Bravo! Denny

NEW ULM -- Congratulations are in order for Minnesota Vikings head coach Dennis Green!

He has avoided the temptation to draft some slug whose name starts with "D."

Duane Clemons, Daunte Culpepper, Dimitrius Underwood, Derrick Alexander, DeWayne Washington and Dwayne Rudd are a few of the chaps Denny has chosen in recent years to be special members on his roster of enchantment.

But after last year's fiasco when the Vikings discovered the only purple uniform Underwood would be wearing was a straitjacket, Denny has learned. By taking defensive lineman Chris Hovan from Boston College in the first round, Green has possibly begun a move to find "D" someplace besides birth certificates.

From the tapes shown during ESPN's coverage of the draft day proceedings, Hovan looks to be the kind of guy whose pedal is on the metal at all times, and, should John Randle ever shut his mouth and play, could give the Vikings an actual pass rush this season.

At 6-foot-2 and 305 pounds, Hovan reminds me of ex-Chicago Bear defensive lineman Steve McMichael, the type of guy who moves around so much he has to hitch up his britches after every play. As far as we know, there are no skeletons in Hovan's Boston College closet. He has no known chemical instability, although after looking at what the Vikings pass off as a professional secondary he may think he's lost his marbles.

After Hovan, the Vikes selected a couple of projects in DT Fred Robbins and DE Michael Boireau. These guys may help someday (this year?) with the defensive line, but neither were ranked in the top twelve at their position by USA Today. NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. says he projected Boireau as no more than a fifth-round pick and that Robbins was inconsistent, but no doubt Green will say he saw something in both these guys the other 30 teams conveniently overlooked.

Green Bay drafted tight end named Bubba Franks, a choice necessitated by Mark Chmura's alleged sexual assault with his 17-year old babysitter after a prom party. May he be sent, if convicted, to a place where he will still get to wear a number on his back.

But there should always be a guy named Bubba in the NFL, and Franks should be in the league a long time. Da Bears also filled a defensive need in drafting New Mexico linebacker Brian Urlacher, a ferocious hitter who may remind Windy City fans of guys like Singletary and Butkus.

The Detroit Lions drafted a zip code in 6-foot-5, 361-pound offensive tackle Stockar Mc Dougle, while Tampa Bay addressed a future need by drafting offensive guard Cosey Coleman as insurance for when their stable but graying (sounds like a demographic) line heads off into the sunset.

Of course, half the fun in watching the draft is seeing some the familiar ESPN characters emerge for their annual day in the sun such as Kiper Jr., whose knowledge of these players is somewhat unnerving but usually accurate. Plus, it's not often one gets to see a guy whose hair looks to be groomed with the last brush of goop out of a pail of driveway sealant.

Then there's ex-NFL quarterback Joe Theismann, who's always good for one prediction howler per annum. This year he says the Bears will win the Central Division. If he were any farther out on the limb, he'd have robins perched on his head.

This year's main truth, though came from none other than Green himself. The hosts had him on to talk about Hovan but finally Chris Fowler asked him about the Vikings quarterback situation, where Green finally let the nation in on his little secret.

Green steadfastly maintained that a big part of Randall Cunningham's and Jeff George's success in the past two years came from his system, not the players. One could almost hear the television sets being thrown into each of the 10,000 lakes.

Then Fowler asked Green about all the players the Vikings have lost in the offseason. Green responded that folks worry too much about the players that aren't here anymore and that it's...

Quote, "difficult to understand what we do have." Unquote.

I don't think there's a Vikings fan that can disagree with that.

Column by Dave Clark, Journal sports writer