If you want to know what motivates Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook to compete on Sunday, the answer is a portrait of his dad tattooed on the side of his body.
The Vikings might be eliminated from postseason contention, but there’s still work to be done in the Week 18 season finale against the visiting Chicago Bears.
“Look at what I got right here—my dad. That’s one of my reasons,” Cook told media members on Wednesday. “I’m going to compete. That’s how he raised me. It ain’t about nothing but competing and getting better. …Yeah, we didn’t get the outcome we wanted, and that’s squarely on us as an organization as a whole. We lost games as players and as coaches—all together as one. Games we want to get back, we can’t go get them back. So now we just have to go out here and compete. Just go out here and have some pride about ourselves.”
.@dalvincook does it all for his late father.
"I'm going to compete. That's how he raised me." pic.twitter.com/RY8rQAcjNI
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) January 5, 2022
Cook, a three-time Pro Bowler, is one of the Vikings’ best players. However, as much as he’s prepared to lay it all on the line, you still have to wonder if the risk is worth it with no reward.
The most important thing right now should be getting out of the season as healthy as possible, regrouping and preparing for the offseason rollercoaster that’s to come.
