Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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“It was tough. Being here three years, going on four, and I've been playing with these guys for a long time,” Treadwell said. “This was like my second family, my brothers. We've been through a lot of battles, a lot of ups and downs together. They always have my back, and of course I've always had their backs, so it was hard for me to cope with for a little bit.”
He explained that he reached out to coaches and players around the league for advice, including Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer and former NFL receiver Brandon Marshall.
Zimmer passed along words of wisdom to Treadwell that, little did he know, the receiver would apply to his old stomping grounds just a week later.
“He was like, ‘If you're going to go on a team, that’s a fresh start – walk in with confidence. That’s the type of guy I’d want on my team,’ ” Treadwell relayed. “He was giving me that if I was going to move forward in life and go somewhere else, [and now] I’m back here, that’s my mindset. Just walking in here with confidence, and it’s a fresh start for me.
“I'm going to have fun with it, I’m going to help this team win and do everything I’ve got to do,” he added.
Zimmer said during his Wednesday morning press conference that he believes Treadwell has “rededicated himself” to what he needs to do.
“I think it’s always been important to him, but I think maybe he might have went about it the wrong way,” Zimmer said. “I just tried to give him some insight on what he has to do moving forward. I’m hopeful to see that.”
Asked if he was surprised that it took him until through Week 3 to find a landing place, old or new, Treadwell said he understands the business and was trusting the process. He did disclose that he had visits with the Lions and Bills right after being released by the Vikings.
“Coaches and teams, they know what they want, and they’ve got a core group of guys,” Treadwell said. “Getting released right before Week 1, for me, if I was in the other seat, it would be hard for me to just put a guy on my team. I understood that, and I knew patience was a virtue. So, I was just waiting on a call and waiting on an opportunity, really.”