Arif Link Roundup and Norse Code Podcast Episode #030: So Long Jared Allen, and Thanks for All the Sacks

We continue our plodding this offseason, this time in reaction to the Jared Allen news because we've hit a lull in real Vikings news to discuss. We also talk about the NCAA, Johnny Manziel's Pro Day and a little bit more.

Episode Notes:

• I've written about my reaction to Jared Allen before, and he's temporarily dead to me. I'm not upset at his decision to sign with the Bears, he just isn't a significant football figure to me until he retires.
• New blogger Chris Serri took a look at the Allen signing as well.
• The SB Nation site devoted to the Bears, Windy City Gridiron, is cautious as well.
• In regards to the National Labor Relations Board's decision (or Region 13's decision, really), NPR has a good piece.
• I mentioned Dabo Swinney's response (and incorrectly identified which South Carolina school he coached at, killing my college football cred for a few months). You can find it here.
• This history of the "Student-Athlete" is well-laid out in this paper from the Washington Law Review, and why it's a measure to avoid taxation at the NCAA level.
• The NLRB victory is the first step in a long line of daunting steps for athletes who feel the right to compensation, and murky definitional ground could make things difficult.
• There are a number of legal complications that go with identifying a student-athlete as an "employee" that go beyond traditionally finding them compensation, which includes potential tax status.
  • I am not a tax or labor lawyer, so take this with a grain of salt: I'm not so sure that Rovell or Higgins or correct in their citation of the law, as it seems to apply to all non-scholarship monies. Then again, this is new ground.
  • There are a lot of credits that would reduce the burden that those taxes would dig into, so I'm not even sure that the fact that tuition as compensation has an enormous tax effect.
  • This would also be resolved by increasing compensation to cover the tax burden.
• The research surrounding the rights and privileges of a student-athlete can be fascinating, and there are serious concerns for state schools and their ability to infringe upon the first and fourth-amendment rights of student-athletes.
• George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Bush appeared at Johnny Manziel's Pro Day!
• Mike Zimmer thought that the atmosphere surrounding this part of the evaluation process was a "sideshow"
• Zimmer will speak to Fran Tarkenton about Johnny Manziel, though I've already indicated that it won't mean much.
• We sampled a clip from the Purple People Podcast. Check them out!

I've written other things this week. I complained about the compensatory pick formula, although it's not because the Vikings didn't receive any (obviously, they shouldn't have).

Vikings Territory writer Carl Knowles took a look at Chase Ford.

I argued that the "depth signing" argument doesn't work for me when the Vikings sign subpar free agents.

Related to that, I covered the Vlad Ducasse signing and provided my (admittedly pessimistic) take. More optimistically, I liked the Corey Wootton signing.

I also produced a "rooting guide" on which former Vikings I will cheer for and which ones I won't.

And if you missed it, about a week and a half ago I scouted Everson Griffen.

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