Waiver war: Childress, Belichick have tense conversation

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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Vikings coach Brad Childress is the typical tight-lipped NFL coach, but he opened up on a radio interview last weekend. And Childress revealed an apparently tense conversation he had with New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick about a couple players each team wanted to pass through waivers and put on the practice squad.

Childress said Belichick called to ask him not to claim tight end Garrett Mills, offering to avoid picking up a player the Vikings cut as a reward. Childress declined.

"He didn't really care for that," Childress said Sunday morning on WCCO-AM. "He was trying to leverage, but you always find out who is honest and straightforward."

So the Vikings claimed Mills, the Patriots claimed linebacker David Herron, and Childress later realized he said too much.

"That's a case of me being a little too colorful," he said at his Wednesday news conference. "You guys wonder why I stand up here and go, 'Yep, no, and maybe so.' Bill's and my conversation should stay between Bill and myself."

Belichick didn't have much to say about it when asked on Monday.

"I talked to a lot of people in the league over the course of the last few days," he said. "That's part of the whole process of player transactions and so forth. I'm sure that all of the coaches in the league are trying to get their team ready for opening day and the regular season, and I'm trying to do the same thing."

Mills didn't want to comment on being in the middle of it.

"I have a lot of respect for coach Belichick and Scott Pioli and the whole Patriots organization," he said. "I don't know what happened and I'm here now, that's all that matters."

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

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