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100% Cheese Free
by Sam Monson
22/12/2007
When the Diner decided to take a look at the Minnesota Vikings’ winning streak this week, we decided you don’t go to the players, the coach, the owner, or even the local Minnesota Press for the inside scoop on Purple Nation, you go to this man, Syd Davy aka ‘100% Cheese Free’. Syd is the real face of Purple Nation, and there’s nobody better to tell the Diner what’s going down in Viking land.
 FD:
So Syd, thanks for taking time to talk to the Diner.
Syd Davy:
No Problem.
FD:
Why don’t you tell us a little bit about Syd Davy, outside of Viking Football?
Syd Davy:
Outside of Viking Football, well I’m an engineer for CP Rail, I’ve been driving trains there for the last 30 years now, and I’ve been a lifelong Vikings fan, a lifelong Bombers fan, in Winnipeg, of the CFL. I played Hockey when I was a kid, and then when I was a little older I started playing football.
I played running back in my early years, and then I moved up to DT and LB when I got older. I was very fast when I was a kid, and I’d win the 100 yard dash every year in school, I was always faster than everybody else. When I was a little bit older, 16/17 I played first what’s called Bantam football, and then midget football. Back when I played Bantam I was a running back, and then when I started getting a little bigger when I was 17 I was 201lbs and 5’10. So I was the shortest DT in the league, but probably the strongest and fastest. So that helped me a lot.
FD:
So how did your alter ego, ‘100% Cheese Free’ come about?
Syd Davy:
Well that actually started in the weight room. When I was a teenager, 18 years old I used to belong to a couple of sports clubs, and those places are just filled with steroid users, and I’ve always been natural all my life, so I used to take shots at these steroid users by wearing a shirt into the gym that had ‘100% Steroid Free’ on the back, which kind of pissed those guys off in there. Then in 1986, the year that I first started going to Vikings games, there was a game against the Green Bay packers, which we won 42-7, and there was this guy, his name was Ralph Bruno, and he invented the cheese-hat. He cut up his mom’s couch, cut a foam triangular piece out of it, painted it orange, and started wearing it on his head. That’s how the cheese-heads came about. And I hated those things so much that I came up with the shirt that said ‘100% Cheese Free’, same thing as I used to do to the steroid users I did to piss off the cheese heads.
FD:
What’s it like being the most famous Vikings fan?
Syd Davy:
Well the Vikings have been using me in their ads since the mid-90s. By ’95 they were using my image to sell tickets, just like today if you go to www.vikings.com and click on tickets, the first thing you see is me. They use me to sell their tickets, and products this t-shirt just came out with me on it, within the last week, which is a pretty cool shirt.
FD:
We’ve seen that, it’s a nice looking t-shirt!
Syd Davy:
Yea, it’s a nice looking shirt.
FD:
How does that work then, do they come to you and ask if they can use your image on things?
Syd Davy:
Yea, they get a hold of me and they ask me to use my image, and I always say yes to the Vikings. I get people constantly phoning me and asking me to do commercials, and promote their products and things. Mostly I turn them down unless it’s something that I see as really supporting the Vikings, or the Vikings themselves ask me.
FD:
Randy Moss used to leap right into your arms after all his TDs, and the two of you became friends, didn’t you?
Syd Davy:
Yea, he’s a really nice guy. A really nice guy. He was just destroyed by the press. They did every single thing you could to…any little tiny thing he ever did they just turned it onto a mountain. That traffic cop thing, they make it out like he tried to run down a traffic cop. All it was, was a city worker not even a traffic cop, a city worker who spotted him, and jumped on the hood of his car cos she saw him take a wrong turn. Why couldn’t she have just taken his license number down? But she saw it was Randy Moss, she jumped on his car, and she sued him! You don’t hear stuff like this, and you don’t hear that every single weekend this guy would go to go St Jo’s Hospital in Minnesota and see the underprivileged kids in that hospital, and have pizza-parties for them, and it was countless how many kids he has brought to games. How many times have you seen this guy hand the ball to a kid in a wheelchair, dozens and dozens of times. But you don’t hear stuff like that about Randy Moss, all you hear is the negative stuff. The press didn’t like him because he wouldn’t talk to them. That’s where his problems came, he wouldn’t talk to the press, and when he did, they misquoted him. Like after that Giants game where he scored 3 TDs, and made the comment ‘I play when I want to play’, and they turn it into something else.
 This guy has an alter-ego like I do he’s the Super Freak. Randy and the Super Freak, and that’s who was celebrating with me in the end-zone, it wasn’t Randy Moss, it was his alter ego, the Super Freak. The two of us, we just hit it off, he’d give me a thumbs up before the game, get the crowd all riled up. Sometimes he’d wave at me before the play, you know, before the snap he’d be running across the field and he’d wave at me, and the fans would be like oh, he’s coming up, he’s coming up! He’s gonna get a TD, he’s coming up! Those 7 years are just times I’ll never forget.
FD:
How do you feel this year watching him succeed as a New England Patriot?
Syd Davy:
I’m so happy, but you know, the happiest thing of all is that he didn’t go to the Green Bay Packers. I was at the Draft Party this year, the Minnesota Vikings invite me down to the party and gave me VIP tickets, and naturally there’s all these radio stations and TV stations there coming up to me and all asking exactly the same question: ‘If Randy Moss comes here as a Green Bay Packer are you gonna catch him?’ Well of course not, like come on. They’re trying to get me to say ‘well maybe I might’ or something. I can’t do that. If I’m at the Super Bowl and I’ve got front row seats, and Randy Moss jumps up into my arms and they’re not playing the Vikings, I’ll catch the guy, but I’m not gonna go catch the guy against my own team. Friendship can only go so far. I’m sure I’d disappoint every one of my fans in the dome if I did something like that!
FD:
So what do you make of the Vikings late-season surge, 5 wins in a row now…
Syd Davy:
Yea 5 wins in a row, but you have to go back and look at their record this year. Every single game outside of the game in Green Bay they could have easily won. I don’t see it as them turning it around this year; I think they were very unlucky at the very start of the season. I think this team should only have one loss right now, and that was the game in Green Bay. Every other game we could have easily won. The FG hitting the bar against Detroit. The Kansas City game KC got across centre field I think twice in the entire game! Then they took a TD away from the Vikings in that game, that the TE caught, and the official said that he didn’t catch the ball. I couldn’t see anywhere, and even people who were right there said he caught the ball. Then the Packers when they came to Minnesota we had that game won, but then Favre puts that dump off pass to Wynn. Chad Greenway then nails him! He fumbles the ball after he took 2 steps forward, and Greenway ran it back for a TD, but the official refused to even review it. Favre ends up getting a TD on that drive, and they win by 7. Right there is a 14 point turnaround on the game! Then you move on to when we lost in Dallas. We were killing the Cowboys until we had a FG blocked and run back for a TD.
FD:
Same thing there, a 10 point swing in the game on one play.
Syd Davy:
Yea, you know, this is what’s happened to the Vikings all year. They could have won every single game except the game in Green Bay. The Vikings are being seen as an underdog right now, which is good for them, but the Vikings are definitely as good as the Packers, and the Cowboys! I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised to see the Vikings in the Superbowl. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we go into Dallas and just hand it to the Cowboys, and then go into Lambeau, and beat them like we did in the playoffs the last time we played them!
FD:
How do you think the Vikings would stand up against somebody like the Patriots if they faced them in the Superbowl?
Syd Davy:
Well the Patriots are a different story. This team is just totally stacked. I can’t really see anybody beating them this year, but you never know. There’s been a couple of teams that have taken them right to the limit this year, and the Vikings have the best O-line in the NFL, the best running game in the NFL, and the best D-line in the NFL. Now you take those 3 things, and put them together, and you can win a Championship, no problem. Take the Bears last year, they had absolutely no Offense, but they did it with Defense, and Special Teams. If they didn’t have Hester last year how many games would they have lost? Arizona was just handing it to them last year! Then they score what 20 points in the last 2 minutes to win the game…
FD:
Prompting Denny Green to explode!
Syd Davy:
Well, Denny Green’s been known to do that, Ha-ha.
FD:
So what do you think of Coach Childress now we’re near the end of his 2nd season in charge?
 Syd Davy:
Well I look at Brad Childress this way: A lot of guys get on his case, but he’s been a Head Coach only two years. Take a look at his drafting, and you show me one other team that has drafted as well as the Minnesota Vikings over the last 2 years. This guy is new as a Head Coach, and maybe that’s why we’ve been losing the close games, and having some bad luck, you know, maybe he is making some coaching mistakes, but this guy’s learning. And he’s getting better every game with coaching, just like his QB Tarvaris Jackson is getting better every game. This guy started the season, everybody was on his case. But now look at him, more ball control, and he’s starting to think on the field. He’s just getting better every game. I tell you, the Vikings are going to be a team to be reckoned with for a long time! This team is YOUNG: Sidney Rice, Adrian Peterson, Tarvaris Jackson. These guys are all kids still, wait till they start to mature, and get better. Adrian Peterson is already the best RB in the entire league. In his rookie season he sets the all time single season record 296 yards! Against the San Diego Defense!
FD:
So what do you think of some of these kids that have come in?
Syd Davy:
Oh yea, Chad Greenway, Sidney Rice, this guy’s gonna be an absolute star. Once you get into the red zone, this guy can catch a fade pass like Randy Moss can!
FD:
Even on Defense, some young guys like Cedric Griffin, Marcus McCauley.
Syd Davy:
And EJ Henderson, what about that guy, what a year he’s been having, it’s just incredible. And he didn’t make the pro-bowl, not even named as an alternate, that’s just ridiculous. Some guys just get overlooked. And you talk about 7 guys making the pro-bowl this year! How bad can a team be if they have 7 guys that make the pro-bowl, and even more guys who could have easily made it…?
FD:
So is Tarvaris Jackson the future?
Syd Davy:
I think he can become a very good QB in this league. He’s got all the tools, he’s got the speed, the mobility, and he can throw that ball a mile! It’s just a matter of learning the position. Look at Peyton Manning, how did he do his first year in the NFL? You can’t expect a kid to come out of college, especially a guy from Div IAA, and start on an NFL team and be a superstar immediately, it’s just not gonna happen, never has, never will. Look at Daunte Culpepper, he never played a down in his first year, until they knew he was ready, put him in, and he became a pro-bowler. Until his knee got whacked out and finished him. He’ll never be the player he was, it’s just too bad an injury for a guy his size. A DB can come back from that, or a guy who’s 200lbs. But when you’re 256lbs, 6’5, and you’ve been a mobile QB your entire life, you can just forget about it, it’s just too much pressure for his weight.
FD:
So who are your favourite Vikings at the moment?
Syd Davy:
 Well, Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, and the Williams brothers. Those 2 are just awesome. Both in the pro-bowl this year.
FD:
Not before time, Pat Williams was overlooked the last couple of years.
Syd Davy:
It’s hard to believe, ey? Those two guys are something else. And Pat just loves playing with Kevin. They get together and do such a fantastic job. Nobody can run inside on the Vikings, nobody! And it’s just because of those two.
FD:
That’s true…So what direction do you see the Vikings going in the draft this year?
Syd Davy:
It’s so difficult to tell, it depends where we’re going to finish, there won’t be any top 10 draft choice this year, that’s for sure! If I had my choice of what to take we need a Defensive End, we need that really bad, a serious pass-rusher. Either that or a DB. Those are the weakest spots on the team at the moment. I wouldn’t want to go WR, we’ve gone that route before, and it hasn’t really worked, plus we have Rice who’s gonna be an all-star in this league, and Allison who’s got speed!
FD:
So how long do you think the Vikings have to wait to be rid of Brett Favre?
Syd Davy:
I think he’ll go on next year for sure, and he might go a couple of games into the next year. As a matter of fact I know he wants to break Jim Marshall’s Iron Man record. The Green Bay Packers board of directors told me this. It’s one of his main goals; he wants to break Jim Marshall’s record. It was broken by a kicker of course last year, but nobody really considers them a football player! It’s different to a QB being back there and getting hammered through the game, or Jim Marshall back there getting whacked every single play of the game.
FD:
That’s an amazing record for the position he played.
Syd Davy:
Oh absolutely, and I don’t think it’ll ever be broken by a defensive lineman again. But it’d be good to get rid of Favre just because everybody loves him. You can’t even look at him without getting a flag now, and this man love between John Madden and Brett Favre just makes people sick.
FD:
John Madden shouldn’t be allowed to do Green Bay games anymore…
Syd Davy:
I bet you John Madden tries to get as many Packer games as possible now. The same thing goes with the officials, you know, Favre patting the officials on the ass, what the hell is that. If Randy Moss even touches an official he’d be ejected and fined! It’s just incredible, I’ve seen so many times, when Favre is barely touched, a flag comes, and he’s actually laughing, because he knows it’s a joke call the official just made. But he gets it, cos he’s Brett Favre.
FD:
There’s a rumour swirling around that the Vikings might be a team chosen to go to play an NFL game in London next season, what do you think about that?
Syd Davy:
I would love it; I’d hop on a plane and go!
 FD:
Did you watch the London game this season?
Syd Davy:
No, I didn’t get to see it because it was on the same time as our game here… As much as I’d have liked to have watched that game it just doesn’t take precedence over the Vikings!
FD:
What do you think about the NFL going to London?
Syd Davy:
Oh I think it’s great; I’d love to see an NFL team come to Toronto, Canada. There’s been talk about moving the Bills over. That’d turn me into liking the Bills all of a sudden. I wouldn’t like them as much as the Vikings, but they would become my favourite AFC team pretty quickly.
FD:
You’d need to get thinking about some new costume ideas!
Syd Davy:
Well, I could still wear my horns! Ha-ha!
FD:
So how about a prediction for Sunday night?
Syd Davy:
Oh I’d say the Vikings, 27-13.
FD:
And what about Adrian Peterson?
Syd Davy:
I think he’ll definitely break 100 yards. I don’t know if he’ll be able to put up 100 yards against them, but don’t forget he’s not the only RB on this team, Chester Taylor ain’t no slouch. And he’ll absolutely be with the team next year; you need 2 horses in your backfield. Chester Taylor came in this year when Peterson went down and did a marvellous job!
Adrian Peterson’s a great kid too; he’s just so damn humble. The Vikings have been trying to change the image of the team after the Love Boat stuff; they’re trying to change the type of player they draft now. They want to get as nice a kid as they can find now, they don’t want to have to worry about drugs, or guys who’ve been smoking pot, or getting drunk, they’re really trying to stay away from stuff like that and clean up the image of this team.
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