Posted on August 17, 2016, by Travis Pulver
When the Minnesota Vikings took German wide receiver Moritz Boehringer with the 180th pick (sixth round), they knew exactly what they were getting—a 22-year old that looks like an NFL caliber wide receiver, but had yet to play NFL-caliber defensive backs. In spite of that, they still used a draft pick on him rather than take one of the many former college players available.
Why?
Via Vikings.com
Well—he stands 6’4” and weight in at 227 pounds—the perfect size for an NFL wide receiver. He ran drills during Florida Atlantic’s Pro Day and looked like he belonged for sure. While in the GFL (German Football League) he played in 16 games and recorded 59 receptions for 1232 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was a pretty decent kick returner, too (14 returns for 415 yards and two touchdowns).
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So he has a lot of what a team wants, but he is missing one very important thing—experience. Yes, he has been playing in an organized league since 2013, but his only exposure to competitive football was a YouTube video of Adrian Peterson. Watching one of the best destroy defenders is one thing, but doing it is another.
But the Vikings saw enough to be interested so now he is doing what he can to pick up as much as possible about American football now that he is on an American football team.
He’s living the American dream, and is even doing it like thousands of high school players do every year across the country—he’s walking to practice.
Seems nuts, right? Before practice, you want to conserve your energy and after practice, you are exhausted. Walking is the last thing you should want to do. Unlike the high school kids that are forced to do it because Mom and Dad are working when practice gets out, he is choosing to walk to and from practice for an entirely different reason:
“The main reason why I walk everywhere is because I don’t have a car because I wanted to save money,” Boehringer told TransferWise in a recent interview. “Every morning I just walk to the facility, and in the afternoon I walk back.”
So here is he, competing for a roster spot on an NFL roster against a bunch of guys that have been working their entire lives to get where they are, and he is using valuable energy to walk three miles to practice and then somehow mustering enough to walk three miles home.
As a sixth-round pick, he did get a $150,000 signing bonus so it is not like he can’t afford a decent used car. While it is nice that he wants to save money, you would think he would spend a couple thousand on a clunker so he could get where he needs to go.
But instead of icing his aches and pains, getting some more rest, unwinding from the day, or studying his playbook a little more, he is wasting approximately two hours, round just to save money.
While the team was in Mankato for training camp, the walk was a lot easier from the dorms to the field, but now that they have left Mankato, he’ll be back to walking—that is, unless a teammate finally decides to act like a teammate and gives him a ride.
Then again, he probably wouldn’t want to give them a buck for gas money.