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Greenway Shares A Locker With Patients At Amplatz

Vikings LB Chad Greenway is one of the most community-conscious players on the team, and he was in fact named the Vikings 2011 Community Man of the Year for his outreach efforts. And now he’s off to a fast start in making an impact on the community in 2012.

On Thursday, Greenway will launch “Chad’s Locker” to the children at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital. The locker, which is an initiative of Chad’s Lead the Way Foundation, is provided to the children to help during their time at the hospital. The locker enriches the lives of chronically and critically ill children by providing them and their families with access to iPads, notebook computers, DVD players, and an Xbox game system and other electronic handheld games to pass the time during recovery and treatment.

Greenway will be joined by his wife, Jenni, on Thursday to launch the project. Chad and Jenni together have been leaders in community outreach efforts. They have volunteered their time with several local organizations, including Memorial Blood Centers, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Sanford Hospital, University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital, Fuel Up To Play 60, Taste of the NFL, United Way and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

The Greenways took their volunteerism to a new level when they established the Lead The Way Foundation (ChadGreenway.org) to enrich the lives of individuals and families who are in need medically or financially. For the past 5 years on Father’s Day, Chad and Jenni have partnered with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for the Greenway’s Gridiron Gallop 5K race, benefiting Minneapolis youth sports programming.

Greenway Earns First Pro Bowl Honor

Jared Allen will not travel alone to Hawaii for this year’s Pro Bowl. Fellow defender Chad Greenway has also been named to the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster and will make his first apperance in the NFL’s all-star game.

Greenway recorded a team high and personal best 174 tackles in 2011, and now has led the Vikings in tackles from 2008-11. He also ranked 3rd on the team in tackles for loss with 13.0, tallied 2.0 sacks, registered 4 passes defensed and recovered one fumble.

“On behalf of the entire Vikings organization, our congratulations go to Chad for this great honor,” Vikings Head Coach Leslie Frazier said. “Chad is a vital part of our team, and the fact that he led our team in tackles and was also third in tackles for loss this season is proof of that. His production on the field has been matched only by his leadership in the locker room and off the field. Hopefully this is the first of many more Pro Bowls for Chad.”

The South Dakota native will replace Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs who is unable to play due to an injury. This marks the second straight season where a Vikings’ LB has been selected to the Pro Bowl as E.J. Henderson was named last season. Since 2006, the Vikings have sent 3 of the past 4 players selected in the 1st round to the Pro Bowl (Greenway, Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin).

Greenway was also named the Vikings 2011 Community Man of the Year. Head to www.greenway52.com for more information about Chad’s community efforts.

Greenway Named Vikings 2011 Community Man Of The Year

Chad Greenway has been selected as the 2011 Vikings Community Man of the Year.

Since being selected in the 1st round of 2006 NFL Draft, Greenway has been an active member of the team’s community outreach. He has volunteered his time with several local organizations, including Memorial Blood Centers, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Sanford Hospital, University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital, Fuel Up To Play 60, Taste of the NFL, United Way and Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Greenway took his volunteerism to a new level when he and his wife, Jenni, established the Lead The Way Foundation (www.greenway52.com) to enrich the lives of individuals and families who are in need medically or financially. For the past five years on Father’s Day, Chad and Jenni have partnered with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for the Greenway’s Gridiron Gallop 5K race, benefiting Minneapolis youth sports programming.

Greenway is one of 32 team representatives, one of which will be named the Walter Payton Man of the Year at this year’s Super Bowl. As the Vikings representative for the NFL Man of the Year award, Greenway will receive a $1,000 check for the Lead The Way Foundation through NFL Charities.

Near-Flawless Brees Propels Saints To 42-20 Win Over Vikings

Drew Brees is one of the best QBs in the NFL, and the Vikings saw the reasons why first-hand on Sunday at Mall of America Field. Sitting atop the NFC South standings and still in the hunt for the NFC’s #2 playoff seed, the Saints put together a 42-20 victory over the Vikings behind a 412-yard, 5-TD performance from Brees.

The game was not lopsided from the beginning, however, because the Vikings came out looking ready to give the Saints all they could handle. New Orleans won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff, but just 3 plays into the drive the Vikings recovered a fumble and were already in scoring range. In what would become a theme of the game for the Vikings, though, the offense couldn’t muster any production and Ryan Longwell came on to salvage a score with a 44-yard FG.

The teams exchanged punts later in the 1st quarter, but on his 3rd trip to the field, Brees started putting the pieces together. He led the Saints on a 10-play, 84-yard scoring drive to take a 7-3 on a 5-yard scoring pass to WR Lance Moore. The Vikings hung tough in the 1st half – Longwell hit a 49-yard FG in the 2nd quarter and Christian Ponder found Toby Gerhart for a 10-yard score later in the quarter – and at halftime the Saints held a 21-13 lead.

Even so, Brees was already 20 of 24 for 247 yards and 3 TDs, and it was apparent that he and the Saints offense were in great position to take advantage of an injury-ravaged Vikings secondary. And it didn’t take long for that negative outcome to unfold, as Brees needed just 4 plays on the Saints first drive of the 3rd quarter to toss his 4th TD of the game, this one to backup TE John Gilmore.

The Vikings offense just couldn’t respond, and after going 3-and-out the Vikings watched Brees and Co. score another TD on a 3-play, 53-yard drive. The TD was a 47-yard pass to Moore, which was the 5th TD pass of the day for Brees. At that point the score was 35-13 in favor of the Saints and the situation looked dire for the Vikings.

There was no improbable comeback in the cards for the Vikings this week. The Vikings offense had only 3 of their 12 drives go over 6 plays, and for the game the Vikings netted just 207 yards and 12 first downs. The Saints, by contrast, totaled 573 yards, were 8 of 11 on 3rd down and picked up 36 first downs. Brees found 9 different targets in the passing game and spread his 5 TD passes out to 4 different receivers. This was Brees line in the post-game box score: 32 of 40 for 412 yards, with 5 TDs and no INTs for a passer rating of 149.2.

New Orleans was also efficient on the ground, rushing for 161 yards on 38 carries (4.2 yards per rush).

The Vikings scored a late TD – another Ponder-to-Gerhart connection – to push their score to 20 points, but a bevy of mistakes by several parts of the offense led to an unproductive day overall. In his return to action from an ankle injury that cost him 3 games, Peterson ran for 60 yards on 10 carries, including a 39-yard dash. Gerhart led the club in receiving with 4 receptions for 46 yards, while Percy Harvin was held in check by the Saints defense (3 receptions, 8 yards).

LBs E.J. Henderson and Chad Greenway led the club in tackles, with 11 and 10, respectively. No one was able to sack Drew Brees and in amazing fashion, the play-by-play post-game stats show that the Vikings had just one tackle for loss (E.J. Henderson recorded it).

The loss drops the Vikings to 2-12 on the season, and now they’ll prepare on a short week for a road game against the Washington Redskins on Christmas Eve.

Frazier Updates Several Injuries

Leslie Frazier met with reporters on Monday to discuss Sunday’s game and the status of his team as they try and move past the loss to Denver and on to preparations for next weekend’s game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. He opened with an update on players who sustained injuries during Sunday’s game.

Here’s a quick summary of what Frazier said…

– QB Christian Ponder has a hip pointer and will likely be limited in practice, at least early in the week. Ponder suffered the injury during the game and was obviously able to finish, but the team will monitor the injury closely over the next few days and adjust the QB’s practice time accordingly. It’s important to note a couple things here. First, Ponder relies on his mobility, so a hip injury is significant to him. Secondly, Ponder played through injuries in college and will be willing to play through pain.

– LB Chad Greenway hyper-extended his elbow, but he was also able to finish the game. It won’t be surprising if he’s limited in some capacity this week, but I’m anticipating he’ll be able to play at this point.

– DE Brian Robison suffered a concussion and did not finish the game. As is the case with all concussions, this will be a day-to-day situation.

– TE Visanthe Shiancoe came out of the game with a swollen hand. Frazier said X-rays of the hand did not show a fracture, which is obviously good news and gives Shiancoe a chance to play this weekend.

As for RB Adrian Peterson, who has missed two games with an ankle injury, there is no timeline for his return. It could be as early as this week, but there’s also a possibility that he misses another game. We’ll monitor his status as the week progresses.

Allen, Peterson Lead Positions In Pro Bowl Voting

Jared Allen and Adrian Peterson have been among the best players at their positions this season, and fans are voting accordingly. Allen is the leading vote getter among all NFL DEs with 488,239 votes and Peterson is the leading vote getter among all NFL RBs and the 5th leading vote getter in all of the NFL with 680,428 votes.

Earlier this week, we promoted Vikings LB Chad Greenway as being worthy of consideration. Another big game on Sunday against Denver parlayed with a few impact plays – forced/recovered fumbles, INTs and sacks – along the way will start to garner him more consideration.

2012 Pro Bowl voting will continue online and on web-enabled mobile phones through Monday, December 19. Click here to cast your vote.

The teams will be announced at 7:00 pm (ET) Tuesday, December 27 on a special NFL Total Access 2012 Pro Bowl Selection Show on NFL Network.

The 2012 Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday, January 29, 2012 and televised live on NBC at 7:00 pm (ET) from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The AFC and NFC All-Star squads are based on the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group’s vote counts one-third toward determining the 43-man rosters that represent the American Football Conference and National Football Conference in the Pro Bowl. NFL players and coaches will cast their votes on December 21-22.

The NFL is the only sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its all-star teams. It was the first professional sports league to offer online all-star voting in 1995.

Reminder: “Vikings Country” Featuring Chad Greenway Is Live At Mall Of America Tonight

As is the case each Wednesday during the NFL season, fans can head to Mall of America tonight from 6:30 to 7 to check out “Vikings Country,” a weekly radio show hosted by Mike Mussman and co-hosted by either Jared Allen or Chad Greenway.  Tonight, Greenway is the co-host.

The show will be broadcast live from the Sky Deck Sports Grille and Bar at Mall of America – located on the fourth floor, east side – every Wednesday during the regular season and will air on KFAN (FM 100.3); the show will also be aired on Fox Sports North at 11:00 a.m. every Sunday. Allen and Greenway will alternate weeks as co-hosts of the show with Mussman, and the Vikings Street Team will be at each broadcast giving away great prizes.

Fans are encouraged to attend the live broadcast each week at the Sky Deck Sports Grille and Bar, where they will enjoy a state-of-the-art restaurant and entertainment facility that features high definition TV’s, quality billiards, 12 lanes of bowling and a great menu of beverages and food.

Allen will co-host the following nights: Dec. 7 and Dec. 21.  Greenway will co-host ontonight, Dec. 14, and Dec. 28.

Pro Bowl Voting Open; Greenway Has Earned Consideration

We’ve been promoting DE Jared Allen and RB Adrian Peterson as worthy of the fans’ Pro Bowl vote in recent weeks. Those two stars remain deserving of the vote, but another Vikings player is beginning to emerge as a legitimate Pro Bowl candidate – LB Chad Greenway.

Greenway will be the first to acknowledge that he expects a better performance from himself. He opened the season with an impressive 13-tackle outing in San Diego, but then slumped a bit over the next 3 games by tallying single-digit tackles in each of those games. Beginning with a 10-tackle performance against Arizona in Week 5, however, Greenway has been on a tear. He’s had just one single-digit tackle game since October 9, and over the past two games he’s collected 22 and 17 tackles against the Oakland Raiders and Atlanta Falcons, respectively.

Greenway’s 22-tackle effort against the Raiders two weeks ago is behind only Scott Studwell’s 24-tackle gem in 1985 in Vikings history. Greenway followed that up by tallying 17 more stops against Michael Turner and the Falcons in a game where he was clearly the team’s top defensive player. For the season, Greenway has 124 tackles and is on pace for a career-high 181 stops for the season. He leads the team in tackles and if he continues this pace it’ll be the 4th consecutive season that Greenway has led the Vikings in tackles.

As for making the Pro Bowl, Greenway has some work to do. He ranks 3rd in the NFL and 2nd in the NFC in tackles, according to Stats, Inc., and his adjusted total of 124 would rank him 1st. But making the Pro Bowl as a LB requires more than collecting a bunch tackles. Making impact plays, such as forced and recovered fumbles, INTs and sacks is as important as making tackles. Greenway has 1.0 sack on the season and no INTs, that’s the bad news. The good news is that the lone NFC LB with more tackles than Greenway - Washington’s London Fletcher – has just 1.5 sacks and 2 INTs. Those are numbers Greenway could overcome if his current trend of outstanding play continues. Atlanta’s Curtis Lofton, who has 100 tackles, has no sacks and just 1 INT, while San Francisco’s NaVorro Bowman has 97 tackles but no INTs or sacks.

The bottom line is Greenway still has work to do in order to secure a Pro Bowl bid and there are a lot of good LBs in the NFC who appear deserving of a Pro Bowl nod. But there are still 5 games to play on the schedule, which gives Greenway and all of the other top-performing LBs ample amount of time to increase their performance and impress those with the power of the vote.

Speaking of those with the power of the vote, Pro Bowl balloting for fans is going on right now, both online and on web-enabled mobile phones. Balloting will continue through Monday, December 19, so vote now and often for your favorite Vikings. Go to NFL.com/probowl to vote.

Happy Thanksgiving, Vikings Fans

Happy Thanksgiving, Vikings fans. We here at vikings.com and the Vikings Entertainment Network hope you are able to enjoy Thanksgiving and football with family, loved ones and/or friends today.

As a side dish to a big Thanksgiving meal, here are some fun facts about your favorite football team as they prepare to play the Washington Redskins this Sunday.

– DE Jared Allen needs just 3.5 more sacks to reach the 100 sack mark for his career.

– With 4 more receptions WR Percy Harvin can move into 4th all time in Vikings history for most catches in first 3 seasons.

– Vikings LB Chad Greenway recorded 20 tackles last week against the Raiders, which is tied for 4th most in Vikings history. Greenway is averaging 10.7 tackles a game this season and is on pace to set a career-high in tackles ( has 107, career-high is 150 in 2008).

– Vikings QB Christian Ponder has shown grace under pressure by completing 63.3 % of his passes on 3rd down in his action this season, ranking as the 7th-best completion percentage among QBs with 20+ 3rd-down attempts on the season. Inside the red zone, Ponder has gone 8-of-9 with 3 TDs to lead the NFL among all passers in red zone completion percentage. Ponder’s 3 red zone TDs have gone to 3 diff erent players- Visanthe Shiancoe, Adrian Peterson and fellow rookie Kyle Rudolph.

– DE Kevin Williams had a 54-yard INT return for a TD on 9/9/07. 1 of his Vikings-record 4 defensive TDs.

– Over the last 5 years, the Vikings have had one of the best running attacks in the NFL, rushing for 10,263 yards. The team’s 138.7 yards per game average ranks #1.

– The Falcons and Vikings have had a common head coach, the Viking franchise’s 1st head coach Norm Van Brocklin who coached the Vikings from 1961-66 and went on to coach the Falcons from 1968-74.

Reminder: “Vikings Country” Featuring Chad Greenway Is Live At Mall Of America Tonight

As is the case each Wednesday during the NFL season, fans can head to Mall of America tonight from 6:30 to 7 to check out “Vikings Country,” a weekly radio show hosted by Mike Mussman and co-hosted by either Jared Allen or Chad Greenway.  Tonight, Greenway is the co-host.

The show will be broadcast live from the Sky Deck Sports Grille and Bar at Mall of America – located on the fourth floor, east side – every Wednesday during the regular season and will air on KFAN (FM 100.3); the show will also be aired on Fox Sports North at 11:00 a.m. every Sunday. Allen and Greenway will alternate weeks as co-hosts of the show with Mussman, and the Vikings Street Team will be at each broadcast giving away great prizes.

Fans are encouraged to attend the live broadcast each week at the Sky Deck Sports Grille and Bar, where they will enjoy a state-of-the-art restaurant and entertainment facility that features high definition TV’s, quality billiards, 12 lanes of bowling and a great menu of beverages and food.

Allen will co-host on the following dates: November 16, November 30, December 14 and December 28. Greenway will co-host on the following dates: tonight, November 9, November 25, December 7 and December 21.