After noticing that Ragnar, the Minnesota Vikings mascot, wasn't at Sunday's home opener at TCF Bank Stadium, everyone was wondering what had caused his absence. Now we appear to know why he's not there anymore.

Al Tielemans/Getty Images
Al Tielemans/Getty Images
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On Monday, social media was abuzz with people wondering why Ragnar, the Vikings mascot played by Joe Juranitch, wasn't prowling the Vikings sidelines, striking fear into the hearts of their opponents anymore.

Turns out, according to this Associated Press story, that Ragnar wanted a raise -- and a pretty big one at that.

"Ragnar was asking for $20,000 per game over the next 10 years, a person with direct knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press. That would be $1.6 million for eight regular season home games per season, and $2 million if preseason games were included. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team does not publicly discuss contract negotiations."

The story also says Ragnar had been earning about $1,500 a game previously, and that "The Vikings responded to numerous requests from fans and media on Monday with a statement that said they have had "multiple conversations" with Juranitch but were unable to reach a new agreement."

So that's why he wasn't there. Hey, everybody would like a raise. But a raise that's 7.5 times more than you're already making was probably deemed a little too much for the Vikings. I can't say I blame them. While they're willing to pay Adrian Peterson and other team members a ton of money, at least those guys are out there on the field, actually playing for the team, and having a direct effect on outcome of the game.

Ragnar should have asked for a smaller increase. Then, the team might have kept him around. But, seeing as they won Sunday's game against Detroit -- without Ragnar on the sidelines -- it doesn't look like they'll be bringing him back anytime soon.

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