Viktor
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
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Does anyone have more fun playing football than Dalvin Cook?
"Like a kid at recess," Vikings running back Alexander Mattison said.
"He never steps on the field without a big smile on his face," added tackle Brian O'Neill.
"I see him out there – giggling, smiling," said Cook's mother, Varondria Burnett. "He's in his element."
That signature smile, his head tipped back in laughter, the way Cook's eyes light up on game day … that's just the way he's always been.
It's simple. He's just having fun.
"I just go out there and try to be me," Cook said. "I try not to be too serious, because that ain't enjoying what you do. And I love my job.
"I try to pride myself on that, being a big energy-giver," he continued. "Bringing it for my guys and hopefully helping us win. That's just my personality and who I am. I'm not stepping out of the box trying to be anybody else."
He's even more intentional about bringing vitality to the Vikings during a season dramatically altered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On game days, Minnesota plays against a solid purple backdrop of eerily empty seats at U.S. Bank Stadium, save for several hundred cutouts. But that's no excuse, says the fourth-year running back, for poor performance.
Cook recently co-starred in a promo with Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger, who asked about vacant stadiums.
"We've got a saying," Cook told him. "B.Y.O.J. – Bring Your Own Juice."
"We had to come up with something to get each other going, making the 'new normal,' normal," he later elaborated. "I think that was a good saying. 'Bring your own juice.' And I think if you do that, we'll have a lot at the stadium."