I did a search for "Toby Gerhart training camp" and all kinds of relevant posts came up. As I've mentioned before, CF's search function works really well. In many cases it's a better source than search engines as many sites don't keep articles up for long periods of time (for example the link at the end of this article I found using CF's search function no longer links to the article).
Here's one example about the brutality Toby was subjected to:
Vikings offense trying to get on same page
By
Jim Souhan
McClatchy News Services
MANKATO, Minn. â€"
Toby Gerhart spends more time on the ground than mulch. The Vikings' rookie running back keeps smacking into the Williams Wall, then doing the Gerhart Crawl, after getting blasted by a defense treating him to a purple haze. Tormenting the Stanford kid is a Minnesota sports tradition that dates back to Twins manager Tom Kelly's dismissal of top draft pick David McCarty. "Stanford, boola, boola, boola," Kelly said, and McCarty might as well have started packing right then.
Watching Gerhart somersault backward after hitting the defensive line might be more amusing if it didn't symbolize the Vikings' offense during this training camp, otherwise known as Brett Favre's $20 million negotiating window.
Gerhart, who is supposed to replace Chester Taylor as the backup running back, has
often looked slow and timid, which has led the Vikings' veteran defenders to treat him like a tetherball.
OCB â€" Ol' Crazy Brett â€" has become nothing more than a holdout intent on making $20 million this season and reporting to the Vikings on his own timetable. (My best guess has been Aug. 23 all along.)
Sidney Rice remains sidelined with a hip injury that has lingered mysteriously. Mysteriously, because he is the most underpaid player on the team.
Adrian Peterson, following a season in which his fumbling became the major impediment to an otherwise efficient offense, skipped all but four days of the Vikings' offseason workouts and now is slowed by tightness in his left leg. As with Rice, we can wonder if Peterson's newly developed reluctance has anything to do with money.
Percy Harvin has missed seven days of practice following the death of his grandmother.
Center John Sullivan has missed time with a calf injury.
In summary: The Vikings' four best skill players have missed important practice time, Favre's return is not yet imminent, and opening night is a month away.
We should remember that what transformed the Vikings into Super Bowl contenders last year was the precision of their passing offense, and the mutual intuition Favre developed with Rice and Harvin.
Last year, Favre reported before the Vikings' second preseason game, giving him three game weeks to prepare for the season. Then the Vikings opened against Cleveland and Detroit, giving Favre two more weeks of practice.
This year, Favre is unlikely to report before Aug. 23, giving him two game weeks to prepare for a season that will begin in the din of the Superdome against a defense that eight months ago pounded him into the turf.
If the Vikings' offense remains explosive in New Orleans despite all of the negative developments in this camp, it will be a testament to Favre's quarterbacking genius, the skill of the Vikings' coaching staff and the irrelevance of training camp.
If the Vikings' offense misfires on Sept. 9, we will be left to wonder whether Favre's holdout â€" and lengthy absences from camp by other skill position players â€" will have made this season more difficult than it needs to be.
Saturday morning, the Vikings worked on physical running situations, and Gerhart took another beating.
"You try to deliver (hits) more than you take them," he said. "But the 'backers are running through. Everybody is just hitting it. Yeah, you took your fair share of shots, that's for sure.
"It's good work for me and the offensive line. Iron sharpens iron. When you go out and compete against one of the best defenses every single day, you know what to expect and hopefully the games are a little easier."
Childress has noticed his defenders gleefully pounding Gerhart. "Some guys may be doing the knocking down just for good measure" just because," Childress said. "He's got to learn a lot of things about tempo. . . . The great thing is, he gets knocked down, but he gets right back up."
Then again, "Gets up quickly after getting knocked down" is not the kind of testimonial you find on Hall of Fame plaques.
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=22&a=464667
