What about Bob?

(AP Photo)

Any time there's a 99-yard play on offense, we should all pause and embrace the moment. It's the most exciting play in football, even better than a kickoff return or a pick-six.

This play -- the longest possible play from scrimmage -- doesn't happen very often in the NFL. (Of course, in Tecmo Bowl, it could happen anytime you played with the Los Angeles Raiders and selected Run 2 as your play call).

Gus Frerotte (he's still alive? And playing in the NFL?) connected with Bernard Berrian on a 99-yard bomb in the second quarter Sunday night against Chicago. It was quite a lovely play. He dropped back and heaved the ball down the left sideline. Bears DB Charles Tillman went from single coverage to zero coverage on Berrian, who caught the ball in the type of open space that would make Ty Pennington drool and streaked for the touchdown.

To make matters worse, the play came on first down, seconds after the Bears were stuffed on fourth down at the Vikings' 1-yard line.

For the record (according to NFL.com, it was the 11th 99-yard pass play in history. They're listed below. By the way, the only 99-yard run is the famous Tony Dorsett touchdown sprint in Minnesota on Monday night.)

1) Andy Farkas (from Frank Filchock), Washington vs. Pittsburgh, Oct. 15, 1939
2) Bobby Mitchell (from George Izo), Washington vs. Cleveland, Sept. 15, 1963
3) Pat Studstill (from Karl Sweetan), Detroit vs. Baltimore, Oct. 16, 1966
4) Gerry Allen (from Sonny Jurgensen), Washington vs. Chicago, Sept. 15, 1968
5) Cliff Branch (from Jim Plunkett), L.A. Raiders vs. Washington, Oct. 2, 1983
6) Mike Quick (from Ron Jaworski), Philadelphia vs. Atlanta, Nov. 10, 1985
7) Tony Martin (from Stan Humphries), San Diego vs. Seattle, Sept. 18, 1994
8) Robert Brooks (from Brett Favre), Green Bay vs. Chicago, Sept. 11, 1995
9) Marc Boerigter (from Trent Green), Kansas City vs. San Diego, Dec. 22, 2002
10) Andre Davis (from Jeff Garcia), Cleveland vs. Cincinnati, Oct. 17, 2004
11) Bernard Berrian (from Gus Frerotte), Minnesota vs. Chicago, Nov. 30, 2008

It's no secret that wide receiver Troy Williamson didn't get along with Vikings coach Brad Childress, but Williamson hasn't let it go.

Traded to the Jaguars in the off-season, Williamson said in advance of this week's Vikes-Jags game that he'd like to go at it with Childress when the teams meet in Jax.

Childress initially said he wouldn't respond to Williamson’s comments, but when asked about his height and weight on a conference call with reporters, he quipped: “Do you need my reach? I’m not like a woman; I’ll give you my weight. It’s 190 pounds of twisted steel and rompin’, stompin’ dynamite. Is that enough humor for you?”

Yes, it's true. Brad Childress is not a very popular man inside the Metrodome these days.

During a brutal performance against the Lions, in which the Vikings eked out a 12-7 win, fans chanted "Fire Childress!"

I don't think so. Not after two dreadful games from Jackson. Not after the Vikings looked so promising coming into the season. Not after Jackson himself looked so confident in the off-season and training camp.

But I will say this: I don't think we've seen the last of Jackson this season, even though Childress said the move to Gus Frerotte was a permanent one.

Permanence at quarterback in the NFL is a relative term. Injuries and ineffectiveness have a way of making things a lot more temporary than people think.

So good luck to Frerotte, and may he avoid ramming his head into the side of a wall after scoring a touchdown.

It certainly won't happen in Minnesota, where the Vikings are cautiously optimistic that Tarvaris Jackson will recover from a sprained medial collateral ligament sustained in last night's game against the Ravens.

But the way Culpepper sees it, it will happen at some point. He turned down offers in Green Bay and Pittsburgh, hoping for a better opportunity somewhere else.

Only way that's gonna happen is if more injuries create an opening.

... that the knee injury suffered by quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is not serious.

If it is, this team is doomed.

Yes, there is still time in the life of an NFL player at training camp to take a peek at the Olympics, and Vikings defensive end Jared Allen has done just that.

He, like the rest of the universe, thinks Michael Phelps' stunning performance at the Olympics is simply mind-boggling. Allen wouldn't mind doing something on a par this season. Which can only mean he's after Michael Strahan's single-season sack record.

But at least they got a seventh-round pick for their troubles.

The Redskins ponied up a conditional seventh-rounder in a deal for first-round bust defensive end Erasmus James, whose career has been marked by injury and ineffectiveness.

The Vikings told James on Friday that they planned to release him, but Redskins personnel director Vinny Cerrato convinced the Vikes to trade him for a seventh-round pick in 2009. The deal is contingent on James making the Redskins' opening day roster this year.

James and first-round receiver Troy Williamson turned out to be huge disappointments in Minnesota, and now neither is with the team. The Vikes deal Williamson to the Jaguars earlier in the off-season.

... it was a monumentally bad draft.

Not only are the two first-round picks they had that year - receiver Troy Williamson and defensive end Erasmus James - now gone. But there is only one player left from the entire draft. And he's not even a starter.

The Vikings aren't alone in missing big in that draft. It's the year that quarterback Alex Smith of the 49ers, running back Cedric Benson of the Bears, and wide receiver Mike Williams of the Lions came into the league.

All of them are barely hanging on.

If you haven't, it's understandable. He is a third-year defensive end with the Vikings, and the only time he was ever in the news was when he got suspended four games last year for violating the NFL's steroids policy.

Well, Edwards plans on becoming a household name very soon. He plans on breaking Michael Strahan's single-season sack record.

Forget the fact that Edwards has only eight career sacks in two NFL seasons.

Settle down, Ray. Settle down.

Why not tone things down just a little bit - at least publicly - and shoot for something a little more attainable.

Like actually meeting Strahan, who has probably never even heard of you.

(Ok, I really don't know if Strahan has ever met Edwards. But sheesh. Can the guy put together a season of double-digit sacks before he talks about breaking one of the greatest records ever?)

The Vikings' defensive end was recently diagnosed with a form of leukemia, but the cancer is now in remission and he's awaiting a bone marrow transplant.