As expected, the Vikings have met with cornerback Chris Cook following his recent acquittal on domestic violence charges. As expected, he’ll be back with the team in 2012.
“We had Chris in the office the other day, and I talked to him and Coach Frazier talked to him, he met with our staff,” G.M. Rick Spielman told Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
“We are very excited about getting Chris Cook back, not only to help us on the football field, but we think Chris Cook is a very good person, and we really believe that he’s moving on and going to be a better person,” Spielman added.
Cook joined the Vikings via the second round of the 2010 draft, after trading out of the first round with the Lions, who moved up to pick running back Jahvid Best. The Vikings initially suspended Cook without pay after his arrest, which came the day before a home game against the Packers. Cook later was reinstated, but he didn’t play again in 2011.
“Sometimes you have to go through some hard lessons to give you a wake-up call, if there was a wake-up call,” Spielman said. “But you go through some tough times sometimes, and sometimes coming out of those situations really makes you a stronger and better person.”
Though the facts regarding the charges against Cook remain troubling, the Vikings surely realize that, if they let Cook go, someone else would give him a second chance. So the Vikings apparently think they may as well be the ones to give him the second chance.