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For one very strange night, in the middle of an utterly forgettable but ultimately transformative Vikings season, quarterback Josh Freeman took center stage.
On Oct. 21, 2013 — the 10-year anniversary is Saturday — Freeman was thrust into the role of starting quarterback on Monday Night Football for a Vikings team desperately searching for a jolt to their season and a long-term solution at the most important position in sports.
It did not go well.
The game was, however, memorable in its own way — so much so that one-year later I gathered up a group that had watched the game together so that we could recount our experiences in an oral history of sorts.
The game and the lead-up to it were so strange, even while they were happening — as I talked about on Friday's Daily Delivery podcast.
Here are five things to know about it:
*Freeman as recently as the start of the 2013 season appeared to be Tampa Bay's franchise QB after throwing for more than 4,000 yards the year before. But a very public argument with then-coach Greg Schiano led to his benching and release early in the 2013 season. The Vikings scooped him up less than a week later.
*During the introductory conference call with the Vikings, Freeman was heard getting coached by then-Vikings GM Rick Spielman on what answers to provide reporters. Sadly, the audio no longer exists (at least not that I can find), but it was an amazing part of the subplot.
*The Vikings officially signed Freeman on Oct. 8 as they got back to work following a bye week. They were 1-3 at the time after Matt Cassel quarterbacked them to their first win of the season (in London against the Steelers). Cassel was subbing for Christian Ponder, who had been ineffective during an 0-3 start and was dealing with a rib injury.
Cassel struggled in a 35-10 loss to Carolina on Oct. 13. Just a few days later, roughly a week after they signed Freeman to a reported one-year, $3 million deal, the Vikings announced Freeman would start the next game Monday night at the New York Giants.
"He's done enough for us to say we want to give him this opportunity — which is something we had in mind when we acquired him," Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said in explaining the decision. "We think now is the time."
*It was not the time, though it's hard to say if there was ever a right time. In a prime time game, Freeman ended up attempting a mind-boggling 53 passes (completing just 20) while reigning MVP Adrian Peterson only had 13 carries — this despite the fact that the Vikings actually led 7-3 at one point (on a Marcus Sherels punt return for a TD) and never trailed by more than two scores at any point in a 23-7 loss.
*It ended up being the only game Freeman played for the Vikings and the final start of his career (though he did appear in one more game in relief in 2015 for the Colts). The Vikings turned back to Ponder for the next six starts before Cassel started the final four games of a 5-10-1 season.
Frazier was fired after that season. The Vikings hired Mike Zimmer, then drafted Teddy Bridgewater — a duo that in a perfect world would have had a much longer run together if not for Bridgewater's catastrophic knee injury in 2016. That injury eventually led the Vikings to sign Kirk Cousins in 2018, which perhaps contributed to the demise of Zimmer's defense (and the coach's job).
Cousins of course is still the Vikings quarterback, and will bring a desperate 2-4 team onto another Monday Night football game in just a few days. If you don't like the regular broadcast of that game, you can always try the ManningCast.
Eli Manning was the opposing quarterback in the Josh Freeman game. The special guests for the ManningCast will be revealed Monday.
