Scott Mitchell.
Yes, the quarterback. This is the name that I remember when I think of times when one of our beloved sports franchises tried to woo somebody to come and play in Minnesota. And why wouldn't the Vikings have wanted him as their QB to start the 1994 season? Taking over for an injured Dan Marino in 1993, he took over and threw 12 TD passes and almost 1,800 yards before he himself got injured. But he was a free agent at years end and (as always) the Vikes needed a QB.
I remember both radio and television talking about the pursuit, bringing him into town to talk about how he could lead the franchise to the promise land, how with him at the helm, Robert Smith carrying the ball and an emerging WR named Cris Carter being the perfect target, our team would surely move foward after losing to the Giants in the playoffs. Jim McMahon's efforts were appreciated, but Denny Green needed somebody who could chuck the ball more than 40 yards. Plus, we were offering him a ton of cash. It was the perfect fit.
So it was obvious that Mitchell was going to have an easy decision to make....which he did. He was going to play for....the Detroit Lions(?). Granted in retrospect his decision was probably a good thing for us. He went on to the Lions, the Vikes traded for future Hall of Famer Warren Moon, and we finished 10-6 and went on to lose to Chicago in the playoffs.
From there it seemed like nobody wanted to come here on their own, be it for our teams not paying out enough (Twins) to not wanting to play and live in Minnesota during the winter for a bad team (Timberwolves).
So needless to say it's a breath of fresh air to have the two top NHL free agents in Zach Parise and Ryan Suter deciding to come and play for the Minnesota Wild. Are things turning around for our teams? Possibly. But let's not get too ahead ourselves. We still have three other professional teams in need to a player or two. In the meantime, I look forward to our hockey team from St. Paul becoming relevant.
Scott Mitchell...you are hereby forgiven.
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