For Vikings, there's more to speed than 40-yard dash

MINNEAPOLIS -- Rick Spielman was cut by the San Diego Chargers in the fall of 1987 just as his younger brother Chris was beginning his senior season at Ohio State. The Buckeyes linebacker entered the 1988 draft with plenty of interest from NFL teams, despite the fact he stood just six feet tall, and when scouts came to watch the younger Spielman work out, his older brother would seize the opportunity.

"When teams used to come and work him out, on his pro day, I would run," said Rick Spielman, who was a linebacker at Southern Illinois. "I'd run [the 40-yard dash] two-tenths faster than him, and I'd jump the vertical jump. We were doing a broad jump, and Hank Bullough and Dick Jauron came in…