Roughly 72 hours from the time the Minnesota Vikings players and coaches heard the news of offensive line coach Tony Sparano’s tragic death from a heart attack at age 56, they had to take the field and think about football.
The first day of training camp for rookies and quarterbacks represented the next step in the healing process for a team that had previously been excited to open up its new facility to the public for their first training camp practice outside of Mankato in over half a century.
Instead, a picture of Sparano glowed on the TCO Stadium big screen, reminding those in attendance that football was far from the top priority.
“It makes you appreciate the time we have and the time we have together because you don’t know when your time is called,” general manager Rick Spielman said as he held back tears while addressing reporters Wednesday morning. “I think it just puts life into perspective and what is actually important.”
The Vikings will take Friday’s practice off to attend Sparano’s memorial service. They are collaborating with Sparano’s family about how to honor the longtime coach during the season. The Connecticut native left behind a wife, three kids and four grandchildren.
Sparano coached for two college teams and nine NFL organizations in a coaching career that spanned over 30 years. Having known head coach Mike Zimmer from their days together in Dallas, he joined the Vikings in 2016, tasked with fixing a depleted offensive line.
“I think this group, as we have built that room, and this group of players, were a lot of Tony Sparano’s vision,” Spielman said. “I used to kid him all the time, it’s like watching a bunch of Tony Sparanos running around the building.”
Perceived as gruff — in part because of the sunglasses he wore at all times for medical reasons — Sparano’s no-nonsense coaching mentality was juxtaposed against a more sensitive side that shone through off the field.
“He was always grumpy,” said Zimmer. “He was a lot like me, probably the only person in the building who was grumpier than I was. But he really cared about his players. I’ve sat in with him in offensive line rooms a lot, and he had a way of poking the stick at the guys and then putting his arms around him.
“We were able to sit down and talk about, not just football, but life, talk about kids and things like that. It’ll be a hard few days, but we’ll get through it, and we’ll get back to work and do the things that we do, and that’s what he’d want us to do.”
Neither Spielman nor Zimmer addressed their plans regarding the team’s next offensive line coach. Tight ends coach Clancy Barone and assistant offensive line coach Andrew Janocko ran drills during Wednesday morning’s walkthrough — a time when Sparano would have ordinarily been instructing his players to ‘unlock the hips.’
Players spoke often about how they appreciated Sparano’s honesty. “He’ll hurt you with the truth instead of comforting you with a lie,” said former Vikings left guard Alex Boone in 2016.
The Vikings improved dramatically as an offense in 2017, thanks in large part to better pass protection and run blocking, which Sparano helped scheme.
Sparano was a hard worker who liked to get to the office early.
But he wasn’t always thinking about football.
“[Y]ou sit there and get a text at six in the morning from Tony not even talking about football. ‘Hey, how’s everything going? I know this is coming up,'” recalled Spielman. “He’d come into my office if there was something on his mind even not related to football that was bothering him.
“I would describe him as very caring and a sensitive man, which people don’t see that side of him. The conversations that we have had meant a lot, and it helped me grow a lot.”
Become a Zone Coverage Member Today!
