EAGAN, Minn. — Blake Cashman is excited to rock his Bill Belichick hoodie.
It arrived via courier after the Vikings linebacker won the Week 2 "Football Guy" title from Inside the NFL.
"I might take the crew's advice and cut the sleeves off," Cashman said Friday after practice in homage to the fashion sense of the former Patriots head coach.
"It's an honor," the Eden Prairie native added. "Obviously, it feels good to receive recognition like that. I always say you've got to give credit to teammates. … When you're able to raise your game, elevate your play, I feel like that has a lot to do with the guys around you. We've got a lot of ballers on this defense."
Cashman received the threads after starring for the Vikings in their 23-17 win last Sunday.
As a unit, Minnesota sacked San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy six times, forced two takeaways and allowed the 49ers to convert two of 10 third-down chances and one of three attempts on fourth down.
"You know what he did this week against the San Francisco 49ers with Fred Warner standing on the other side? He was just the best middle 'backer in the game," Inside the NFL host Ryan Clark exclaimed.
Cashman made 13 tackles, one sack and three pass breakups (one resulted in a Vikings interception).
"Yeah, Fred Warner was out there. Fred Warner balled. Fred Warner played at the height of who he is, and he still wasn't better than Blake Cashman on Sunday," Clark breathlessly argued for his nominee.
Clark, with fellow retired players Chris Long and Chad Johnson, participated in a hilariously heated debate to help the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach determine the third recipient of the award.
"I loved it," said Cashman, still wearing his pads and holding the hoodie between his arm and torso. "It gave me a good laugh, especially when he said, 'This dude's got two earrings and a bald fade!' It really made me laugh because I got the privilege to sit down with the Pivot crew and Ryan Clark when I was at the Super Bowl and we were talking about my haircut; the earrings; did Travis Kelce start the bald fade? Kind of gave me a flash back from that. But, yeah, Ryan Clark, he's a great dude. He's a hype beast.
"Fred played an amazing game," Cashman added. "Best linebacker in the league, in my opinion, and has been for a while. I've got a lot of respect for him. It's a privilege to say I shared the field with him."
Long gave props to Cashman, Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores and that group for its stifling of San Francisco, but he wasn't persuaded to step down from his choice of Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew II, whom Long claims "unknown" fans are calling the reincarnation of Hall of Famer Ken Stabler.
Johnson, meanwhile, stayed quiet after selling – or funnily trying to sell – his selection of Cardinals outside linebacker Dennis Gardeck, a former special-teams star who sacked Matt Stafford three times.
The co-hosts of the show sarcastically dragged each other's picks, trying to sway Belichick's opinion.
"I've got to go with Cashman," he coolly decided.
The announcement lacked a grand lead-in or lengthy commentary from Belichick. That's OK.
"That's what you would expect from Bill," Cashman smiled. "It was very within his character."
A plaque of Cashman was ceremonially added to a board of past winners featuring 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings (inaugural winner) and Patriots defender Keion White, who got the indelible honor Week 1.
