Vikings CEO Roger Headrick resigned Friday after a
morning meeting with new Vikings President Gary Woods,
according to Greg Johnson of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS.
Headrick, who was the team's President & CEO the past seven
seasons, left his job which paid him $625,000 a year
(PIONEER PRESS, 8/22). In Minneapolis, Sid Hartman wrote
"don't be surprised" if Headrick "winds up either being
president of another NFL team or is named to a" league
position, as he "is highly regarded in the NFL by the owners
and by commissioner Paul Tagliabue" (STAR TRIBUNE, 8/22). In
St. Paul, columnist Jim Caple wrote of Headrick's exit:
"Goodbye and good riddance. Our long state embarrassment
finally is over. ... Under Headrick's direction, the Vikings
went from a beloved part of the state to a feared presence
in the community" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 8/22).
ROGER'S LOCKOUT: Headrick "arrived at Winter Park on
Saturday morning to clean out his office, only to find the
locks had been changed." Headrick: "The locks were changed
(Friday) night around midnight. It was an absolute
surprise. I think it's a little bit hard to understand.
Small minds were doing small things." Headrick had a
locksmith open his office and took his personal items and
furniture. Woods said, "I gave him plenty of time to get
out during normal business hours in a graceful way" (ST.
PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 8/23). Headrick called the changing of
the locks "stage one of paranoia. ... It was an absolute
travesty. Talk about small minds. It's just unbelievable."
In Minneapolis, Don Banks wrote that the team "could seek
breaking and entering charges against Headrick if it
wished," but Woods "discounted that option": "We're
obviously going to take inventory. We really don't know
what he took. But he had a 24-foot UHaul, which seems like
a lot" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 8/23).
OTHER MOVES: Woods said that Rand Gottlieb, GM of WCCO
Radio, will replace VP/Marketing & Team Development Stew
Widdess, who left the team Thursday. Gottlieb: "I think
what the team needs to do is get closer to the customers,
whether that means our fans or our corporate partners.
Woods said that there were no other resignations or
dismissals, however "some could occur early next week." One
change "is to add more positions to the sales and marketing
department" (PIONEER PRESS, 8/22). In Minneapolis, Sid
Hartman called Widdess' dismissal a "big surprise," and
wrote that "Woods is going to find out Widdess had a lot of
friends in key positions in this city" (STAR TRIBUNE, 8/22).
