Father’s Day gift ideas for your favorite Vikings fan

The post-draft, pre-OTA days on the NFL calendar are undoubtedly some of the slowest every year. After the flurry of free agency and the draft, roster moves are few and far between. Training Camp is three months out. We’re still 116 agonizing days away from the Vikings kicking off the 2017 season against the New Orleans Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium. All the waiting can be pretty agonizing fans. It can drive us all a little crazy.

Told you.

While the calendar has to turn a few times before we see any meaningful NFL football, we’re exactly one month away from Father’s Day. So while we slog through the doldrums of the NFL’s “slow period,” why not brainstorm some gift ideas for that special Vikings fan dad in your life?

For starters, let’s talk about my tweet. No, not about how scary my stare was throughout the entire video. About the two incredible products that were on display.

First, that sweater. Yes, it’s delightfully ugly. Yes, the word “TOUCHDOWN” lights up with a flick of a small switch tucked inside. Yes, it is probably the greatest article of clothing I have ever owned. I got it as a Christmas gift last year; my only regret was that I was only able to wear it during the season finale. Don’t make that mistake for your dad—buy it well before the season. Most sizes are currently available on NFL Shop, and there are a handful of other places around the web that you can find them.

Next, that helmet. It isn’t your ordinary novelty helmet. The “Skol Vikings” song you heard in the video? That was coming from the helmet. It’s a NIMA portable Bluetooth speaker.

The folks at NIMA were kind enough to let me check out the speaker in person, and I must say I was incredibly impressed. This isn’t a Vikings trinket that just so happens to be a speaker; it’s a top-notch speaker that just so happens to be licensed by your favorite football team. I was able to discuss the speakers with Nima Saati, the founder of the company. Here’s what Nima had to say:

We understand how passionate Vikings fans are and we can tap into that through high quality sounding speakers. Not only does this serve as the perfect tailgate item but as another way for fans to immerse themselves into their favorite teams.

This serves as the perfect relationship between high quality sound and the intense action that live sports has to offer.

That Monday night game is still far off on the horizon, but I’m already excited to bring this speaker tailgating. I already have a Bluetooth speaker about the same size as the NIMA speaker, and I was surprised at how much more sound the helmet can kick out. The NIMA speaker has a subwoofer that gives nice sound quality without distortion. And with speakers on either side of the helmet, you don’t have to worry about pointing it in a certain direction to hear it.

The speaker was incredibly easy to set up. If you have ever paired a Bluetooth device with your phone or laptop, you should have zero problems getting the speaker to work.

The helmet is made of polycarbonate and has small legs at the bottom for balance, so it seems like it should be able to take a bump or two. I let both of my young daughters check it out without any paralyzing fear that they would immediately break it. I wouldn’t go throwing it off any rooftops but it seems like it should be able to withstand normal wear and tear.

The battery life seems to be on par with most Bluetooth speakers. It should run on a single charge for 4-8 hours depending on how loud you’re listening. It charges via USB and comes with an auxiliary cord for connecting to other devices.

I got to check out the Small model, which runs for $119.95 retail. The Medium model is $219.95, and the Large model—which is the size of an actual freaking helmet—is $399.95. They might not be the cheapest Bluetooth speakers on the market, but I can assure you that the quality is on par with any high-end speaker you’ll find out there.

Now that we got the ball rolling, what are some Vikings-related Father’s Day gift ideas you have? Let us know in the comments below. We’ll run some of the best of your ideas next week.