The Jets and the Vikings have a history of competing for the same players.

Remember when Mike Tice called Antoine Winfield’s wife when he learned that Winfield was all but a done deal in New York?  He knew that Winfield’s wife was not thrilled about living in New York and Tice raved about how nice life was in Minnesota.  Tice then called on some of his old gambling buddies to provide the jet and the limo to go pull Antoine out of New York and bring him to Winter Park. 

The Jets lost, and the Vikings won.

Then, the following two years, the Jets jumped ahead of the Vikings in the draft to snag two players they thought the Vikings coveted in second round quarterback Kellen Clemens and second round kicker Mike Nugent. 

Fast forward a few years and there is always the faux-retirement of Brett Favre that essentially forced the Jets to release him after one season and allow the future hall-of-famer to mosey on over to the Vikings roster (after training camp, of course).

Also, the current offseason featured a Vikings vs. Jets skirmish over running back Ladanian Tomlinson, who ended up choosing New York.

The latest player that linked the two teams was former first round pick Jamarcus Russell.  We discussed last week that we had absolutely no idea why the Vikings would be even remotely interested in the epic bust.

Frankly, I was worried they might just do it.

Those worries have been alleviated, however, as it was learned this weekend that Russell was arrested for “purple drank,” which is basically a misuse of codeine syrup.

Now, I suspect, neither the Jets nor the Vikings will have any interest is Russell’s services.

However, there should still be plenty to talk about when these two teams square off on Monday Night Football, as Favre returns to the house of his previous employer on October 11th.