A Cold War Starting to Heat Up for Viking QBs

The soap opera Minnesota Vikings are undergoing an inevitable schism at quarterback, where starter Wade Wilson revealed this week he “is not as tight” as in the past with second-stringer Tommy Kramer.

Wilson and Kramer--their playing time seesawed this season by eccentric Coach Jerry Burns--remain part-time gin-rummy partners, but also have experienced more chilly relations since Kramer predicted in September: “The first time (Wilson) messes up, it’s the last time he’ll get to play.” As it turns out, Kramer has messed up more, which is why Wilson, who orchestrated Monday’s 28-17 wild-card victory over the Rams, grabs the reins for today’s NFC semifinal against the San Francisco 49ers.

Their relationship seemed at its most severe point Wednesday, with Wilson for the first time explaining some sort of cold-shoulder routine. “It’s different this year, no question about it,” said Wilson, whose locker is distractingly adjacent to Kramer’s. “But it’s still professional. . . . It’s not the same from a friendship aspect. We don’t run around and play cards like we used to . . . not near as much. . . . I mean we still play cards, but we don’t go out of our way to do things together.”

Somewhere, Wilson became more of a threat to Kramer, probably when he completed enough passes (61.4% of them) to earn a Pro Bowl visit and admittedly acted less like a “robot” on the field. Kramer reportedly was incensed when Wilson blew the recent Green Bay game and wasn’t benched.

Kramer, finally inserted for the season finale against Chicago, didn’t further his cause with one-for-seven passing, and Vikings officials figure his Chicago flop should end all possibility of another Burns quarterback yo-yo routine.

Regardless, the other Vikings seem amenable to either quarterback, though running back Darrin Nelson pointed out that Wilson cracks up teammates in the huddle with inexplicable stuttering. “Sometimes, it’s so exciting, (Wilson) can’t call the play right,” Nelson said. “We’re saying ‘C’mon, c’mon, get it out.’ Just a group of things come out that don’t make any sense.”

The Vikings certainly are no different from the Redskins or the 49ers, both of whom have survived week-to-week quarterback jostling and the injured feelings that go with it. In Washington, Doug Williams and Jay Schroeder were never snug together, though that’s taken a turn for the better with Williams and Mark Rypien. In San Francisco, Joe Montana was lifted once early in the season for Steve Young and immediately complained he couldn’t play well under the threat of Coach Bill Walsh’s hook. Pacified later, Montana is back in charge, though Young defeated the Vikings this regular season with a 49-yard run and nearly led a playoff comeback against Minnesota last January.

So, clamorings have begun that Young is the better 49er quarterback to run from the impatient Vikings defense, though Montana apparently will start. Minnesota linebacker Jesse Solomon seemed to indicate a preference to facing the elder Montana. He said his memory of Montana in last year’s Vikings playoff victory at Candlestick Park is “mud in his face.” Solomon added, “The last few games, (Montana has) come back to his own, the old Joe, but before it looked like the organization wanted him out the door.”

The Vikings seem prepared for any lingering distraction--at quarterback or anywhere else-- because they’ve had practice dealing with controversy. Over the past 27 months, eight Vikings have been pulled over in drunk-driving incidents and 11, in all, have been arrested. Recently, Pro Bowl wide receiver Anthony Carter tested positive for alcohol.

Burns doesn’t blame the Minneapolis police for the arrests, though he would say the men in blue are very active here. He maintains two of his arrested players--third-string quarterback Terry Gannon and linebacker Ray Berry--merely were exuberantly changing lanes on the highway.

“We feel our (team) image is good,” he said. “Our police people do a hell of a job to make sure people aren’t on the roads driving under the influence. . . . I’m not fighting the local police, but we’ve got guys . . . who are the finest people in the world. . . . Some might be more rambunctious than others.”

Critics say Burns is too nice to treat this team with an iron fist. Dictatorship is not his bag; jokes and absent-minded protestations are. Wide receiver Hassan Jones’ wingspan is so long that Burns one day inserted a mannequin’s arm in his sleeve, dragging it to the floor. “This is Hassan,” he said in front of the team. And he says he’s a lame-brain remembering names, this year referring to safety Brad Edwards as “Blake Edwards.”

There’s good and bad to this. His team tends to play happy-go-lucky and has a league-high turnover differential (plus 22), the lack of anxiety probably leading to fewer fumbles and interceptions. But discipline is out the window. Wilson has had a running argument with his offensive coordinator, Bob Schnelker--who thinks Wilson should stop taking so many sacks --though Burns has yet to ask the two of them to iron it out.

Whatever, the Vikings are making a run for the Super Bowl. Burns was asked this week if he began thinking Super Bowl immediately after last season’s tough NFC championship loss to the Redskins.

“No,” he said, “I was thinking about Jamaica.”