Meet Vikings Linebacker # 59 Heath Farwell

Heath Farwell was born on December 13, 1981, in Corona, California, and is a graduate out of Corona California High School. Farwell was a Letterman in football, baseball, and track and field. As a Junior he had 96 tackles and 12 sacks, en route to all-league honors. He recorded 29 tackles and 10 sacks as a Senior, and earned all-Mountain League as well as all-Riverside-Press enterprise county all-star.

Upon entering college, Heath Farwell took up a major in Criminal Justice. He earned his Bachelors degree in 2005, and is looking to become a SWAT officer following his NFL career. Farwell had former Vikings Pro Bowl lineman Ed White on the coaching staff at San Diego State University during the time he played there.

As a player at San Diego State University, Farwell was ranked 5th on the team with 59 tackles, and his three quarterback sacks, which was the 4th most in the Mountain West Conference among linebackers. During the season, he also recorded 10 tackles for a loss of yardage, while having a season best eight tackles versus UCLA. His four forced fumbles were tops in Mountain West. The following year he started six games at outside linebacker and finished the season with 52 tackles and 3.5 quarterback sacks. He also recovered two fumbles on the season versus Air Force and UCLA, and had a season high eight tackles versus Utah. As a senior, he started all 11 games for the Aztecs and was third on the team with 69 total tackles. He also added a team best seven sacks, two interceptions and forced four fumbles. He finished his career with 180 tackles, 13.5 sacks and nine forced fumbles in 3 seasons at San Diego State.

Farwell was originally signed as a rookie free agent, and has developed into a special teams stand out. He was ranked 2nd on the team in special teams tackles in 2005, and lead the defense in tackles during the 2006 preseason. Farwell also lead the team in 2006 with 25 special teams tackles. He has played in 23 games in his 2-year career, recording 38 tackles and a fumble recovery. Now in his third season, he provides the Viking defense with depth at the linebacker position.

Farwell was signed immediately following the 2005 draft, and was moved from the practice squad to the active roster. Since arriving in Minnesota, Farwell has been very active in community projects. He regularly visits the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, and and commits time to the Viking Victory Visits to local hospitals and the Salvation Army. In 2006, Farwell was selected by his teammates as the Special Teams Player of the Year.

So, there you have it, my first entry of Meet the Vikings. I hope you enjoyed this one. I like learning about our Viking players, and getting some background information. This is a little more information then what is on the Viking page, and it allows you to look at who this player is as a person and a professional. This is also a way for fans to hear about players who are not necessarily in the news every week, and are less talked about then stand outs Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor and other players that are highlighted every week in the media. Til my next entry tomorrow night Viking fans........

SKOL VIKINGS!!!!!!

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SKOL FARWELL!!!!!