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The new coach of the Minnesota Vikings had some stern words for fans of the NFC North rival Green Bay Packers.

Well, instead of 'stern,' 'unwelcoming' might be a better word for what the new Minnesota Vikings head coach just said about Green Bay Packer fans here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Kevin O'Connell (or 'KOC' as he's apparently known) was hired by the Vikings to be the team's tenth head coach earlier this year. At age 37, he's one of the younger head coaches in the NFL. And as he gets ready to face his first season as head coach (he was previously an assistant with several other NFL teams, including the LA Rams, who won Super Bowl LVI earlier this year), he's hoping for some big purple support, especially at home.

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According to this USA Today story, O'Connell said fans of the Green Bay Packers are distinctly NOT welcome in the stands at US Bank Stadium, which the Vikings have called home since the 2016 season:

"At our stadium, we should never, ever see the other team’s colors in the stands," O'Connell said in the story. “I don’t want to see any green, I don’t want to see any yellow, at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sept. 11."

And that's not a reference to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, mind you, but is instead a reference to the Vikings' first game of the 2022 season on Sunday, September 11th, when they'll welcome the defending NFC North Champion Green Bay Packers to US Bank Stadium.

KOC is hoping that the Vikings' faithful here in the North Star State will get on board with the new administration and get excited as the team looks to turn things around after the last few disappointing seasons.

No team likes to have a lot of the opposing team's fans in their own stadium, but given the border rivalry between the Packers and the Vikings, despite what KOC says,  I'm guessing there will still be more than a few green and gold fans in the stands here in Minnesota on Week 1.

Just like there will no doubt be a lot of purple in the stands at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on the date the Vikings are in town. Which, by the way, will be January 1st, 2023, when the Vikings travel to the Frozen Tundra to take on the Packers in Wisconsin during Week 16. Check out KOC's comments below.

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