Minnesota Vikings Legend Stands Up for “Nine”

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J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

This season was a tumultuous one for Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy. He was taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft with the hope that he could be the quarterback of the future. Unfortunately, he hasn’t looked like one so far into his career.

McCarthy was both injured and ineffective this season. He also produced significantly more memes than he did touchdowns. Of course, the “Nine” persona was at the crux of all of them.

Newly retired Vikings legend Adam Thielen has heard all of the outside noise. He has a connection with J.J. McCarthy even before the season and sympathizes with the idea that the young quarterback was trying to convey.

Adam Thielen gets MN Vikings JJ McCarthy’s alter ego

After officially announcing his retirement from the NFL, legendary Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen now has a lot of time on his hands. He used some of it recently to hop on Pardon My Take and attempt to clear things up about former teammate J.J. McCarthy, and his alter-ego.

“First of all, I love that guy, and I got to see him in the offseason. You know, before, when I was a Panther, I was just in the offseasons. He was here in the summer and I needed a quarterback to throw with and had fantastic throwing sessions with him. Really started to build respect for him, and just his talent, his love for the game. But yeah, he’s got that (nine) and he takes a lot of heat for saying that. I feel like all of us athletes have that, like, when I’m on the field I’m a different person. I’m not Adam. I’m not my son’s dad. Like how I treat them every day. Like when I’m on the field, I’m a different person. Like, an attitude comes like a mindset, and so I understand where he’s coming from. He’s a different person on game day, which he should be. That’s part of the thing that makes a lot of these guys great when they step across the line.”

Adam Thielen – Pardon My Take

The intensity that Thielen is talking about is a real and understandable thing. The problem that got McCarthy caught up in the meme culture is that it came in the locker room and then a press conference, after decent performances.

McCarthy looked like a menace in a postgame video, and then he tried to articulate the emotion during a postgame discussion with the media. Unfortunately, “Nine” didn’t prove himself enough on the field.

In 10 games for the Vikings this season, McCarthy went 6-4. He didn’t even finish all of those contests, and completed just 57.6% of his passes. He had 11 touchdowns with 12 interceptions and threw for only 1,632 yards.

McCarthy’s inability to dissect the defense had superstar Justin Jefferson needing a big Week 18 performance to vault him over the 1,000 yard mark for the season. If “Nine” was dialed in for anything, then we wouldn’t even have been discussing that.

Adam Thielen went from an undrafted free agent that grinded his way to a 12-year career and eventual Ring of Honor inclusion. He can have whatever persona he wants on the field. So too can Justin Jefferson turn into Jets. McCarthy though, he still needs to read the room.

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