EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - Linval Joseph is listed at 6-foot-4 and 323 pounds, just the right size for an NFL nose tackle. The player Joseph looked up to while learning how to play in the middle of the line in high school and college was Pat Williams, and now his career has come full circle. Joseph has joined the Minnesota Vikings, who havent been able to match the moxie and production Williams provided at the position since the big man retired after the 2010 season. "Pat was a physical guy. He liked to slam guys. I watched him a lot," said Joseph, who finalized a five-year contract with the Vikings on Wednesday. Williams was picked for three Pro Bowls in his six seasons with the Vikings. They allowed the fewest yards rushing in the league for three straight years in that span, 2006 through 2008, and the oversized, popular, colorful Williams had much to do with that. "He wanted to show that hes an all-time great. He had something to prove from where he started to where he finished," Joseph said, adding: "He was just loved around here. And I want to be the same way." Joseph started 46 of 48 games for the New York Giants while averaging 55 tackles and three sacks over the last three seasons and won a Super Bowl with them, too. The 25-year-old was a second-round draft pick in 2010 out of East Carolina. He grew up in Florida after his family moved from the Virgin Islands. The Giants made him an offer, but he said "it was nowhere near" what the Vikings gave him. According to ESPN, Josephs deal has a maximum value of $31.5 million. Oakland and Atlanta also were interested. But Minnesota was his first choice. Joseph said he sees playing for new Vikings coach Mike Zimmer like his experience with the Giants and Tom Coughlin, another noted hard-nosed NFL head coach. "I can tell hes straightforward and hes defensive-minded and he wants to win," Joseph said of Zimmer. The Vikings also finalized one-year contracts on Wednesday with middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley and offensive lineman Joe Berger. Given the new deal they gave Everson Griffen this week and the extension they handed Brian Robison last year, the Vikings have secured three of the starting front four with contracts valuing more than $100 million combined at maximum worth. Those three will account for close to 15 per cent of the $133 million salary cap in 2014. They might not spending money on the line, either. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Vikings have not publicized any visits by free agents yet, former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Henry Melton will be at Winter Park on Thursday to meet with team officials. Melton made the Pro Bowl with six sacks in 2012, but he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the third game of last season. Wholesale Paul George Shoes . Spains victory rendered Frances 3-0 win against Finland meaningless as Spain needed just one point to secure passage to Brazil. Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema scored either side of Joona Toivios own-goal as France advanced to the playoff among the eight best second-place finishers. Paul George Shoes From China . Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane came up big when it counted, tallying two goals and an assist. He scored the game-winner with 4:45 remaining in the third period, stopping on the right hashmarks, carrying the puck up through the top of the Kings zone, then firing a wrist shot from the top of the circles past Jonathan Quick, who had his view obstructed by Andrew Shaw. https://www.cheappaulgeorgeshoes.com/ . 25 against Miami. Hillis left Browns Stadium about two hours before kickoff, a decision that has led to speculation he was upset over ongoing negotiations with the club on a contract extension. Paul George Shoes Deals . The Toronto Blue Jays star won his second consecutive Hank Aaron Award as the most outstanding offensive performer in the AL on Monday after votes by fans and a panel of Hall of Famers were tallied. Cheap Paul George Shoes . He even addressed his group of relievers Sunday morning. Dustin McGowan made those worries a nonfactor, at least for a day. McGowan pitched three-hit ball for seven innings, Colby Rasmus hit a grand slam and Melky Cabrera added a two-run homer as the Blue Jays beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2.PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - The Match Play Championship will not be in its traditional spot early in the 2015 season for the first time since it began in 1999. The future of the World Golf Championship remains muddled after Accenture decided this year not to renew its title sponsorship. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem had said in February that he hoped to have a clear direction within a month or so. "This has been taking longer than we thought," Finchem said at The Players Championship. "Well see. We probably wont have anything to say for at least a few weeks." But an announcement out of Texas on Tuesday made one thing clear. There is no room on the schedule for the Match Play Championship between the start of the year and The Players Championship. The Valero Texas Open announced that it would be played next year on March 26-29, two weeks before the Masters. That means every day on the PGA Tour calendar is taken between the Hyundai Tournament of Champions (Jan. 9-12) and The Players (May 7-10). The Match Play traditionally wraps up the West Coast Swing at the end of February, except for in 2001 when it was played in Australia in early January. The Honda Classic, the start of the Florida Swing, will be held next year on Feb.dddddddddddd26 to March 1. Finchem did not rule out a return to Tucson, Ariz., which has an experienced host organization in the Conquistadors and Tucson is a strong golf market. "Where were going is an open question," he said. "Certainly, Tucson is a possibility." The tour is in talks with at least one potential sponsor, and its a remote possibility that the tournament simply takes a year off. One problem with that is the PGA Tour would have a hole in its schedule. The Byron Nelson in Dallas (under new sponsorship next year with AT&T) is to be played May 21-24. That would leave a week open after The Players. Finchem said in February that the tour was looking at a makeover for the Match Play because even the best players — Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, for example — are not guaranteed being around for more than one day in the current format of single elimination. Woods, Mickelson and Adam Scott did not play this year. The greater concern appears to be a title sponsor, which could play a large role in where the Match Play is held. But for 2015, the only open date before the end of the major championship season would be May 14-17. ' ' '