As the Vikings stood along their sideline on Sunday night waiting for the start of the national anthem, tackle Rashod Hill looked up and said to center Pat Elflein, “You know who’s looking down on us, right? Tony is.”
“We started to recite all the one-liners and things Tony would be saying to us at this very moment, if he were here,” Elflein said. “Even though he’s not physically here, I feel like he’s still coaching us.”
If there were a game where the Vikings could have used a bit of Tony Sparano’s pugnacious spirit, Sunday night was it.