Vikes' Senior VP Resigns

May 4, 1999 / 6:50 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Jeff Diamond, who spent 24 years working for the Minnesota Vikings and was named the NFL's Executive of the Year in 1998, resigned Monday.

"I'm walking out of the Vikings with my head held high, because I know I did a good job here and I feel good about what I did," said Diamond, the team's senior vice president of football operations.

He said he and Vikings owner Red McCombs were "parting amicably," although he also said they held differing views about salary caps. He called his departure a mutual decision.

"It's a situation where ... I've worked 24 years with the team in my hometown and perhaps it's time for a change," Diamond said. "I still wish the Vikings well."

He said he might seek sports or business opportunities in Minnesota, or perhaps with another NFL team.

McCombs said Diamond will remain with the club as a consultant through Jan. 31.

"Jeff built a model that has been successful for the Vikings," McCombs said in written statement. "I have different ideas how that model will be."

McCombs told the Saint Paul Pioneer Press that discussion of Diamond's future with the club came about because of Diamond's desire to be a general manager, and McCombs' unwillingness to give him that position.

Diamond, 45, whom The Sporting News named NFL Executive of the Year last season, helped re-sign key free agents John Randle, Jake Reed, Robert Smith and Todd Steussie before the 1998 season. The Vikings compiled a 15-1 regular season record before losing to Atlanta in the NFC championship game.

Diamond, however, found himself with less power after McCombs bought the Vikings last July. McCombs hired Tim Connolly as the team's general manager last October.