The Minnesota Vikings continue the airing of grievances today. First, star running back Adrian Peterson threw some shade at former starting quarterback, Christian Ponder in an interview with ESPN.com. Later, tight end Kyle Rudolph went on the Dan Le Batard show and took a shot at another former member of the organization – Ragnar the Viking.
In a controversial front-office move, the Minnesota Vikings declined to renew the contract of “human mascot” Joe Juranitch for the 2015 season. Juranitch, better known as “Ragnar”, has been a staple at home games in Minnesota since 1994, delighting fans with his routine of riding a motorcycle around the stadium in full Norseman garb. After Ragnar’s contract with the team expired following the 2014 NFL season, negotiations went sour when the mascot asked for a hefty raise of $20,000 per game. Juranitch had previously been taking home $1,500 per appearance. In a move that received mixed reviews from fans, the Vikings opted to show Ragnar the door.
On today’s show, Le Batard asked Rudolph to give a hot take on Ragnar’s release and the tight end obliged.
“There’s a ton of people in our organization that would love to get $20,000 per game, that are there every day behind the scenes doing a bunch of work, that aren’t even getting that much money.”
Rudolph later added that “$20,000 per game is a little ridiculous,” and noted that the team was doing just fine without their mascot.
The Vikings, winners of their first two home games this season, haven’t given Ragnar much leverage in his contract negotiations. If the team’s strong play continues, the mascot may find himself frozen out for good.
However, there’s no need to fret for Ragnar just yet. The entrepreneurial viking is far from finished with making bank off his character. Fans of the mascot can still submit an appearance request via Ragnar’s personal website. The price of having Ragnar come and pillage your birthday party isn’t listed on the site, but I think it’s safe to say the cost will be less than $20,000.
