If you've read my weekly column, you'll know that I was an advocate of Mike Tice's firing all season long. While I agree with the decision of Minnesota Viking's management to fire Mike Tice, I disagree about the way that they went about his release from the club.

While events leading up to Sunday night's decision to fire Mike Tice are foggy, one thing is clear, team ownership showed no character by surprising Tice by firing him right after Sunday's win against the Chicago Bears.

Vikings ownership had told Tice that they would make a decision about his future with the club at Monday's early morning meeting. Mike Tice had to know that there was a better then fifty percent chance that ownership would relieve him of his head coaching duties.

What upsets me is that the ownership showed a lack of character by not keeping their word. Mike Tice didn't have an evening to savor his victory and have a positive end to the season. Mike Tice wasn't even given an opportunity to address his players with the news.

Mike Tice's players were very loyal to him and the ownership could have had the common decency to allow Tice to have one last moment with the club.

I had many issues with Mike Tice but he gave a number of players a second chance to prove that they could play in the NFL. While many teams had given up on Darren Sharper, Mike Tice gave him a second chance. Darren Sharper will play in the Pro Bowl in February.

Mike Tice also gave Koren Robinson a second chance after the player went through alcohol treatment. Robinson had a good year this year

We should give Mike Tice some credit for giving these p

layers a second chance and being loyal to his team.

Mike Tice handled his firing with class and didn't show any public resentment toward the club. I wish Tice would have acted this way for the past four years.

Vikings ownership didn't keep their word. They said that this organization would be operated with class and character. In my world, keeping one's word is important and leads to character.

How can we trust that Vikings ownership will operate this team any differently then the way that this club has been operated in the past few years? I don't think that the Vikings have the character to be a successful team in the NFL. Firing Mike Tice isn't going to give them the character that they seek. Character comes from within and team ownership seems to lack the character necessary to operate a successful NFL franchise.

I hope that Mike Tice finds an assistant coaching position in the NFL. Hopefully Mike can learn from another head coach what it takes to be a head coach in the NFL. Tice wasn't really given a chance, because he was promoted to Vikings Head Coach too quickly when Dennis Green was fired four seasons ago.

Tell Your Friend