Adam Thielen knows about hard work. Major college football programs didn’t want him coming out of Detroit Lakes High School. All 32 NFL teams passed over him in the college draft. But Thielen signed as a free agent with the Vikings in 2013 and worked his way from the practice squad to a place where he’s a valuable sub at wide receiver.
While Thielen earns praise for his determination, he admires Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. “That’s one thing about Teddy, that he’s not afraid to work,” Thielen told Sports Headliners.
How impressive is Bridgewater’s work ethic? “I’ve never been around anybody else that works harder in the film room and on the field after practice,” Thielen said.
When asked what Bridgewater is like both on and off the field, Thielen said, “He’s the same guy everywhere. He’s pretty quiet, low key. He just gets the job done. He’s gonna outwork everybody he’s around and go about his business.”
Bridgewater did his job last Sunday against the Bears, helping the Vikings rally for 13 points in the fourth quarter. His big plays included a 40-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs and 37-yard pass to Charles Johnson that set up the winning field goal in the 23-20 victory.
“It’s something you want out of your quarterback, somebody that is going to lead you in the fourth quarter,” Thielen said. “That’s the NFL nowadays. You’re going to have to win games in the fourth quarter and it’s good to see a guy like that come in and just be poised and bring us down the field.”
Worth Noting
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer’s first year record was 7-9. So far this season he is 5-2, pushing his career head coaching record to one game over .500 at 12-11, but he’s not paying attention. “I don’t really think about that stuff yet,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to go. I would say we’re moving in the right direction. …”
Former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton is helping lead a startup called Major League Football. The new spring football league will target franchises in towns that don’t have NFL teams.
The College Football Playoff (CFP) Group is expected to announce host cities for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 CFP National Championship Games today at a 1 p.m. press conference in Rosemont, Illinois. Minnesota is bidding to host the 2020 game at U.S. Bank Stadium.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the University of Minnesota announces this week that Tracy Claeys will have the interim tag removed from his title as Gophers football coach.
University president Eric Kaler didn’t know about Jerry Kill’s intent to resign and make an announcement until the night before. The Gophers coach announced his resignation at a news conference a week ago today.
Kaler wore maroon and gold striped pants in support of the Gophers at last Saturday night’s home game against Michigan. He was on the field at TCF Bank Stadium prior to game time.
The Gophers are likely to hold most of their verbal commits from high school recruits for awhile, although local defensive tackle JoJo Garcia has decommitted. It’s believed Garcia, a three-star player, regarded Kill as a father figure. Florida four-star wide receiver Dredrick Snelson could be a tenuous hold.
The Gophers missed a sellout for the first time this season with attendance of 50,709 last Saturday. The next home game, November 21 against Illinois, is likely to draw even a smaller crowd at the 52,525 seat capacity TCF Bank Stadium.
It looks like Mike Ellis, the Gophers executive associate athletics director on voluntary leave, won’t return to his position in the athletic department.
Rookie Karl-Anthony Towns, who is off to a fast start in three regular season games averaging a double-double in points and rebounds, is an unusually accurate free throw shooter for a 7-footer. In high school he made 82.2 percent of his free throws and in one season at Kentucky averaged 81.3 percent. Towns, who could be NBA rookie of the month for November, is making 88.0 percent of his free throws with the Wolves.
Tyus Jones, the Wolves rookie point guard from Apple Valley, hasn’t been in uniform for the team’s first three games, and might experience much of his NBA introduction this season in practices only. Jones, like other Wolves players, is living downtown.
Willard Ikola, the legendary former Edina High School hockey coach, will sign copies of his new autobiography on Saturday from 2:30 to 5 p.m. at General Sports in Minneapolis. The book, co-authored with Jim Hoey, is titled Ike: Minnesota Hockey Legend.
Patrick Mader, a Northfield author, has a new book called Minnesota Gold that details the accomplishments of 57 Minnesotans who competed in international sports including the Olympics. More at Patrickmader.com.