Ugh,

They are my childhood team, and I still root for them, but Sadly, No! is exactly right, the Minnesota Vikings could not look like bigger assholes:

The Minnesota Vikings have docked wide receiver Troy Williamson one game check for missing last Sunday's game against the San Diego Chargers to attend the Monday funeral of his maternal grandmother...

Coach Brad Childress told Twin Cities-area media following Thursday's practice that the decision was on a "business principle" of the Vikings organization.

"He had a family obligation that he had to see to," Childress said. "We sat down and talked on it before he left. ... He had to do what he had to do. Everybody handles that differently. [Williamson] had to do what his family situation called for."

Childress cited the cases of two players, Minnesota defensive tackle Pat Williams and Indianapolis wide receiver Reggie Wayne, who appeared in games shortly after the deaths of family members.

Williamson's maternal grandmother, who helped to raise him and with whom he was very close, died last week and he returned to South Carolina, where he played a large role in arranging her funeral. He also had to make travel arrangements for several of his siblings, some of whom are in the armed services...

Williamson's agent, David Canter, revealed last week that his client's older brother was injured in an automobile accident in September and that he has been hospitalized in Georgia, where he has been in and out of a coma. He said Williamson, who has been able to spend only a little time visiting his brother, has been battling through the ordeal of "a grieving and healing" process and that his family is his first priority.

The NFL has gone out of it's way to punish players for immoral conduct -- here a team fines a player for exemplary conduct.

Troy Williamson has been a disappointment so far as a player (7th overall pick in 2005) but as a human being he's hell of a lot higher in the draft pool than Vikings management.