It was 15 years ago this spring that Michigan Tech decided to end its football program, in a move that Joe Berger figured would end his playing career.
His unlikely story — from a program that opted to drop football before reversing course, to nearly a decade spent mostly as a NFL journeyman and ultimately to a starting job with the Vikings — could have continued for one more season.
Berger had offers from the Vikings and Detroit Lions for 2018. He'd played all but two snaps for Minnesota in 2017, emerging healthy from one of his best NFL seasons, and could have picked between a season in the Vikings' new practice facility, with longtime teammates and trusted coach Tony Sparano, or a season in his home state with the offensive line coach (Jeff Davidson) Berger said had made football fun for him again.