they could just nuke us, and we can’t beat the government. These people wouldn’t want to fight for their rights. The only time they get upset is if they don’t get their football fix on Sundays…
These people have no concept of reality. Unless I’m talking about what so and so ran in the combine, they have no idea what their rights are, what its like out here in the jungle, in the real world, and what it would be like if 40 million American Nationals just busted loose in this country. They wouldn’t be able to stop it, I don’t care if they did use atomic bombs on us.
What is “The Government” anyways? A bunch of pussies in Washington DC who couldn’t whip anybody. We so grossly outnumber them, they couldn’t beat us conventionally, hence the silent kill with the death shots. But I’m just a “conspiracy theorist”. When does this stop being a conspiracy and become reality.
I would simply respond to this mother f-ker “It is you that is going to have to fight me, you f-king two bit government paid shill.” Then beat the f-k out of him right there on the spot. You got that Deon Sanders you nobody son of a bitch?
Once again, cowards do not impress me one bit.