Vikings Score High In Player Surveys For Family-friendly Culture

For the last three years, the NFL has conducted a survey of all its players to ask their opinion of their teams from the top down. Players are asked to answer questions about things like the locker room, food/dining options in their building, the weight room, head coach and ownership.

The Minnesota Vikings have scored very highly in all three of these surveys. The team received a A+ for head coach, ownership. locker room and treatment of families; the Vikings got 'A' grades for team travel, strength coaches and training staff; 'A-' grades for their training room and weight room. Their lowest grade was a B+ for their nutritionist/dietician.

The 'treatment of families' category was the focus of a feature by ESPN's Sarah Bishop on Monday, specifically the reasons why the Vikings organization ranked so high.

FAMILY FIRST   

While teams like the Cincinnati Bengals have players meet their families in a tent outside of the stadium after home games, the Vikings have a dedicated space in their stadium specifically for that purpose.

In addition, the Vikings also provide in-game day care that includes halftime entertainment to keep kids interesting, such as face painting booths or a petting zoo. Minnesota running back Aaron Jones is quoted in the story as saying his oldest child loves football but has so much fun in the kids' area that 'he doesn't want to come back' for the second half.

TRAVEL AGENTS 

The Vikings also received specific praise for their handling of the traveling plans for players' families. While some teams are hands-off in that regard, the ESPN story says the Vikings staff will reach out to the players during the week to handle ticket, travel and hotel requests. The player can either pay the team directly or have the cost deducted from their paycheck.