Media – Page 18 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Justin Jefferson Stays Humble in Spotlight

Posted on December 3, 2022December 3, 2022 by David Shama

Justin Jefferson is receiving a tsunami of recognition and praise but the 23-year-old wide receiver has his ego in check, according to Vikings teammates.

The third-year LSU alum is a game changer, and although no NFL wide receiver has ever been named league MVP, Jefferson’s resume is deserving of consideration. This week he was recognized as the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for November. And just days ago his name led all NFL players in fan voting for the 2023 Pro Bowl.

In November Jefferson’s 480 receiving yards led the NFC and he had the second-most receptions in the conference with 29. With the Vikings going 3-1 during the month, Jefferson’s 480 receiving yards was second in the NFL only to the 487 of the Raiders’ Davante Adams.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Jefferson had eight receptions of at least 20 yards during the month, the second-most in the NFL behind Adams. He led the NFC in yards from scrimmage with 490, over 100 more than Lion Amon-Ra St. Brown’s 385, who ranked second. This is the second time Jefferson has been named NFC Offensive Player of the Month.

Jefferson was also named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Bills November 10. In a Minnesota overtime win for the ages, he had 10 receptions for a career-high 193 receiving yards. That total is the most in an NFL game this season.

“He’s always played at a really crazy high level,” Harrison Smith told Sports Headliners. The Viking veteran safety is in his 11th NFL season and appreciates not only Jefferson’s talents but his character, too.

“…He’s such a big superstar (but) he doesn’t have like a standoffish personality. He likes to just be one of the guys.”

When tight end T.J. Hockenson joined the Vikings in early November after a trade with the Lions, Jefferson welcomed him. “He gets to know everybody. He builds a relationship with everybody,” Hockenson said. “It’s cool to be on the same team as him and be in the same locker room.”

Justin Jefferson image courtesy of Minnesota Vikings

Teammates describe Jefferson as a friendly, smiling, talkative and energetic person who is having so much fun with the game he loves. “He is one of the best people I’ve been around,” Hockenson said. “Just very fun-loving guy. Loves the game. It’s like he gets to go out at recess every day when we step onto the field. …”

Amen to that says running back Alexander Mattison. “Just a kid having fun, playing the game. And he hasn’t changed his ways since he came in (the NFL). Just that kid in love with the game and it’s rubbed off on us.

“I think he keeps some of the older guys…everyone around him, keeps everyone young. So yeah, his energy is always having fun, laughing, and enjoying the game, enjoying the life we live.”

Fans, not just in Minnesota, but across the country are on board with Jefferson. The NFL announced on Monday that his 90,313 votes leads all players in balloting for the 2023 Pro Bowl Game. He is in prestigious company with other top vote getters like Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, followed by RB Saquon Barkley of the Giants and WR Tyreek Hill from the Dolphins.

Some may consider Hill the NFL’s top wide receiver but there are plenty of observers who think Jefferson deserves that spot. The Jefferson hysteria, that includes raves over his ability to make the most difficult of catches, has led to speculation he will one day rank with the greatest ever to play at his position.

Mattison was told Jefferson is having his name mentioned in the same breath with legendary receiver Jerry Rice, considered by many the best ever WR. “It’s crazy to think about, just within three years to be having these conversations. But you just kind of take a step back and look at the facts,” Mattison said. “And they’re realistic conversations to have which is crazy to actually think about. …”

Hockenson knows how revered Jefferson is already. “I think he’s one of a kind. He’s a special player. He’s one of the best to do it in this league. I am sure at the end of this (his career) he’ll be one of the best to do it ever.”

Hill is the NFL’s highest paid receiver, reportedly with a four-deal of $120 million. Jefferson is a lock to receive a new contract from the Vikings in 2023 paying him much more, perhaps over $150 million for five years.

Mattison doesn’t expect the payoff to change his friend. “Somebody like him he’s not going to have that conversation with you (about money)…as humble as he is, but he definitely is well deserving of that.”

Worth Noting

Offensive right tackle Christian Darrisaw (concussion) and tight end Ben Ellefson (groin) have been ruled out for Sunday’s Vikings and Jets game at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Smith (ankle) indicated Thursday it’s likely he will play. “It sure seems like it. I don’t know, though. We’re not there yet.”

Fourth-year Vikings center Garrett Bradbury has often been maligned in the past but Pro Football Focus notes the former No. 1 draft choice has given up just two sacks and is responsible for only four penalties in 741 snaps. PFF gives him a respectable grade of 71.

“…With the relationship with Kirk (Cousins), their communication throughout games and in-game has been huge for us,” said head coach Kevin O’Connell. “And I think physically he’s done a lot of good things in the run and pass game, kind of fitting with what we want to do. So, I’m really happy with the type of season Garrett’s had so far, and I’m hoping to continue to just get that consistent play out of him.”

Since Kene Nwangwu’s rookie season of 2021, he leads the league in kickoff return touchdowns with three including Thanksgiving night when he scored on a 97-yard return against the Patriots. The Vikings’ specialist has the third most kickoff return touchdowns in team history behind Cordarrelle Patterson and Percy Harvin, who both had five. Nwangwu is averaging a touchdown every 13.7 return (41 career kick returns).

Disappointing news for Gophers’ fans that record setting senior Mo Ibrahim wasn’t among the three finalists announced this week for the Doak Walker Award recognizing the nation’s best running back. Juniors Chase Brown, Illinois; Blake Corum, Michigan; and Bijan Robinson, Texas; are the finalists.

Many friends and admirers attended the wake in St. Paul this week for legendary former University of St. Thomas and Cretin Derham-Hall baseball coach Dennis Denning, 76, who recently passed away. “The line was out the door to get inside, and I got to the funeral home when it started at 4 p.m. An amazing tribute to coach Denning,” per an email from former Cretin baseball player Bill Robertson.

The Wild gets a stamina challenge this weekend playing Saturday afternoon at home against the Ducks and then facing the Stars in Dallas starting at 2 p.m. Sunday. Former teammate Ryan Suter, 37, has no goals and four points for the Stars who haven’t played a game since Thursday night. The Wild is 8-7-2 in its last 17 games in Dallas.

The Golden Gophers men’s hockey team has outstanding speed on the roster and has scored five or more goals in four of their last five games including 5-0 over the Spartans last night in East Lansing.

Canterbury Park will likely have a later start to the season in 2023 than normal because of redevelopment and improvements in the stable area. The Shakopee racetrack’s expected schedule will be from May 27-September 16, as proposed to the Minnesota Racing Commission.

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Injuries: Savvy & Luck Help Vikings?

Posted on October 25, 2022 by David Shama

Coming out of the bye-week, the question in Viking-crazed Minnesota is whether the Purple can sustain their hot start to the season.

Kevin O’Connell photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings, 5-1, are likely to continue playing winning football but with 11 games remaining on the schedule it might not be realistic to expect they will dodge key injuries so successfully while seeing their opponents troubled by them. Maybe Kevin O’Connell, who has made impressive adjustments to the offense, called winning plays and hired a solid staff of assistants, has brought along not only coaching skills but also the luck of the Irish.

Safety Harrison Smith is the only starter to miss a game so far. Outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum, a sack specialist and key reserve, missed a game because of illness. Weekly looks at Minnesota’s list of injured or ill players has frequently been minimal compared with other NFL clubs. Minnesota’s practice report on players whose game status was in question, or ruled out, has typically listed six or so names.

Smith missed the Lions game September 25 but returned the next Sunday for the London match up with the Saints. Wonnum didn’t play against the Dolphins October 16. Star running back Dalvin Cook, who injured his shoulder in the Lions game, was in doubt for London but did start and play in the October 2 international game.

Not so fortunate in England were the Saints who were missing starting quarterback Jameis Winston and former All-Pro RB Alvin Kamara. In the Vikings’ last game before the bye, October 16 in Miami, they played a Dolphins team without its starting quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa. Then early in the game backup QB Skylar Thompson was sidelined with an injury. Tyreek Hill, on the short list of the NFL’s best wide receivers, played for Miami despite an injured foot.

Minnesota’s good fortune goes back to the September 9 opener against the Packers who went through a troubled offseason and training camp trying to figure out their receivers corps. Veteran Allen Lazard, a QB Aaron Rodgers favorite, seemed the best of the group after star WR Davante Adams left for free agency and a spot with the Raiders during the offseason, but Lazard was injured and couldn’t play in Minneapolis. Injured David Bakhtiari, among the best offensive tackles in the pros, was also unavailable to Green Bay.

Judging by results so far, the Viking strength and conditioning department, led by Josh Hingst in his second year with Minnesota, is doing its job. The Vikings have played like a team not only able to avoid injuries but respond effectively to the few they have had. They also have shown wherewithal in the fourth quarter, not playing like a team that was fatigued or beaten down.

Give the Vikings credit for their health and taking advantage of their opportunities, including opponents’ injuries and making big plays in the second half, but there’s nothing wrong with having good fortune, too.

Worth Noting

Best guess is coveted wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. soon signs with one of the two best NFL teams, the Bills or Chiefs. A wildcard landing spot is the Vikings because of his previous relationship with O’Connell when both were with the Rams.

BTW, it probably can’t be helping the defending Super Bowl champion Rams, with a 3-3 record, that the coaching staff is without O’Connell, Wes Phillips and Chris O’Hara. When O’Connell took the head coaching job in Minnesota last winter, he made Phillips his offensive coordinator and O’Hara his quarterback coach.

Twin Cities Dunkers leader Dan Stoltz, whose SPIRE Credit Union features Kirk Cousins in TV commercials, has arranged for the Vikings’ quarterback to speak to the Dunkers October 31.

Did you know the Vikings’ most elite offensive playmaker, WR Justin Jefferson, is 23 years old, while the Gophers’ best, RB Mo Ibrahim, is 24?

From a personnel perspective beyond this season, the best thing about the Gophers’ program is the promising future of redshirt freshman quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. He was poised in his first college start last Saturday evening in the crazed-white out atmosphere at Penn State and showed both his running and passing skills that include a strong arm.

It’s a possibility Minnesota, with Kaliakmanis, could have the Big Ten West Division’s most talented quarterback next season. Look for Kaliakmanis to start Saturday’s home game against Rutgers if senior Tanner Morgan is still injured and unable to play.

Yesterday head coach P.J. Fleck wasn’t sure who his starter will be. He also said it’s uncertain if reserve quarterback Cole Kramer’s injury will allow him to be on the field. Kramer played on two downs in the wildcat formation against Penn State, but he didn’t touch the ball because direct snaps went to Ibrahim.

The latest rankings of all 131 FBS football teams by Chris Vannini of the The Athletic has Minnesota No. 42. Rutgers is No 93, with the other remaining teams on the Minnesota schedule ranked as follows: Iowa No.61 Nebraska No. 92, Northwestern No. 119 and Wisconsin No. 47.

Morgan, the winningest quarterback in Gophers’ football history, will be remembered for more than his success on the field. His leadership with teammates and caring about the community are exemplary.

This fall Morgan, who lost his father to cancer last year, has a new partnership with the Mendota Heights-based Angel Foundation and its Kapps for Cancer initiative to raise funds. A variety of baseball and stocking caps are being sold. http://kappscustoms.com

Former Gopher football player Jim Bruton has authored 23 books including his latest on Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapels.

The timing of Gopher volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon’s announcement to retire at season’s end is stunning and without explanation yet. Gophers’ athletic director Mark Coyle said at a news conference earlier this year he worries about the extraordinary time all of his coaches must devote to recruiting in today’s competitive environment.

Bob Motzko’s No. 1 ranked hockey Gophers have a roster that continues the program’s tradition of using talent from the state. Twenty of the 26 players on the roster were born and raised in Minnesota, with 16 of them from within 40 miles of campus.

The Wild will host a free, open-to-the-public outdoor practice starting at 10 a.m. November 5 at St. Louis Park’s Recreation Outdoor Center, 3700 Monterey Drive. There will be fan giveaways and activities.

Former Gophers’ All-American basketball player Quincy Lewis, who was M Club director for about four years until October 14, is now director of alumni relations for the Utah Jazz, the NBA club he once played for.

Sports Illustrated’s pro and college basketball issue predicts the Wolves’ Anthony Edwards could be the NBA’s most improved player. “Now with even more talent around him, Edwards is looking at a third-year jump that could put him into the league’s elite,” the magazine said.

The Wolves are projected to finish second to the Nuggets in the Northwest Division and qualify for the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoffs. The magazine’s highest ranked Big Ten men’s team is Illinois at No. 15, with two other conference programs in the top 25, No. 20 Indiana and No. 24 Michigan.

Race Thompson, the Indiana senior forward from Armstrong and son of Minnesota football great Darrell Thompson, is profiting from NIL deals including a recently announced ambassador role with Merchants Bank.

Absurd: the length of college football games. Last Saturday’s Texas-Oklahoma State game started at 2:30 p.m. and didn’t end until about 6:45 p.m. (Four quarters, no overtime).

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A Birthday Toast to Icon Harvey Mackay

Posted on October 23, 2022October 27, 2022 by David Shama

Minnesota icon Harvey Mackay turns 90 tomorrow, October 24. He has impacted a lot of us with his accomplishments and wisdom, including this writer. Speaking for the masses, “Happy Birthday, Harvey!”

Many know Harvey as the founder of a Minneapolis envelope business, but even more of the world knows him as the author of New York Times best-selling business books and as a syndicated columnist for newspapers including the Minneapolis Star Tribune. I have his books and read his columns but more importantly have memories of the kindness he has directed my way over the decades.

In 1990 a new ownership group booted me from my marketing position with the Minnesota North Stars. A few days later the doorbell rang at home announcing a delivery of balloons, along with an encouraging note from Harvey predicting my next career stop would be a home run.

This millennium there have been invitations to fly on a private jet with Harvey and other friends of his to away University of Minnesota football games. He also remembers my birthday every year and has a warm smile on the few occasions our paths may cross these days.

Doing for others is part of his DNA and the importance of giving are words he lives by. Harvey has made a tradition of annually donning a Santa Claus suit and ringing the bell for the Salvation Army in Minnesota. The weather is often frigid but for three hours he helps raise money for the needy because his dad taught him volunteerism should be a priority for everyone.

Harvey has a world-class network of friends, and he makes it a point to know details about them. PR maven Dave Mona recalled that when Harvey travelled internationally, he found places selling commemorative stamps because he had a customer who collected stamps. “Are you going to end your business relationship with someone who adds to your stamp collection?” Mona asked in admiration.

I first met Harvey when I was sports editor of the University of Minnesota’s student newspaper. In the 1960s boosters could help with recruiting and Harvey jumped in with both feet. Growing up in St. Paul he had loved the Gophers and he attended the University where he played on the golf team for legendary coach Les Bolstad.

Graduating in 1954, Harvey had ambitions to play pro golf but despite his fierce drive to excel he realized that career wasn’t going to take off. At age 26 he founded his envelope company located within about a 60 second drive to the U campus.

Why envelopes? Because everybody needs envelopes and Harvey couldn’t envision a time when the world would not. Today he is chairman of MackayMitchell Envelope Company, a $100 million business. The company has 450 employees and manufactures 25 million envelopes a day.

Several years ago, Harvey sent a PDF of a story I wrote about him for the Minnesota Daily in January of 1968. It was headlined: “When Mackay Speaks, Top Athletes Come Here.” The gesture was another example of Harvey’s thoughtfulness.

Harvey helped convince many football and basketball athletes to make the U their college choice. The list includes the late John Williams who was an All-American tackle on the Gophers’ 1967 Big Ten title team, and 1969 basketball captain Al Nuness who became a vice president at Jostens. “I tell the kids about the great job opportunity here after graduation, the M Club, the law school and things like that,” Harvey said in the article.

In the 1970s I wrote a cover story for Corporate Report magazine with Harvey’s photo in the foreground and a domed stadium in the background. The Twins and Vikings were getting restless about the limited capacity and revenue sources at Met Stadium. Harvey, as president of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, helped lead a drive that eventually turned a domed stadium into the reality of the Metrodome.

The Metrodome opened in 1982 and a couple of years later Twins owner Calvin Griffith could break his lease if not enough tickets were sold. He could then relocate the franchise if he chose to do so. Harvey got an idea and marshalled the help of others in the business community. One day he walked up to the stadium box office and ordered 45,400 tickets to alleviate the problem, according to a 1984 New York Times article.

Several months before that Harvey chased down Arkansas head football coach Lou Holtz, and with U AD Paul Giel in the hospital, convinced Holtz to take the Gophers’ job. Harvey revered Giel who was an All-American golden boy as a Gopher athlete, a star for the ages in football and baseball in the early 1950s who became Minnesota’s athletic director in 1971. (BTW) Tom Brokaw will tell you about riding the train from South Dakota in his youth to watch Giel run and pass the football for the Gophers in Memorial Stadium.

At my request several years ago, Harvey spoke to a club that I belong to and he brought up Giel’s name. “If 100 people walked into a room where Paul Giel was, 100 people wouldn’t like Paul Giel. 100 people would love him.”

Harvey has maintained a connection to Gopher football to this day and he has built a friendship with coach P.J. Fleck. “Happy birthday, Harvey,” Fleck said last week. “Harvey has been very instrumental in…my time here. He always says, ‘I only need 37 seconds.’

“He’s given me some incredible wisdom and perspective in the six years I’ve been here, and he’s become a really good friend to me. He’s been in our locker room…after games, and he’s always just there to be able to talk through some things.”

Fleck said Harvey will ask him what is going on and what he’s thinking about to gauge the coach’s state of mind. “He always has something for that exact way of thinking of the thing that I am going through, and I think that’s what makes him special,” Fleck said. “It’s not just some broad terms, he really breaks it down to what I am doing, what our team is doing and really kind of hits home the message.

“But one thing always sticks out to me is, ’I need 37 seconds.’ …That’s how he gets in the door.”

Harvey has relished challenges all his life. Deep into his adult years he decided to become a superb amateur tennis player and he did by taking lessons and having a dogged pursuit of his goal.

More than 30 years ago Minnesotans scoffed at the idea of Minneapolis hosting the Super Bowl. Mona remembers everyone thought it was a crazy idea to convince NFL powers to come here in the dead of winter, but Harvey said, “We’re going to win this.”

Then he proceeded to sell everyone on all the assets and things this area has to offer. With the efforts of Harvey and many others, Minneapolis won the bid for the 1992 Super Bowl. The city also hosted the 2018 Super Bowl.

Harvey is famous for his Mackay Morals in his columns and books. One of them is: Life is 10 percent how you make it and 90 percent how you take it.

Over the decades Harvey has gotten up off the mat many times. In his birthday email to me in 2021 he wrote about his months of struggles with COVID. Whether it’s illness or a back issue hospitalizing Harvey, he always fights back. He loves life and every second is precious.

My phone calls with him most always include a warning about his time constraints. He describes time management as the most important management of all. It is the one resource we cannot buy or replace. That’s why those in Harvey’s world can expect brief phone calls and sometimes at odd hours of the day and night.

Greg Bailey, Harvey’s right-hand man for all things needed, was asked if there is a curfew on the calls? “That’s gotten better. He used to call pretty much any time but now he doesn’t call before 6:30, 7 in the morning and (after) 11 at night.”

Harvey can view sleep as a waste of time. I remember decades ago when it was a big deal for Americans to visit Fidel Castro’s Cuba. Harvey was part of a business delegation that visited Havana, and he didn’t go to sleep while he was there because he didn’t want to miss anything.

Bailey smiled when a visitor referred to him as Harvey’s do-it-all assistant. “It’s almost like a marriage,” Bailey said. “When he had dinner with my wife, when I was almost hired for the job, he asked, ‘You know this is kind of like a marriage if we get together? My wife turned to him and said, ‘As long as you remember I am his first wife.’ “

Bailey’s life is more exciting than when he was writing annual reports pre-Harvey. He talks about the fun of those Gopher football trips and “rubbing shoulders” with some of the most famous people on the planet including Muhammad Ali. “It’s been 27 plus years working hand-in-hand. Very interesting, that’s for sure.”

Harvey and wife Carol Ann were close friends with Ali and his wife Lonnie. Ali is gone now as is another friend, Larry King. They would have been entertained at a mega birthday bash Harvey is throwing in November in Phoenix. Friends are coming in from all over for a celebration weekend that includes an Elton John concert November 11 at Chase Field. Harvey will also celebrate tomorrow night with a smaller gathering at an Arizona restaurant.

Before Harvey ever bonded with Ali, he did his homework and learned the heavyweight boxing champion—sometimes referred to as the most famous person in the world—loved magic and performed tricks. Well, guess who taught himself magic to make an impression?

Harvey can also play tricks on his friends. He shared a story awhile back about Ali and King that is a favorite. “Larry loved boxing and Muhammad Ali,” Harvey wrote via email. “He once wrote in his column in USA Today that meeting Muhammad was ‘the biggest thrill in my life … I couldn’t sleep last night … chills running up and down my spine.’

“One night I was having dinner with Larry in New York, and I brought Muhammad with me as a surprise. Suddenly a woman came up and said, ‘Oh, Mr. Mackay, I’ve read all your books … Can I have your autograph?’

“Larry went nuts and said, ‘Don’t you know who this is? This is Muhammad Ali. Don’t you want his autograph?’

“I looked at Larry and said you bit it hook, line and sinker. I paid her $50 an hour to come up and ask for my autograph.

“We were still laughing about that years later. But the point is don’t ever be boring. Don’t be predictable. Show some creativity with your friends and have some fun.”

Mona and his wife Linda will be part of the group that will be on the receiving end of that creativity and fun next month for the birthday extravaganza in Phoenix. Mona marvels at the life Harvey has led and the vibrancy he still possesses.

“He is a lifetime learner. It’s amazing as he approaches 90. …He is one of the most curious people I’ve ever met.”

That’s Harvey. He will find something that intrigues him and off he goes.

“He’s never allowed himself to go stale,” Mona said. “Constantly looking for new mountains to climb, new things to master. …Quality golfer who became a world-class tennis player. How often does something like that happen? But he has always kept himself in good shape and he has remained both physically and mentally active, and he loves a challenge. Because if he hears someone is (an) underdog he wants to get involved.”

Oh, and BTW, earlier this month Harvey came out with a new book: Harvey Mackay’s ABCs of Success. It’s a busy fall for Harvey—just the way he likes it.

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