Children Respond as MN Vikings Fans Wage War on Placekicker Walsh
On the afternoon of Sunday, January 10, TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis felt like a movie script with the wrong ending. In the final seconds of the 4th quarter, placekicker Blair Walsh missed a game-winning field goal…from only 27 yards away.
In the Vikings’ first playoff game since 2012, the team faced off with the Seattle Seahawks for Wild Card weekend in the frigid outdoor stadium. At 6º below 0, it was the coldest game ever on record for the Vikings. With 22 seconds left on the clock, the Vikings trailed the Seahawks 10-9 with Walsh up for a final shot at clinching the win.
After having a 3-for-3 record in the game (from 22, 43, and 47 yards), Walsh’s final field goal seemed to be a lock. The record setting, award winning 26-year-old kicker had an impressive 2015 season, playing a major role in the Viking’s playoff drive earlier this month.
Moreover, in the NFL this year, kickers missed only two of 191 total attempted field goals of 27 yards or less, according to ESPN. Walsh himself had a similar ratio, with 30 successful field goals of 31 attempted inside 30-yards over his career, prior to the January 10 game. And yet, Seattle advanced to the final eight.
“It’s kind of tradition that the Vikings field goal kickers miss the easy ones in the big games,” said Minneapolis resident David Krueger P’16, “these same kickers set league records for accuracy during the regular season, but they are jinxed in the playoffs… it is a Vikings fan’s cross to bear.”Immediate reactions following the wide left kick (including shocked fans and tears in the locker room, among others) were only the beginning for Walsh.
USA Today quickly added the play to their list of “Worst chokes in [NFL] playoff history,” and Walsh’s family began to receive death threats the following Monday. Only moments after the game concluded, Walsh was bombarded with hateful messaging via hashtags on Twitter and by text message, according to the Star Tribune. Suggestions ranged from fleeing Minnesota to drinking bleach. Walsh even received international emails from enraged fans in Australia.
Amidst the chaos following Walsh’s playoff failure, a schoolteacher in Blaine, Minnesota saw the missed kick as an opportunity for her first-graders.In a lesson intended to teach her students empathy, Judie Offerdahl (a Seahawks fan) encouraged her students to write heartfelt letters of consolation to the Vikings kicker, Yahoo Sports reported.
Their letters, including messages of “you have to try again, you can still help the Vikings win the Super Bowl next year, you rock,” and “don’t worry it’s just a game” were sent to Walsh three days following the Vikings loss. Two days later, Walsh paid a visit to the Northpoint Elementary classroom, offering high-fives, autographs, and football lessons. “He was so touched to hear from children who didn’t know him that he pushed his flight home back a day to make the Northpoint visit,” said Rochelle Olson of the Star Tribune. As the tone of Walsh’s week shifted, national news outlets took notice, subsequently changing the narrative of the Vikings season- ending kick.
Now, after weeks of apologies, Walsh is ready to move forward next season with the Vikings. “I take accountability and ownership [for the kick]” Walsh told KSTP News.“This isn’t the end,” he said, “and it won’t be a defining moment for me.”
A week later, the Seahawks lost 31-24 to the Carolina Panthers in the divisional round. The Panthers will play the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 next Sunday, February 7.