The Minnesota Vikings blinked during Adrian Peterson’s contract demands, but were not going to cave for their storied mascot.
Ragnar the Viking is out in Minnesota after having his $1.6 million salary demand turned down, according to the New York Post.
Ragnar was asking for $20,000 per game over the next 10 years, a person with direct knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press. That would be $1.6 million for eight regular season home games per season, and $2 million if preseason games were included. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team does not publicly discuss contract negotiations.
The Vikings announced on Monday that they have not been able to reach a new contract agreement with Joe Juranitch, the man who played Ragnar for the last 21 years and was looking for quite a raise to pillage the team’s home games and strike fear into the hearts of their opponents while growling at them atop his purple motorcycle.
A fan favorite employed by the team since 1994, the bearded Ragnar led the Vikings out of the tunnel on his motorcycle during pregame introductions, wearing a horned helmet and furs.
He posted a message on his Facebook page that had a picture of him in full Ragnar garb while watching the game on television.
Ragnar made about $1,500 a game last season.
By Glenn Erby
