The world witnessed the New York Jets cut Kevin O’Connell on Hard Knocks in 2010. It was hardly the most memorable moment of the show. He wasn’t trying to remember his kids’ names like Antonio Cromartie or bringing Shake Weights to practice. However, it’s worth watching again. You’ll hear then-Jets GM and current ESPN commentator Mike Tannenbaum invite O’Connell into his office. “So, we’re gonna let you go,” Tannenbaum said before O’Connell had a chance to sit down. “It just came down to the fact that we felt that Kellen [Clemens] beat you out.”
“Yeah,” O’Connell responded.
“We’re gonna keep three quarterbacks this year,” Tannenbaum explained. “We really had hoped that when we traded for you and given up a pick, that you were gonna turn into our long-term No. 2. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened. And at the end of the day, the difference was, I think there was more of a trust if he had to go play, that he has a better chance of operating our offense than you do.”
“Yeah, I’ve been on it a couple of times,” recalled O’Connell, “not always with the greatest of memories going back to my playing career. But they do a great job of it. It’s amazing the amount of content they get without really feeling like they’re all over you every day.”
O’Connell didn’t push back on the idea of inviting Hard Knocks into camp when a reporter asked him about it early in camp. On the one hand, it would be an opportunity to showcase the new regime’s operation. On the other hand, HBO’s crew occasionally broadcasts embarrassing moments the team would like to keep under wraps.
“Yeah, depending on where we’re at,” O’Connell said. “[But] there’s a reason they don’t have first-year coaches do that. I can’t imagine that at this point, with what we’re trying to get done every day. But you never say never, and that would be an organizational decision.”
If Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell maximize the roster they inherited from the previous regime, the league won’t have any say on if they’re on the show. The NFL can force teams to be on Hard Knocks if they meet three conditions:
- They have a head coach who was with the team the previous season.
- They have not reached the postseason in the last two years.
- And they have not been featured in 10 years.
HBO has never featured the Vikings on Hard Knocks, and they’ve missed the playoffs the last two seasons. There have to be producers at HBO who would secretly like to see Minnesota miss the playoffs in O’Connell’s first year. He’s got Justin Jefferson, an effervescent receiver who is about to get paid. Adam Thielen is still a great hometown story. Eric Kendricks is eminently likable, and Patrick Peterson hosts a popular podcast.
Still, they couldn’t help but feature Kirk Cousins prominently.
At first blush, he seems like an odd star of a reality show. Cousins isn’t a young superstar quarterback like Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow, nor is he a legendary signal-caller like Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers. He’s also almost intentionally dull. Cousins drives a dented van and checks down a lot, but he also grills weird meat and told Kyle Brandt, “If I die, I die” on a podcast. Despite his best efforts, Cousins can’t help but to occasionally draw attention to himself.
For the Vikings to make the playoffs this year and ensure that a Hard Knocks appearance is voluntary, O’Connell needs Cousins to be a commercial pilot, not a maverick. O’Connell has repeatedly said that he wants Cousins to operate with a clear mind. O’Connell’s offense will use the “illusion of complexity” to open up Minnesota’s myriad weapons, and Cousins said that O’Connell has asked him to stay with his first read longer.
Cousins never sets out to do barrel rolls or flybys when he’s in the air, but he occasionally buzzes the tower. Mike Zimmer and the previous regime caused turbulence in the past two seasons. However, O’Connell has set him up with a 747 that any qualified pilot should be able to fly. Some fans would like Cousins to be more exciting. They’d like him to throw behind-the-back passes like Mahomes or flick balls around defenders like Rodgers. But, really, all he has to do is get the ball to Jefferson and Thielen.
It’s easy to look back at Tannebaum’s comments about O’Connell and think of Nick Mullens. The Vikings traded a seventh-rounder for him to back up Cousins, just like the Jets traded a seventh-round pick for O’Connell. But I think of how it relates to Cousins and his current situation. He has the weapons at his disposal to fully activate the McVay scheme. Cousins just needs to give O’Connell and his staff every reason to believe he can run it. He needs to let the plane fly itself.
