How Vikings QB JJ McCarthy Saved Himself from Pandemic-Induced Depression

If you’ve watched new Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy prepare for a football game, you’ve probably noticed a common theme. Before the pads come on, before the reps start, you can find the talented signal caller sitting at the goal post. Legs crossed, headphones on, locked in.

Every pregame, the Wolverine-turned-Viking sits with his thoughts, as he practices his own form of self-reflection. Meditation is something that has become synonymous with McCarthy’s pregame warm ups, but it goes way beyond football.

Minnesota’s new franchise QB has been meditating since his senior year of high school, back when he was one of the most coveted recruits in the country out of the football factory that is IMG Academy in Florida.

The state title run that never happened

But his prep story isn’t as Cinderella as it looks on paper. McCarthy played only his senior season at IMG. Prior to that, he was at Nazareth Academy, near Chicago, Illinois, where he led the Roadrunners to one win short of the Illinois state championship in 2020 as a junior.

The next morning [after Nazareth’s state title game loss], J.J. left for a run in the damp, chilly November weather to clear his head. His parents checked his bedroom to find the whiteboard on his wall, which had been filled with scouting reports on Mount Carmel before the game, was wiped clean.

J.J., then a junior, had stayed up all night, writing the 37-13 score in one corner and the word “OVERRATED” in all capital letters in another. He drew a NFL shield in the middle, with a note that this pursuit “is not going to come easy.”

He was back in the weight room with his teammates a week later, vowing they would win another state title as seniors.

Ben Goessling – Star Tribune

The plan for months after that title run was to run it back and finish the job in 2021. Unfortunately, he never got that opportunity, after the state of Illinois school system cancelled all fall sports that year, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving a 17-year-old McCarthy with a major life decision to make.

JJ McCarthy transfers to IMG Academy for senior season

The No. 6 QB in the nation (No. 38 HS prospect overall) could finish out high school with his lifelong friends at Nazareth, whatever that would look like; or he could transfer to IMG Academy, who called him shortly after his season at Nazareth was cancelled, to offer him a spot on their all-star high school roster.

He wasn’t happy about it, but there was no choice for him to make. He had to play football and IMG offered him an opportunity to, not only get his senior season back, but also play with/against some of the best prep football players in the country.

“How can you adapt and keep rolling? It was an easy decision for me,” McCarthy said. “I knew I was going to get the toughest competition every single day, the best coaching. It taught me a lot about life and myself, too.”

Breakfast was at 6:30 a.m., with weigh-ins at 7 and practice from 8 to 10. The rest of the morning was for lifting and speed training, or meetings with dietitians and mental performance staff.

Ben Goessling – Star Tribune

According to Ben Goessling’s story, it was the first time McCarthy had left his home in the north suburbs of Chicago. Suddenly, he found himself halfway across the country, in Bradenton, Florida.

JJ McCarthy struck by depression, anxiety at IMG Academy

Not only that, but an outgoing, personable McCarthy and his new teammates were forced to isolate themselves from one another. Masks and six feet of distance were mandatory during school hours. After football practice, which ran every weekday from 12:30-5:30, he was by himself in a dorm room.

Leaving the comforts of home for the lonely isolation in Florida loneliness was not something JJ handled well, either. In his feature Sunday story at the Star Tribune, Ben Goessling was able to peel back the layers on what that isolation did to the now redshirt rookie Minnesota Vikings quarterback.

When darkness fell, the kid whose parents signed him up for football and hockey to keep him from wrecking the house was stuck in his dorm room alone.

“It was extremely isolating,” McCarthy said. “I want to be around people; I want to just be doing something.”

…The monotony and loneliness wore on McCarthy. He sought out a strength coach “and a couple different mentors” while researching ways to cope with depression and anxiety.

Ben Goessling – Star Tribune

While Goessling went under the hood to understand what makes McCarthy tick, and how he has consistently been an extremely talented player, something revealed itself. This is a young man, about to become the youngest NFL starting quarterback at 22 years old, who has a level of maturity well beyond his years.

Related: Minnesota Vikings Latest Injury Report Provides Hope

From 2020-2022, we grappled with our own individual battles, stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is no doubt kids were hit the worst. JJ’s story isn’t dissimilar to that of many prep athletes and students who were forced to give up many of the final high school moments those of prior generations hold near and dear to their hearts, to this day.

Meditation saved the future MN Vikings QB

But rather than let that era and the depression/anxiety it triggered define him, McCarthy found a way to conquer it. How? That pregame routine we’ve all seen is just a small part of a much larger mediation routine he adopted while at IMG, a routine that his father, Jim McCarthy, is very happy he did.

“He found meditation,” Jim McCarthy said, “and thank God he did.”

The common pregame sight of McCarthy sitting at the base of the goalpost — with legs crossed, hands folded, eyes closed and headphones on — traces back to those lonely days in Bradenton.

The darkness, as he looks back, was part of his training. “I grew up a lot. I treat that as a special experience,” McCarthy said. “If you dig yourself out of a rut, that power you have is something you carry every single day.”

On Monday Night Football, under the lights in primetime, J.J. McCarthy will lead the Vikings against the Chicago Bears. An Illinois native, it was Soldier Field where he first experienced a professional football game.

This time he won’t be watching from the sideline, and that meditation he has made part of his process, will be on display for the first time before a regular season NFL game. The stage is different, but the mindset and goal remain the same.

McCarthy will be prepared not to let the moment get too big. He’s seen this exact vision through the darkness, and he can carry that power with him. It’s just the first game in what will hopefully be a long and successful career. No matter what adversity befalls him though, McCarthy is clearly prepared to face it head on.