Ronnie Hillman, who started the majority of games last season for Super Bowl champion Denver, compares the Vikings favorably to the Broncos. Both teams are off to 4-0 starts this season.

“The (Vikings’) defense goes hard, has great players,” Hillman said, “and the offense has a lot of talented players with the tools.

“The big thing is the camaraderie. This team plays for each other, and that’s the biggest part. This team has the same brotherhood — these guys treat each other like family the exact same (as in Denver), and that’s what you need to have a championship team.

“I saw it here right away, how these guys treat each other with respect and without excuses — they’re accountable for what they do, and that’s definitely a good trait to have as a whole. The guys are cool.”

The Vikings signed Hillman as a free agent when Adrian Peterson underwent knee surgery nearly three weeks ago. He said he hopes to get some game action soon.

“I’m doing my best to learn the offense and get everything right so they’re comfortable enough to put me in,” said the 5-10, 195-pound Hillman, who turned 25 last month.

Cordarrelle Patterson came to the Vikings as an electrifying wideout-kick returner with a moniker of which he was proud: “Flash.”

But after a Pro Bowl rookie season three years ago, his play and the nickname dimmed. He has since gotten rid of the big script-lettered “Flash” across the back window of his bright red Camaro.

“I took that off — that’s way off,” he said.

But Patterson, who had five catches for 38 yards in the Vikings’ 24-10 victory over the Giants on Monday night, hasn’t lost his “Flash” persona.

“I’m always going to be Flash — why wouldn’t I?” he said.

Patterson wears gold Nike-brand shoes in practice, but the NFL doesn’t allow them for games.

“They won’t let me wear them in a game, but they should because they’re so comfortable,” he said. “I need them out here (practice). If I could wear these (in games), I’d be a lot better.” He laughed.

“I’d average 200 yards a game receiving if I had these,” he said. Patterson said the bright shoes don’t make him faster, but they’re just more comfortable for his feet.

“I’m always going to be fast,” he said.

Patterson contends he’s the fastest receiver on the Vikings.

“Every receiver’s going to say they’re the fastest,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we all know who’s the fastest, and that’s me.”

Carson Wentz, the Philadelphia Eagles’ rookie QB who made veteran Sam Bradford expendable for the Vikings, has a 103.8 QB rating, averaging 250.3 yards per game passing with no interceptions. Bradford’s QB rating is 105.5, and he’s averaging 223 yards passing with no interceptions.

During his last season (2013) for the Gophers, Philip Nelson from Mankato completed 50.5 percent of his passes with a QB rating of 119.0. Now a senior at East Carolina (2-4), Nelson had completed 70.5 percent of his passes with a QB rating of 154.1 before Saturday’s loss to South Florida. Nelson on Saturday was knocked out of the game for a second straight week.

People in the know say Penn State plans to lure football coach Bill O’Brien, whose Houston Texans play the Vikings on Sunday afternoon, back to the Nittany Lions.

Mike Zimmer’s wait to become an NFL head coach is very similar to that of Arizona’s Bruce Arians. Both were capable, but they inexplicably had to wait seemingly forever for their opportunities.

A trusted and tenured source within the Cleveland Indians’ organization says the Twins “immediately got a whole lot better” with the recent hiring of executive baseball chief Derek Falvey, 33, who was assistant general manager of the Indians.

Lousy break: Deephaven’s Tim Herron needed to win about $15,000 in last week’s Web.com Tour Championship in Florida to regain full PGA Tour playing rights for 2017. But the tournament in Atlantic Beach was cancelled due to Hurricane Matthew, ending Herron’s quest.

Reached in Augusta, Ga., where he was to console pal Henrik Norlander, who needed just $600 in the Web.com finals to gain his PGA Tour card, Herron said he was feeling bad for Norlander, 28, but not for himself.

“It’s tough on Henrik right now — I’m trying to pump him up,” said Herron, who turns 47 in February. “Me, I’m totally OK with it. That’s life. I’ve done it (PGA Tour) for 20 years, and I’ve got the senior tour in three years. I’ve got a perspective right now.”

So Herron will spend next year as he did this year, playing in PGA Tour events via assorted special exemptions as a four-time winner, and on the regular Web.com Tour.

This year, Herron, who has nearly $20 million in career earnings, won $297,238 in 14 combined tour tournaments.

Meanwhile, more than 5,000 spectators turned out for Herron’s “Lumpy’s Lounge” Ryder Cup block party on Lake Minnetonka on Friday featuring a Jumbotron and sampling of “Lumpy’s Lager.” More than 8,000 showed up on Saturday.

Before Mark Hamburger, 29, the St. Paul Saints’ ace from Mounds View, leaves Nov. 5 to pitch this winter in Melbourne, Australia, he’ll travel to Steamboat Springs, Colo., to add to the tattoo art on his left arm depicting family and friends.

“Piecing it together slowly,” the former Texas Rangers pitcher said.

Chaska’s Brad Hand, 26, of the San Diego Padres led the major leagues with 82 relief appearances this season. He also struck out 111 in 89 innings and should be in for a new contract worth about $2 million next season. That would more than triple his current deal.

Cretin-Derham grad Jake Esch, 26, finished the season with three starts for the Miami Marlins and a 5.54 earned-run average in 13 innings, striking out 10.

Ex-NBA great Michael Jordan, owner of the Charlotte Hornets, besides playing 36 holes twice at the Spring Hill Golf Club while in town for the Ryder Cup, also played 36 holes at Windsong Farm, then tipped an excited caddie, a recent local college grad, $1,000.

A group of about 10 Europeans in town for the Ryder Cup, at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in St. Paul last Sunday, spent $133 and left no tip.

After watching Arnold Palmer’s memorial service on TV last week, John Green, 70, the former UCLA All-America point guard who played for legendary John Wooden and now lives in tiny Houston, Minn., said he ranks Palmer “right at the top with Harmon Killebrew and coach Wooden for integrity, and love for the game and fans, and always putting family first.”

Ex-Gopher Tom Lehman, following his vice-captaincy role at the Ryder Cup, zoomed off to Palmer’s memorial service in Latrobe, Pa., then to this weekend’s Champions Tour Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, Calif., where he shot an opening round 69. Lehman intends to play in the next four senior events.

Virtually the entire Twin Cities was devoid of available rental cars during Ryder Cup week.

On Saturday, inimitable Al Schoch was to be public address announcer for his 200th University of St. Thomas sports event, a volleyball match against Augsburg. With Schoch at the microphone, Tommies football, basketball and volleyball teams have won 177 of 199 competitions.

The Upper Midwest High School Elite hockey league has 21 current or former players on its new NHL Central Scouting “Players to Watch” list. Russia, which has some 87,000 registered under-20 hockey players, has 26 players on the Central Scouting list.

Chinese investors who have purchased Izatys Resort golf courses on the southern shore of Lake Mille Lacs have the Black Brook course operating while developing and rebuilding the overall property.

DON’T PRINT THAT

Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph has become disappointed with the behavior of some students at his alma mater Notre Dame’s football games. This season, some students began negative chants after the Irish’s 1-3 start.

In 2008, Rudolph’s freshman season, some students pelted players with snowballs.

“Students have got to be better than that,” he said. “(Coach Brian Kelly) is doing the best he can, trying to get guys ready to play.”

Rudolph said negative chants this season are “classless, in my opinion. It goes back to the snowballs when we were there.

“That’s the whole thing about Notre Dame — they want to stress that the student-athletes are also students. And we (football players) are of the student body. And then you get unfortunate things like that. It’s hard.”

Rudolph leads the Vikings in touchdown receptions with three and is second to Stefon Diggs in total catches with 19. Meanwhile, Rudolph, who loves golf, is a long-hitting 10-handicapper at Wayzata Country Club. He attended two days of the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National.

“To have that here in our backyard, it’s one of the coolest events in sports,” he said. “A couple years ago I had the opportunity to go to the Presidents Cup (in Columbus, Ohio), and that was really cool. It’s a really cool experience when you have a bunch of guys playing for your country.”

There’s buzz that Notre Dame will try to lure ex-Gopher Tony Dungy out of the NFL broadcast booth if the Irish decide to make a coaching change.

Gophers football coach Tracy Claeys finally was given a specified parking spot at TCF Bank Stadium two weeks ago. His predecessor, Jerry Kill, was incensed that he didn’t have a regular place to park.

The team of ex-Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, playing in a scramble golf event at Prestwick in Woodbury last week, finished third. The prize: an autographed Byron Buxton baseball.

It’s official: The Twins, under new executive baseball chief Derek Falvey, will have the No. 1 overall pick in June’s major league baseball amateur draft. A starting pitcher is expected to be the choice.

Shortstop Levi Michael, now 25, the Twins’ top draft pick five years ago, this season batted .215 with two home runs in 96 games for Class AA Chattanooga.

Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi, 22, who homered against the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the playoffs and was the college player of the year in 2015, was drafted one spot (No. 7 overall) after the Twins took pitcher Tyler Jay in the 2015 draft. This season, Jay was 5-5 with a 2.84 ERA at Class A Fort Myers and 0-0 with a 5.79 ERA at Chattanooga.

Ex-Timberwolf Kevin Garnett, 40, who was paid $334 million during a 21-year NBA career, still has a six-car garage home in Minnetonka with three Range Rovers and two Bentleys.

On-street ticket brokers were getting $100, just to get in, at last Monday’s Vikings-Giants game in Minneapolis.

On Saturday, it was $10 to get into the Gophers-Iowa game, and there were tickets all over and hardly any buyers.

After a morning practice last week, the Wild held a team golf outing at Edina Country Club followed by dinner at the club.

The Gophers will play Colorado in the Dec. 28 Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif., Athlonsports.com projects.

October 25 will be the one-year anniversary of Flip Saunders’ death.

A week before the Ryder Cup, U.S. captain Davis Love III had host Hazeltine National lower the course’s rough to half of what it was.

The Gophers football team still needs funding for a linemen facility, which would be designed to specifically develop offensive and defensive lineman to improve the program’s competitiveness and be part of the school’s Athletes Village project.

OVERHEARD

Vikings veteran linebacker Chad Greenway, on 6-foot-4, 328-pound teammate defensive tackle Linval Joseph, who is off to a Pro Bowl-caliber start: “Nobody (in the locker room) is surprised — he’s obviously a complete monster in the middle.”