THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: From one Viking to another: A good-luck video from Kirk Cousins to the Coeur d'Alene High football team

It was the night before Coeur d’Alene took on Highland in the state 5A football championship game last Saturday.

The Vikings held their weekly “hugs meeting” in the conference room of their hotel in Pocatello.

“Just coaches and players,” Coeur d’Alene assistant coach Brad Richmond said. “We have a nice culture here — always hugs — really a good thing for the boys.”

Near the end of the meeting, Viking offensive line coach Dustin Shafer said to the players: “One more guest speaker,” and played a video on the big screen for the players and coaches to see.

It was Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings quarterback, wishing Coeur d’Alene good luck in its title game the next day.

“The boys went crazy,” Richmond said.

“It was probably the most inspiring thing I’ve ever seen,” Coeur d’Alene senior wide receiver Joe Hagel recalled the next day, after the Vikings fell 35-28 to the Rams at Holt Arena. “I saw that, and in my head, I was like, ‘We’ve got to go win this … put everything we have into it.’ Just seeing our coach having that connection, having Kirk Cousins telling your team good luck, was probably the most mind-boggling thing that’s ever happened to me.”

TEN YEARS ago, Braeson Richmond was a sophomore wide receiver on the Coeur d’Alene football team that won the state title at the Kibbie Dome — also against Highland.

After graduating high school, Braeson went to Washington State and then to UNLV, where he hooked on helping with the football team, then spent three years on the support staff of the Green Bay Packers. He’s now in his second year with Minnesota. 

Some of his duties in the NFL have included running drills for the linebackers, fixing equipment, charting plays.

While with Green Bay, Braeson once hung Christmas lights at Davante Adams’ house. Another time, he filmed some social media posts for Aaron Rodgers.

At Green Bay, he was assigned to work with linebackers and linebackers coach Mike Smith, and followed Smith to Minnesota prior to last season.

In Minnesota, one of the Viking players Braeson has developed a rapport with has been Cousins. 

ONE DAY last week in the locker room, according to Brad, Braeson mentioned to Cousins that his alma mater was playing in the state championship that weekend.

“Would you like me to do a message?” Cousins asked, before Braeson could ask.

Cousins took out his own phone, recorded a 40-second video message and sent it to Braeson, who sent it to his dad.

Brad cleared it with Coeur d’Alene head coach Shawn Amos, and the players had the experience of a lifetime Friday night. 

“Coeur d’Alene Vikings, what’s up? This is Kirk Cousins from the Minnesota Vikings … ” began Kirk’s message.

“The reaction was better than any of us could even imagine,” Brad said.

“That was pretty cool, seeing Kirk Cousins make a video for the team,” Coeur d’Alene senior linebacker Shea Robertson said. “It was a pretty awesome deal.”

The players and coaches whipped out their own phones and recorded Cousins’ message to them. A video of the players enjoying the message was sent to Braeson, who passed it along to Cousins.

“That was pretty crazy, wasn’t it?” Amos said of the video, and the reaction. “That was pretty exciting; pretty fun.”

Then Amos noted the family atmosphere of the Viking program, a former player still connecting with his high school program 10 years later, and his father coaching in the program. 

“This whole season has been fun,” Amos reflected. “Only one team ends up happy, and I know how that is. The journey is what matters, and to see these kids grow up and become young men, that’s all that matters.”

FOR BRAD Richmond, a real estate agent who helps assistant coach Tony Carrico with the wide receivers on the JV and varsity teams, it was especially emotional — the connection with his son and the Viking program, and now his son’s connection with the Viking organization.

“Braeson turned his special family (at CHS) into a career,” Brad said.

Cousins has been to North Idaho before, visiting Gozzer Ranch a time or two, Brad said, and he and Braeson have talked about Coeur d’Alene.

Earlier this season, Minnesota played a preseason game in Seattle against the Seahawks. Cousins made the trip but didn’t play in the game. However, he was suited up on the sidelines, and the TV cameras captured him and Braeson in a conversation on the sideline.

Video of the exchange was posted on X (formerly Twitter).

“I asked Braeson later, what were you guys talking about?” Brad said.

Braeson’s reply: “(He) was asking me, ‘How far of a drive is Coeur d’Alene from here?”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.

    Courtesy image In this screen grab from a video provided by the Coeur d'Alene High football program, Viking players and coaches watch a good-luck video from Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins last week, the night before they played in the state championship in Pocatello.

    Courtesy image In this screen grab from a TV broadcast, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins talks with Vikings support staffer Braeson Richmond, a Coeur d'Alene High grad who played on the Vikings' 2013 state title team.
  

    Courtesy photo Braeson Richmond and his Coeur d'Alene teammates after the Vikings won the 2013 state championship at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow. From left are Braeson Richmond, Cayden Bonacci, Austin Lee and Jakob Lynn.