Minnesota's Cousins' Would Meet Outside in January to Avoid A Flu Shot? Really.

Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback Kirk Cousins recently said he will be vigilant about following the NFL’s Covid-19 protocols while refusing to be vaccinated for “personal reasons,” going so far as to suggest if necessary Minnesota would hold its quarterback meetings outdoors all season to insure close contact is avoided. This made me wonder about several things.

First, has Kirk Cousins ever been outside in Minnesota in January?

The average temperature in Minneapolis in December is 28.7 degrees Fahrenheit. The average low overnight is 11.8 degrees. It snows, on average, 15-16 days in December.

The average temperature in Minneapolis in January is 24.2 degrees. The average overnight low is 5.5 degrees. On average there are 22 days below freezing in January in Minneapolis.

Freezing your butt off in an outdoor makeshift meeting room would be, one would assume, a little on the distracting side don’t you think, Kirk?

Those numbers led me to another question for Kirk Cousins?

Is he an ice fishing enthusiast?

Cousins’ stubborn insistence to do anything and everything he can to avoid a needle in his arm led me to a few other thoughts about his decision to remain vaccination free regardless of what it might mean to his employer and his fellow employees.

Has he thought for even a moment that perhaps his teammates and coaches might not be as willing to meet outside in January as he is just so he can avoid the dreaded vaccination needle he fears so much?

And, oh by the way, did he forget that about 60 to 75 times a week he will be meeting in super close contact with his teammates in something called a huddle where, quite frankly, an unvaccinated player would have an increased chance of catching the virus or passing it on if he unknowing has it while huddled together trying to decide where to pass the football next?

Or maybe the Vikings will decide to just go with the no-huddle offense? They could call it running “The Cousins” I suppose.

What then crossed my mind though was perhaps Kirk Cousins is actually a step ahead of everyone rather than several steps behind, as it seems to so many. Truth be told, if he hews to his track record he and his Viking teammates won’t have to meet after January 9 because that is the end of the regular season. No need for frigid outdoor meetings then because in nine seasons as an NFL quarterback, including six as a starter, he’s only gotten a team to the playoffs twice and when he did he and they didn’t stay long.

So maybe part of his reasoning, if you want to call it that, is “Heck, it’s nearly 30 degrees every day in December and we won’t be long for January so it won’t be that bad, right?”

Cousins is putting the Vikings and the NFL in a precarious predicament by his selfish refusal to arm himself the best way possible against the Covid-19 virus. Because he stands to make $21 million guaranteed this season and $25 million next season, they can’t afford to get rid of him but if he is found to have been in close contact with ANYONE who tests positive he will be forced to go into quarantine for five days because he’s not been vaccinated. If that happens in the middle of a week during the season it could leave his team without his services simply because he won’t agree to do the one thing most likely to protect himself and those around him from infection. Taking such a risk with his team’s fortunes makes perfect sense to who exactly?

If this is how Cousins makes decisions, no wonder the guy is 1-2 in the playoffs and barely a .500 quarterback (51-51-2) after nine years in the NFL.

The Secretary of the Defense, Lloyd Austin, is this week asking President Joe Biden for a waiver mandating that all military members be vaccinated on national security grounds. He pointed out that military personnel often have to work in close quarters and could unknowingly spread the disease resulting in a crippling infection of our military. Fortunately for Cousins, he may be a field general in the NFL but he’s otherwise a civilian and thus free to make the kind of selfish decision he’s made. If he was a private in the military, or a worker in a host of other jobs it is a choice that would not be available and rightfully so.

So when those Artic winds are roaring through Minnesota in January, snow swirling in the air and the thermometer stuck at 10 degrees, it will be interesting to see how his teammates look at the guy who would have them sitting outside just so their quarterback can avoid a vaccination shot 12 year old kids have been given so they can do what the Vikings will want to be doing then - which is sit in a warm room and study.