'Before I die': Kevin O'Connell carries the weight of suffering Vikings fans
Six decades of heartbreak weighs on the shoulders of Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell, who revealed that long-suffering fans have randomly met him in public and vented some of their pain onto him.
It can happen anywhere. Even at Home Depot.
"I’ll tell you this, it was during the offseason, Saturday, the honey-do list came out," O'Connell began during his conversation with KFAN's Dan Barreiro on Wednesday. "I went to Home Depot, and in a matter of about 20 minutes there, you know, I’m not very familiar [with Home Depot], I got about two things in 20 minutes trying to find everything. But in the process, I had three or four folks come up to me and just shake my hand and say, ‘Before I die, coach.’
"And some of those folks were a little older, so I was saying to myself, ‘We better get back to work, Kayden (his son), because I don’t know how much time we actually have.’ And there were some young folks, and I say, ‘Hey, I just hope you guys understand how much of an honor it is for me to be the coach of this team.’"
O'Connell, with just one season as head coach in Minnesota under his belt, knows life as a Viking being decorated with a division championship and 13 wins, including a thriller in Buffalo and the largest comeback in NFL history against the Colts. But he is very much aware of the four Super Bowl losses, Wide Left in January 1999, 41-donut, Bountygate and a myriad of kicking issues that have plagued the franchise.
"I've had enough examples of people coming up talking to me about various kicks over the years at random times," O'Connell said. "I'm very much aware of the history that might be baggage, but I would tell people to just continue to trust that we're doing everything in our power to chase a world championship here. It's incredibly hard to do."
