Jeff: Napoleon-Dynamite or Bonaparte?

It's Christmas, 2005. The Minnesota Vikings are battling the Eagles for the NFC's best record. Daunte Culpepper is the top passer in the conference, Nate Burelson has become one of the league's premier receivers, and the defense, led by Napoleon Harris, is actually stopping people occasionally. Other teams are kicking themselves for passing on Antrell Rolle, Adam "Pac-Man" Jones or Mike Williams in the draft, as one of them makes the biggest rookie impact for the purple since Randy Moss. Oh, and the chemistry will be so good within the team the only injuries will be guys dislocating their shoulder patting each other on the back.

Are you this optimistic? I'm not sure I am either. When word came out late yesterday that the Vikings had traded Randy Moss to the Oakland Raiders for Napoleon Harris, and the 7th pick and a late round pick in this April's draft, I, like you, was saying "...that's it? THere's more right? RIGHT?" Apparently not. The Vikes traded one of the top receivers and top talents in the league for one 1st rd pick and a guy named Napoleon--and it's not the French Dictator. Linebackers are a dime a dozen, and good corners are harder to find than a Packers' fan that hates Brett Favre. The Raiders had not one but two good corners, and the Vikes instead get an athletic linebacker that's still searching for a clue. Wait, don't we already have EJ Henderson and Dontarrious Thomas to do that? If the Vikes weren't going to get a corner, something they still desparately need, shouldn't they at least get a linebacker that's a leader? Harris, for all his athletic ability, has leadership qualities that are more comparable to Napoleon Dynamite than Napoleon Bonaparte. Sure the little French guy was under 5'5 and had problems shedding blocks, as well as Russian winters, but at least he'd grab this defense by the facemask and try to restore some order (and also probably order a croissant with mayonaise and yell things like "Zut"!! Sorry, the French are such easy targets). From what we've seen from Harris in his 3 years in the league, he's more likely to yell "Whatever I want to do! Geez!", or "I like your sleeves. They're really big."

The only rational for this deal is the ol' addage of "addition by subtraction". Team leaders Culpepper and Matt Birk have been on record for a few years now as being less than pleased not only with Moss' antics, but the team's lack of discipline against him. Looks like they finally won. The New England Patriots have won 3 of the last 4 Super Bowls not with the most talent, but with the best chemistry, and perhaps that's the direction the Purple are moving. Additon by subtraction. It still doesn't sit well with me. Scroll down this page aways and you'll find the column I wrote about the Vikes NOT trading Moss unless they got a great deal. This was not a great deal, and if this was all there was, they should have kept him another year.

Bottom line is, time will tell. Hopefully in December we'll all be enjoying the Vikings' great season, and not comparing this trade favorably with the Herschel Walker deal of years ago. Hopefully we'll be comparing Harris more to the french Napoleon for his on-field leadership, not to the less-than-Dynamite one. "Hey, give me your tots".