The man who has played Ragnar at Vikings games for the past 21 years doesn't dispute he set a high price on his services this season, but Joe Juranitch said Friday the NFL team was planning to phase him out well before they saw his contract demand.
Juranitch, who won an audition to become the Vikings' official mascot in 1993, was never sent a contract, or even credentials, for any of the team's home exhibition games or the home opener last Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium.
"I don't care if you're the Pope or Ragnar, if you don't have acreditation, you're not getting on the field," Juranitch said in a phone interview Friday.