Blair Walsh got back at his ex Friday night.
The Seattle Seahawks kicker faced off against his old club for the first time in a preseason matchup at CenturyLink Field. Tensions usually don’t run very high in preseason affairs — especially among kickers — but Walsh changed all that in the third quarter.
After drilling a 52-yard field goal, the veteran kicker celebrated by pointing at the Vikings’ bench and staring in the direction of Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer.
Walsh had more for the Vikings later in the quarter, as Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman joined him in jawing at Minnesota’s bench after he hit another 52-yard field goal.
So, why was Walsh so worked up in a preseason game? The 27-year-old explained after Seattle’s 20-13 win that he was responding to taunts coming from the Vikings’ sideline.
“When you’ve got guys who were your teammates for five years yelling at you when you’re trying to kick, it’s just odd.” Walsh said, via ESPN.com. “… I felt like it was nothing that was serious or meant to be hurtful, but I wanted to let them know that it just wasn’t going to roll off. I didn’t say anything, though. Just looked at them.”
When asked what the Vikings said to him, Walsh responded, “Nothing I can repeat here.”
Walsh had a rocky five-year tenure in Minnesota, culminating in a rough 2016 season in which he made just 75 percent of his field goal attempts (12 for 16) and missed four extra point attempts. Ironically enough, one of Walsh’s biggest misses with the Vikings came against the Seahawks, when he shanked a potential game-winning field goal from 27 yards out in Minnesota’s 10-9 loss to Seattle in the NFC Wild Card round.
Judging by Friday’s events, it appears Minnesota and Walsh both harbor some resentment over their breakup.
