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Watch: After taunts from his former teammates, Seattle kicker Blair Walsh stares down Vikings sideline

Seattle K Blair Walsh gestures to the Minnesota sideline after making a 52-yard kick on Friday. (AP)
Seattle K Blair Walsh gestures to the Minnesota sideline after making a 52-yard kick on Friday. (AP)

After making each of two 52-yard field goals in the second half of Friday night’s preseason game between his Seattle Seahawks and his former team, the Minnesota Vikings, kicker Blair Walsh made sure to face the Minnesota sideline and point at his former coaches and teammates.

Take a look:

But according to Walsh, it wasn’t just sour grapes after facing the team that cut him last November, midway through his fifth season; he was just letting the Vikings know he’d heard the taunts they’d directed his way.

I felt like it was nothing that was serious or meant to be hurtful, but I wanted to let them know that it just wasn’t going to roll off,” Walsh said, according to ESPN Seahawks reporter Sheil Kapadia. “I didn’t say anything though. Just looked at them. …

“I simply was just responding to getting taunted. I didn’t say anything. When you’ve got guys who were your teammates for five years yelling at you when you’re trying to kick, it’s just odd. And I hope they were in jest. And I hope they didn’t mean it because I didn’t mean anything with mine, but it was definitely not out of nowhere.”

Walsh said he couldn’t repeat what the Vikings players were saying to him, but he had the backing of his current coaches and teammates when he responded. After the second kick, Richard Sherman ran onto the field to support Walsh, and coach Pete Carroll had no problem with Walsh’s response.

“I’m fired up for Blair. …They were giving him a hard time,” Carroll said. “They were razzing him a little bit and all that. He was just having a little fun with it. He’s a really good competitor. I like his mentality, and I think we are very fortunate to have him.”

Walsh signed with Seattle in the offseason, after the Seahawks let Steven Hauschka walk in free agency; Walsh spent the first four-plus seasons of his career with Minnesota, which drafted him in the sixth round out of Georgia in 2012.

But when Walsh struggled last season – he missed four extra-point attempts, including in back-to-back games before he was released – the Vikings cut ties.

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