After Vikings Smear Campaign, Ragnar Is a Cheesehead Now

Ragnar, the former Vikings mascot of 21 years whose real name is Joe Juranitch, delivered a bombshell on Fox’s pre pre NFL show this morning:

Ragnar, if you’ll recall, reportedly demanded $20k a game—$1.6M over 10 years—to resume his mascot duties. However, as he told it on my podcast, the Vikings had been passive aggressively phasing him out in the offseason, and then told him his appearances would be cut from every game to special occasions of perhaps once or twice a year.

In an attempt to recoup the lost income, he said that he asked for that high number per game (the annual numbers were not true), but never received a counter offer before the organization leaked that he was greedy to the media. On the podcast, he sounded very personally hurt and disrespected. (In the Fox video, after initially disagreeing with Ragnar’s turn, former Viking Randy Moss acknowledged he understood.)

As a Packers fan, I wholeheartedly embrace affiliation with Ragnar, and am banking on the belief that he will help tip the scales in tonight’s battle for the NFC North.

[H/T Deadspin]