Would the Vikings or any NFL franchise cut ties with their local police department?
In the wake of the University of Minnesota cutting ties with the Minneapolis Police Department, Terez Paylor & Charles Robinson discuss what it would take, if anything for an NFL franchise to cut ties with their local PD and why that would be unlikely in the future. Subscribe to the Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Video Transcript
CHARLES ROBINSON: I do want to ask you about the Vikings, though, because you wrote a good column on this. And I think this is-- it is an interesting question that's going to surround some teams. All of these NFL teams have very close relationships with their police localities or the state police-- or essentially, all police authorities in their states-- same with colleges. A lot of them use them for police details, a lot of them use them for private security details-- all these different things, right?
TEREZ PAYLOR: Yes.
CHARLES ROBINSON: The Vikings have not backed away from the Minneapolis Police Department at a time when a lot of people are backing away from the Minneapolis Police Department.
TEREZ PAYLOR: The University of Minnesota did it quickly.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Very quickly, and the Vikings have not. And so my question to you is, you know-- and, again, I would ask people definitely take a look at Terez's column-- it was good piece. Is it realistic to expect an NFL team to completely disconnect from the local police department?
TEREZ PAYLOR: I don't think so.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I don't think so either.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Thank you for bringing that up. I think that's a great point, because-- this is one of the reasons I love doing the show with you, just because we've covered the league so long together-- you and I, like, know this. You and I are in total symbiosis on this. Guys, these teams need those police departments. Do you know why? Sometimes they get tipped off when one of their guys is [BLEEP] up.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah. Yup.
TEREZ PAYLOR: I'm not even going to say, sometimes. Like, listen, these teams have-- individually, have private security teams. They have cleaners. They have guys that know what's going on, that gets them information about whatever players might be doing. And those guys absolutely have relationships with the police departments around the cities.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah.
TEREZ PAYLOR: What would the Vikings look like-- I mean, put it this way, if you don't have those relationships, eh, you're not going to get some heads up on stuff. Like, we know that happens. You can't-- I mean, you don't read about it, you don't hear about it, but, like, it we know it happens. So, Charles, like, what are they supposed to do? So on that end, like, I thought that was interesting.
Like, on that call, that was the very first question. It was actually pretty funny-- have you guys had any discussions about stepping away, severing your relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department? And they said, you know-- Andrew Miller, the COO said, you know-- he basically said, things can be complicated. And there's a lot of layers to it. And we're looking into it.
And to me, it just sounded like, OK, no, we're not going to do that. That's just my opinion. I'm just saying, especially when I heard the players say recently they talked to the local police chief a lot with all their questions. Like, their dialogue with that department has continued. And I think, provided this remains the case and they don't sever that relationship, it's all the proof you guys need that, you know, these teams do need these police departments-- or least they think they do-- to help-- because they provide them with information sometimes.
