There was no skepticism from here over the Vikings' hire of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to run the football operation, not until he said that his goal was to lead the team in a "joyful pursuit of excellence.''
That was in a media session in late March, in advance of the NFL's annual start of free agency.
This is football. It is the least joyful activity in mainstream team sports. It is legalized brutality, the level of which increases as these incredibly gutsy athletes progress, until the best of them are pounding one another in the NFL.
The one thing the NFL union, the worst in major professional sports, has accomplished in recent negotiations is to reduce the amount of time that coaches can have for hitting in practice.