Numbed Vikings Ponder Huge Void in Their Lives

The Minnesota Vikings practiced football Thursday, the day after Korey Stringer died in the prime of his career.

What made it tougher was the realization of getting through life without their fun-loving Pro Bowl right tackle. “I’ve been coaching for 30 years and there’s never been a more difficult time for me to walk onto the practice field,” Coach Dennis Green said Thursday morning after the Vikings completed a 90-minute practice. “The emotions are very high because we lost someone special.”

The Vikings canceled practices Wednesday after Stringer died of complications from heatstroke. Stringer, who leaves a wife and a 3-year-old son, was rushed by ambulance to Immanuel St. Joseph’s Hospital just before noon Tuesday.

Paramedics were unable to get a blood-pressure reading, Dr. David Knowles, who coordinates the team’s medical care while the Vikings are in Mankato, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper. On arrival at the hospital, Stringer was given intravenous fluids. His body temperature was 108.8.

Hospital workers dipped towels in ice and cold water, placing them on Stringer in an attempt to reduce his body temperature. At the same time, Knowles rounded up 15 medical specialists to deal with Stringer’s complications.

Doctors were optimistic late Tuesday night, but Stringer’s body began to bleed from orifices and places where the needles from intravenous lines had been inserted. Stringer’s condition worsened. Doctors said his kidneys and other organs gave out, and Stringer was pronounced dead at 1:50 a.m. Wednesday.

Viking players, coaches and team officials attended a chapel service Wednesday and met with grief counselors. Fans placed flowers and notes along a fence bordering an empty practice field.

On Thursday, the Vikings canceled an intrasquad scrimmage set for today and Monday’s scrimmage with the Kansas City Chiefs. Stringer, a former Ohio State star, will be buried Monday in his hometown of Warren, Ohio. Also, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened an investigation into Stringer’s death, ESPN reported.

On Thursday, hundreds of fans lined the walkway from the locker room to the practice field, but it was eerily quiet. Fans who ordinarily would have asked for autographs said nothing, offering scattered applause for star players.

Wide receiver Cris Carter, the last player out, heard some applause, then began to cry as he hit the field. Carter would later flash a big smile and draw cheers from the estimated 1,000 fans after a spectacular catch of a Daunte Culpepper pass in double coverage.

On a 70-degree day with a breeze, a day much cooler than the one on which Stringer collapsed, the remaining 13 offensive linemen ran through one drill before offensive line coach Mike Tice, who helped guide Stringer into the Pro Bowl, called them together and let some tears go. The players gathered around Tice for a prayer, then went back to drills as Tice let out a big breath. While players will not be available for interviews until after the funeral, coaches did comment.

“Losing him is tearing a hole inside of me,” a composed Tice said after practice. “It was hard to go on the field. I really didn’t know whether I could do it.

“When I got him he was 400 pounds and lazy and had all this natural God-given talent but didn’t know how to use it,” Tice said. “He was still a good player, but that’s because he was a natural. To see him transform himself over the course of five years has been a blessing for me as a coach. You get to see somebody grow right before your eyes.

“I probably will miss him more as a friend and a son than I would on the football field because he always had a way of making you smile and shake your head and think, ‘God, is he silly.’ ”

Tice said he and the offensive linemen haven’t talked much about their loss.

“We haven’t been able to--it’s been too hard on us. We know how we all feel. We’ve done more looking at each other and nodding. We all know we’re in a tremendous amount of pain. We haven’t been able to talk.”

Stringer reported to camp at 335 pounds, his best weight as a pro. He wanted to prove that he was a leader of an offensive line that had lost Jeff Christie, Todd Steussie and Randall McDaniel in the last two years.

“He worked himself to death,” Tice said, meaning the figurative way Stringer got into shape this year. “He had tremendous pride and didn’t want to let anybody down.

“He was not really thrilled about the picture of him in the paper Tuesday morning [of Stringer bent over and gasping]. He was out to prove he was a leader and he wasn’t going to let anybody embarrass him like that. That’s that warrior-type mentality that football players and athletes have.”

Tice never told Stringer to take a break during Tuesday’s practice.

“He didn’t look like he needed one,” Tice said. “I have a good gauge on my players. I know when they have to go out and when they need water. We don’t deal in punishment here. Looking at the film, he looked fantastic. He had a great practice.”

When asked if teams should reevaluate training-camp procedures, Tice walked away from a group of reporters.

“Too many negative questions,” he said.

Green also flashed a temper in the middle of an interview session Thursday when asked why the Vikings’ medical staff was not being made available.

“We chose not to,” Green said.

When asked why, Green repeated, “We chose not to,” then said he wouldn’t answer medical questions and told the reporter to “step back out of here now.”

“We’re still a grieving football team,” Green said, “and we will be until Korey’s laid to rest Monday in Warren, Ohio [Stringer’s hometown].

“I’m an old-fashioned person, and where I come from, once someone has passed on, your world changes until they’re laid to rest.”

Steve Rosenbloom covers the NFL for the Chicago Tribune.