Keep track of all the Minnesota Vikings interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine
As we get closer to the 2024 NFL Draft, these prospects hoping to hear their names called on draft day will be analyzed from head to toe. Physically, everything from their strength at the point of attack to their speed off the snap will be dissected like a frog in a high school science class.
However, what’s just as, if not more, important is the mindset and the mentality of these prospects. Figuring out what made these guys decide to dedicate their lives to playing the game of football for a living.
During the pre-draft process, front offices are given the opportunity to interview prospects and find the answer to these questions and others before they take to the field this weekend.
We devised this interview tracker so that fans can get as deep of a look as possible about who the Vikings could be interested in going into the draft.
From @ToddBrock24f7: Here’s a look at who the Cowboys are spending their 45 formal interviews on, and who is getting the informal interview treatment in Indy.
Wednesday kicked off the busiest stretch of the NFL scouting combine, the first of three straight days when every position group is represented in Indianapolis.
The focus thus far has been on defensive linemen and linebackers, who began arriving on Sunday. They’ll hit the field for measurements and workouts on Thursday before leaving town on Friday.
That cycle will continue for defensive backs and tight ends; then running backs, quarterbacks, and wideouts; and finally offensive linemen and specialists.
In between are the all-important team interviews. Teams are allowed just 45 formal interviews with prospects over the course of the week; those interviews are carefully tracked and timed not to exceed 18 minutes. They’re not the only chance a club has to speak with a player, though. Pro days, 30 visits, and private visits can also be used later in the pre-draft process.
Informal interviews are exactly that. They can happen just about anywhere, anytime, and may not amount to much more than a handshake and a quick hello. Teams can meet informally with as many players as they want at the combine.
Here’s a quick rundown of the players who have reportedly met with the Cowboys in Indianapolis. This list will be updated throughout the 2024 combine.
Bryan Poerner, CEO of sports brand Diadora USA, spent his early career bringing two seemingly unrelated things together: punk rock and running. He grew up both a runner and a musician in the 1990s.
“There were no runners in the punk scene,” he said. “I would go straight from my track practice to play band practice or shows. It was two different groups of friends.”
A guitar, bass player, and vocalist, Poerner founded his own independent label, Track Star Records, in high school. “In every record label, we would have a small bio of runners,” he said. “It looked like a punk flyer. It was still done in the punk aesthetic.” He always liked bringing his two worlds together. “To me, they were the two most important parts of my life.” Some of his bands’ songs are about running, such as “Steeplechase” by Hour of the Star.
Photo courtesy of Bryan Poerner
The ’90s hardcore scene introduced him to topics like gay rights, feminism, and veganism. He read John Robbins’ 1987 classic “Diet for a New America,” went to see rapper and animal rights activist KRS-One, and became vegan at age 16. “I got turned on to animal rights,” he explains. “The song ‘Beef‘ from Boogie Down Productions was like…one of the first vegetarian songs. Changed my life.”
Poerner’s college track coaches were skeptical of veganism. “Back in the ’90s, even when I went to college, my coach would say, ‘Hey you should really eat meat or fish once or twice a week or you’re not going to get better.’ But he was an old-school coach. Nine months later, a year later, I set a couple of records at the school. And he changed his mind. He started asking me about food and nutrition.”
Poerner stresses that he’s not a nutritionist, but he eats a lot of whole foods like brown rice, broccoli, tofu, sweet potatoes, and beets. He also fuels his running with almonds, bagels, dried mangoes, and dried jackfruit. “Normal stuff,” he calls it. Still, he might consume gels if he’s on a long run and needs something that digests faster than a banana.
His work in the sporting goods industry began about 15 years ago. Back then, he was repping a different brand. Now, he’s leading the team at Diadora. “I got really lucky,” he said, “I got asked to be part of the rebirth of Diadora in the U.S.”
Photo courtesy of Bryan Poerner
Diadora was founded in Italy in 1948 as an artisan hiking boot brand. In the 1960s, Diadora expanded into sports, making an international name for itself by the 1980s. The brand created its heritage line in the early 2000s, blending sportswear and fashion with a little nostalgia. Diadora’s global headquarters is in Caerano di San Marco in northern Italy. Poerner is president of the North American headquarters in Philadelphia.
“We do running, tennis, soccer, and heritage. Which is like an homage to all of our sport shoes in the past,” Poerner explained. “But the primary focus of the brand is sport.”
Some of Diadora’s shoes are vegan-friendly, and the company emphasizes sustainability. “I think it’s our industry in general,” said Poerner. “A bunch of years ago it was heavy plastics and stuff. Now, there’s more proper sustainable materials. There’s a lot more leather alternatives.”
Diadora has even used grape leaf waste from northern Italy for a product in the heritage line, which is local as well as sustainable. “The company is led by people who believe in that sort of thing. But I don’t think it’s an anomaly. I think it’s the way of the future. Everybody’s onboard. Especially in Europe.”
Now that Poerner is in his 40s, some of his old punk friends are paying more attention to their health. “And they get into running and get into all this stuff now. So it’s cool to introduce a lot of them, or be able to enjoy it with them.”
“It’s one of the few things that — having been in the Cup Series for 13, 14 years now — still give me chills.”
LOS ANGELES — The Daytona 500 is unlike any other NASCAR race. It’s the biggest event on the 36-race schedule, and it kicks off the season each year at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR’s iconic 2.5-mile track.
It’s a crown-jewel race in the sport, and drivers would do just about anything to take NASCAR’s most coveted checkered flag. But it has and continues to elude many of the sport’s best competitors.
Before the start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, For The Win caught up with several drivers at the Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a preseason exhibition race, to talk about the Daytona 500. We asked them what their favorite and least favorite things are about the race, and their answers didn’t disappoint.
“All of these people are here for All-Star Weekend, and I’m the Hoosier representative,” Tyrese Haliburton told For The Win.
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton is one of the busiest individuals at the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Weekend.
Haliburton, who led Eastern Conference guards in All-Star votes from fans as well as media and players, earned an appearance as the starting point guard in the East for the All-Star Game.
The 23-year-old represents the Pacers, the hosts of NBA All-Star Weekend for the first time since 1985. He is just the fourth player in franchise history to ever make an appearance in the starting lineup of the All-Star Game. For the second year in a row, Haliburton will also participate in the Starry 3-point Contest.
“It’s as relaxed as I’ve ever been coming into the first race of the season,” Kevin Harvick told For The Win.
LOS ANGELES — Kevin Harvick retired from NASCAR at the end of the 2023 Cup Series season after 23 years at the sport’s highest level. But he didn’t go far.
After gaining some on-and-off broadcasting experience with Fox Sports since 2015, the 48-year-old former driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford joined Fox’s booth full time as an analyst, working alongside Mike Joy and fellow former NASCAR driver and teammate Clint Bowyer. And he’s pumped about his new day job.
“I’m super happy with the way that everything has worked out,” Harvick — a future NASCAR Hall of Famer with the 2014 Cup championship, the 2007 Daytona 500 trophy and 60 Cup wins — recently told For The Win. “And for me, it’s as relaxed as I’ve ever been coming into the first race of the season and not having to worry about that competitive mindset.”
For the first time in more than two decades, he doesn’t have to worry about how fast his car is or being collateral damage in someone else’s wreck. And with his new gig, he’s at ease with a 24-year Fox veteran like Joy alongside him and running the booth.
“It’s hard to have somebody talking in your ear, talking about what you’re talking about on the screen and make sure everything’s going in the in the right direction,” Harvick said. “So having Mike be able to steer the ship and keep us all under control definitely takes a lot of pressure off.”
Ahead of NASCAR’s 2024 season-opening Daytona 500 — which is set for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on Fox — For The Win caught up with Harvick to discuss how he’ll approach broadcasting, Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain taking over his iconic Busch Light paint scheme and why he’ll still always be a vocal advocate for drivers.
Honestly, the whole interview is a lesson in the power of friendship.
Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams haven’t been teammates since 2020. That doesn’t mean they don’t still hang out — or team up to chat about Japanese cartoons.
Williams is the NFL’s preeminent anime expert, and at the 2024 Super Bowl Radio Row, he took us through the beginner’s guide to the genre, including how he introduced the current Green Bay Packers’ back to it.
Jones might only be able to process an episode at a time and is quite ready for a Chainsaw Man marathon, but he admitted Williams — who rolled up to the interview at Bounty’s Wingman shack replete in an old school Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers t-shirt — has got him watching. Especially when the weather gets cold up in Wisconsin.
“Jamaal got anime popping in the NFL,” Jones said. “I feel like there were anime fans, but nobody just came out the way Jamaal did. And now you see everybody all anime fans, all watching anime.”
The full interview touches on everything from whether or not the Badger State has good buffalo wings (spoiler: nope) to…
Hutchinson fell to No. 2 at the draft. Branch hardly got any rookie of the year votes. And now these slights are fuel to their fire.
Aidan Hutchinson slipped to the second overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Brian Branch garnered only six third-place votes when it came to defensive rookie of the year ballots this winter.
This lack of recognition did nothing to dim their play for an ascendant Detroit Lions team. Slipping in the draft left Hutchinson to remain in his home state as the alpha dog amidst the Lions pass rush. Branch was the jack-of-all-trades head coach Dan Campbell needed in his secondary, bringing value as a wide-ranging safety against the pass and a downhill missile against the run.
In fact, they’re letting this lack of respect fuel them.
“Falling to No. 2 ended up becoming the biggest blessing that’s ever came to me,” Hutchinson said. “I try to look at any adverse moments or any times where you feel like you get the short end of the stick — I try to look for the bigger picture.”
You can catch the entire interview, ranging from the virtues of Detroit-style pizza — a style Branch still hasn’t tried! — to what each learned from national title-winning college coaches to how defenders adjust to pre-snap motion from the line of scrimmage and deep in the secondary alike, below:
The Pennsylvania natives and former Pittsburgh Panthers shared what they love about the Steel City’s cuisine and how it compares with Buffalo food — Hamlin really wants to give our Christian D’Andrea a tour of Pittsburgh — and their favorite bars.
“See, man, you gotta come to Pittsburgh and come get a scenery of food from us,” Hamlin said.
“For real, for real,” Jackson added.
“You gotta come get the real Pittsburgh, not the touristy [Pittsburgh],” Hamlin continued.
Hamlin said it’s a tie for him between Buffalo and Pittsburgh food, but he later changed his mind to Pittsburgh, admitting he hasn’t tried a lot of places in Buffalo. Jackson went with Pittsburgh too but noted that Buffalo has many hidden gems that “will fulfill all your tastebuds for sure.”
On the field, they broke down their defensive strategies for not letting players create space and get open, as well as how they mask their own schemes.
“It’s just all about executing the call that you’ve been running all week in practice,” Hamlin said. “However we decide to play it out this week — it may be different than [last] week, it may be the same. We might just be set on our rules because this is what works for us, you know what I mean?
“So it all depends, you know what I mean? But as long as the defense is all on the same page, you’ve got a chance to win every play. It only really gets ugly when you start to bust coverages, and you don’t know what to anticipate.”
Here’s our full interview with Hamlin and Jackson:
Among them included the time Harris was at an All Elite Wrestling event and maybe found his next career. Back in the 2022 offseason, he attended an AEW event in Pittsburgh and was part of professional wrestler Britt Baker’s entrance, along with tight end Pat Freiermuth.
After Baker won her match and was trash-talking, Harris and Freiermuth joined her in the ring, ESPN reported at the time. When Baker was done, Harris grabbed the mic, which organizers quickly turned off before a commercial break.
“That was smart on their part because I was going to say some stuff,” Harris told For The Win this week. “I was gonna say, ‘Y’all gonna see me in one of these things. I’m gonna be world champion one day of AEW.'”
Harris and Warren also briefly touched on new Steelers offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, who Warren described as the “perfect” fit for Pittsburgh’s offense because he heard Smith likes to run the ball. They also named Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and Atlanta Falcons’ Desmond Ridder as the most unfairly hated quarterbacks in the NFL this year, and they ranked their top running back duos in the league.
Here’s our full interview with Harris and Warren from the 2024 Super Bowl:
