Minnesota Vikings Fans Need to Step Up If They Want a New Stadium

There are many things in life I will never understand. How Tim Tebow keeps winning football games is one of them; how Vikings fans can desire a new stadium, but not support the current squad the way they should, is another.

During the Vikings home loss to the Broncos on Sunday, you could see many pockets of Denver orange throughout the Mall of America Field. To make matters worse, audible cheers could be heard when something went right for Tim Tebow and his Broncos.

In the pregame introductions, the PA announcer said that the Metrodome was the loudest stadium in the NFL—more than a little of that sound was for the Broncos.

I’ll admit I was caught up in the Tim Tebow show. Going into the fourth quarter, with the Broncos keeping it close, you knew something special was going to happen. With Tebow at the helm, it did. And the crowd went wild.

Maybe it’s because Tebow nation has grown that much. Maybe it was because it was the homecoming of native Minnesotan and former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Eric Decker. Maybe there are just that many misplaced Denver Broncos fans in the Twin Cities.

Anyway you cut it, the fan support isn't there for the Vikings.

It took until Wednesday for the game to sell out. The game was televised, but Vikings fans were once again cutting it close.

Allowing the cheers of Broncos fans to be heard, and not shaming them into being quiet, is unacceptable. Perhaps the reason for this was that Vikings fans were too ashamed of their own team to try to even quiet the Broncos faithful.

Could this attitude toward the Vikings be a result of the product on the field? What more do Viking fans expect? Christian Ponder threw for 381 yards and three touchdowns. Percy Harvin had 156 yards with two touchdowns. (Adrian Peterson didn't play, but that shouldn't matter.)

If Vikings fans want a new stadium, they need to step up, even for a 2-14 team. To get a new stadium—be it in Arden Hills or downtown Minneapolis or anywhere else—the fans need to support this team.

If they don’t, the stadium fans desire might never be built—and the Vikings might sail on to Los Angeles.