UST – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Why It Could be Wait Until 2026 for Vikings J.J. McCarthy

Posted on November 10, 2025November 10, 2025 by David Shama

It might be time to drag out one of the oldest rants in sports regarding J.J. McCarthy.

“WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!”

To the surprise of no one with realistic expectations, the Viking quarterback has played inconsistently in his first NFL season on the field. In yesterday’s 27-19 home loss to the Ravens, he threw one touchdown pass, two interceptions and was called for one false start on a day when the team total was eight such penalties (he took the blame after the game).

He completed 20 of 42 throws for a career high 248 yards. He could have had a third interception except for a near INT by Raven linebacker Roquan Smith.

McCarthy’s completion percentage of 48 against the Ravens and 53.7 percent for the season won’t dazzle anybody. It’s a long list of rival quarterbacks who have completion percentages in the 60s and even higher. His quarterback rating of 65.8 is also subpar.

The ball sailed on McCarthy yesterday including a key fourth down ball in the fourth quarter when he overthrew a wide-open Justin Jefferson while the Vikings were trying to rally. No less authority than legendary Vikings coach Bud Grant used to say great physical attributes in a quarterback don’t mean much if accuracy is an issue.

In fairness to the 22-year-old McCarthy, we’ve seen a small sample size of his work as he made just his fourth start yesterday in the loss that dropped the Vikings record to 4-5. Daniel House, the analytics whiz, pro football authority and blogger, believes about 22 games of experience can tell the tale of a young NFL quarterback.

If that’s the metric, judgment day for McCarthy will come around mid-season in 2026. Assuming McCarthy continues his up and down play the rest of the season, but finds a steady path in 2026, he could duplicate the path of two second-season NFL quarterbacks on a roll right now.

Drake Maye and Caleb Williams were selected in the same 2024 NFL Draft that the Vikings chose McCarthy. They played as rookies, while McCarthy sat out the season with a knee injury. Maye has thrown 19 touchdown passes for the AFC East Division leading Patriots, while Williams has tossed 13 for the 6-3 Bears who finished last in the NFC North Division in 2024.

Worth Noting

Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman had 11 tackles in the loss to the Ravens, his third consecutive game with at least 10 tackles.

Kicker Will Reichard made field goals of 43 and 49 yards in the game. He has converted 18 of 20 this season, and in his second NFL season he has yet to miss an extra point.

Safety Harrison Smith, 36, is now tied with former offensive tackle Ron Yary for the sixth most games (199) ever played by a Viking.

Sharp shopper: A buyer at the Bloomington Army card show last weekend bought a limited edition signed Max Brosmer trading card for $20. The card of the former Gopher quarterback and Viking rookie is one of only eight issued by Leaf.

The football Gophers (6-3) opened as 23.5 point underdogs, per BetMGM, for Friday night’s game against No.7 ranked Oregon (8-1) in Eugene. Even folks with maroon and gold sweaters probably like the Ducks to cover.

Oregon needed a last-minute field goal in Iowa City last Saturday to defeat the Hawkeyes, 18-17. On October 25 the Gophers lost in Iowa City in a blowout, 41-3.

The 6-3 Hawkeyes have losses to Iowa State, Indiana and Oregon by a total of 10 points. They’re probably the best three loss team in the country and should be in the AP top 25.

Legendary emcee Dick Jonckowski will again work the Minnesota Old Timers Hockey Association luncheon on November 24 at Mancini’s Char House. Guest speaker will be hockey icon Natalie Darwitz.

Last Saturday University of St. Thomas basketball had a new start with the men’s and women’s teams playing first games ever at the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena. The men defeated Army West Point 83-76 before a capacity night crowd of 5,325. The women lost 67-61 to Army in the afternoon with an attendance of 984.

The basketball Gophers, with two impressive home nonconference wins against weak competition, get a major test at Missouri on Wednesday night. The Tigers are coached by Dennis Gates whose name was speculated for the Gopher job when he was coaching at Cleveland State and Minnesota was replacing Richard Pitino.

With forward Taylor Woodson lost for the season with a knee injury, it might not be surprising if University of Minnesota women’s coach Dawn Plitzuweit tries to convince forward Mallory Heyer to return. The two players had similar statistics last season and Heyer caused a stir last month with her announcement about leaving the team for personal reasons. Heyer is still enrolled at the U, per an outside source.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch turned 56 last week and speaks to the Twin Cities Dunkers on Wednesday.

Players with ties to the Twins who are free agents this offseason include: Luis Arraez, Harrison Bader, Willi Castro, Kyle Farmer, Ty France, Mitch Garver, Liam Hendriks, Max Kepler, Tyler Mahle, Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan, Jorge Polanco, Taylor Rogers, Michael A. Taylor and Christian Vazquez.

The Wild has a so-so start to the season and it will be interesting to see what moves GM Bill Guerin may make to improve the roster. The NHL trade deadline isn’t until March 6.

Comments Welcome

Undrafted Brosmer Wins Confidence of Coach, Teammates

Posted on November 3, 2025November 3, 2025 by David Shama

Max Brosmer, the former Golden Gopher who made the Vikings final roster as an undrafted free agent, is now the No. 2 quarterback behind J.J. McCarthy who has a brief pro history already of injuries.

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said this afternoon that veteran QB John Wolford is on the practice squad for now, leaving Brosmer as the game day potential replacement for McCarthy who missed all of last season with a knee injury and was out for five games this year with a high ankle sprain.

Brosmer, 24, is two years older than McCarthy who the Vikings made the No. 10 selection in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Brosmer has six years of college football experience, five with FCS New Hampshire and one at Minnesota. McCarthy is not only younger but played only three years of college football at Michigan, including two as the starter.

O’Connell said his two young quarterbacks have become close, but he also welcomes the present of Wolford who the Vikings signed last week. At 30 years old and having played for multiple NFL teams, Wolford brings experience to the quarterback room even though he last played in a regular season game in December of 2022.

McCarthy has now played in three regular season games including yesterday’s impressive performance in the 27-24 win over the Lions in Detroit. He ran for one touchdown and threw two touchdown passes.

Brosmer has played briefly in two regular-season games, attempting eight passes, completing five and throwing for 42 yards. He played in all three preseason games and completed 35 of 58 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns.

Although the NFL trade deadline is tomorrow, O’Connell didn’t make it sound like the Vikings are anxious to change their quarterback roster. He has expressed confidence in all three of his guys.

O’Connell added that Brosmer has “been able to grow throughout the season” and that the Georgia native prepares as if he is one snap away from going into the game. Having gone through training camp and multiple weeks of the regular season, Brosmer has won the trust of his teammates, O’Connell said.

“…I think the confidence level (of teammates) would be really high in Max (if he had to replace McCarthy),” the coach said. “I know my confidence level would be very, very high in Max knowing he’s a young player, knowing it would be his first opportunity (to get in a game early). …I would have a lot of confidence in Max and certainly I know Max feels the same way.”

Worth Noting

O’Connell is upbeat about the recovery of Aaron Jones who injured the AC joint in his shoulder yesterday against the Lions. The coach said he will have an update on his starting running back later in the week.

O’Connell offered positive reports on players who have had injuries but came out okay after the game yesterday including McCarthy, Christian Darrisaw, Brian O’Neill and Andrew Van Ginkel. He added that as of today Theo Jackson will be in concussion protocol.

Three Vikings who didn’t play in Detroit because of injuries are C.J. Ham, Josh Oliver and Ryan Kelly. Their returns to game action are unknown as they work through rehab.

Radio game day voices of the Vikings, Paul Allen, Pete Bercich and Ben Leber, share their insights about the team with Capital Club attendees on November 11 at the Minnesota Vikings Museum in Eagan. More information about the breakfast gathering and club is available from Patrick Klinger, patrick@agilemarketingco.com.

The new Musco lighting system at Target Center is believed to cost lower seven figures and is paid for by the Timberwolves. The city owned facility now has lighting similar to other NBA venues, spotlighting the action on the court in theater-style.

Anthony Edwards, who suffered a right hamstring strain in a game Oct. 26, is cleared for contact basketball activities, the Wolves announced today. His game availability remains out while he continues to progress with his rehab program.

Josh Minott and Luka Garza, now with the Celtics after playing the three previous seasons for the Wolves, are averaging career high numbers in minutes played per game. Minott’s is at 21.8 minutes and averaging a career best 8.3 points. Garza is at 14.3 minutes and is near a career high in points per game, 6.2 compared to 6.5 in 2022-2023 with the Wolves.

Former Gopher men’s basketball player Parker Fox has been hired by the Big Ten Network to provide color commentary on telecasts.

The hiring of Derek Shelton as the new Twins manager was ripped by a knowledgeable source who reached out to Sports Headliners. He described it as a typical blunder by the Pohlads, a safe, cheap and sad hire.

Talk among a couple of knowledgeable Twins sources is that baseball and business operations boss Derek Falvey didn’t want to fire Rocco Baldelli after the season but was told to by ownership. Falvey hired Baldelli in October of 2018 and the two were believed to have a solid relationship.

Rawlings and Minor League baseball announced Gold Glove winners yesterday including High-A Cedar Rapids second baseman Kyle DeBarge who is the No. 11 prospect in the Twins farm system. The 22-year-old former 2024 draft pick had just six errors in 279 chances last season.

Ty France, who started the season with the Twins before being traded to the Blue Jays, won the American League Gold Glove Award for his fielding at first base. He was +10 Outs Above Average in 2025.

The 6-3 Gopher football team has lost all three of its road games, with remaining away games at Oregon and Northwestern. The Gophers, on a six-game home winning streak, have one remaining game in Minneapolis, the season finale against Wisconsin. Minnesota was 4-2 in away games last year including the bowl win in Charlotte.

The Golden Gopher 2027 lineup of Big Ten home games is a marketing dream for selling tickets at Huntington Bank Stadium. Minnesota has five league games (happens every other year) with a glitzy lineup of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Washington and Wisconsin.

With last Saturday’s 45-0 win over Marist, St. Thomas head football coach Glenn Caruso and associate head coach Wallie Kuchinski coached their 200^th game with the Tommies. Their all-time record is 163-37 at St. Thomas.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association has a membership drive to exceed 1,200 members. The organization is a pillar for the success of high school football in the state with its awards, events, scholarships and other activities to promote the game. https://www.mshsca.org/joinnow

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2025 Hoops Game Failed but Gophers-Tommies Still Teases

Posted on October 14, 2025October 14, 2025 by David Shama

Niko Medved, the new Golden Gophers men’s basketball coach, will put his team on the floor for home exhibition games this Thursday and October 25 against North Dakota State and North Dakota respectively. Back in June Medved quietly offered to have his exhibition schedule include a first ever matchup with St. Thomas at that team’s new home arena.

The Tommies (after leaving Division III) have competed at the Division I level since the fall of 2021 and some basketball fans are intrigued by the idea of the state’s two Division I teams playing each other. Asked by Sports Headliners on Saturday if he would make a future offer on a game with the Tommies, Medved said: “I don’t know. We’ll see. I mean hopefully at some point we will be able to do that.”

This is the first season Division I teams can play each other in exhibition games open to the public. Medved thought it would be “cool” to play the Tommies at their new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.

The timing wasn’t right for the Tommies, though, who may have been surprised by the proposal. St. Thomas didn’t want the first ever game in the multi-use arena to be an exhibition and had agreed for more than a year to play Army on November 8. The UST women’s team will also play against the Cadets in a historic doubleheader.

Not so subtly, talk of matching up the Minneapolis-based Gophers and St. Paul-based Tommies has gone on for years. Sports Headliners is told Richard Pitino, the Gopher coach from 2013-2021, said he would play the D-III Tommies. Ben Johson, Pitino’s successor and head coach until last March, said no to the potential rivalry game.

At Medved’s introductory news conference in March he was asked about the Tommies. The two schools haven’t played each other in men’s basketball since 1934. He expressed interest in a game then and also noted his friendship with St. Thomas head coach John Tauer.

“I really like John,” Medved said Saturday. “He’s a great guy, a great coach. So, we have a lot of respect for him and what they do.”

From a St. Thomas perspective, where might things be headed for a future meeting between the two schools whose campuses are just a long walk away from each other?

“We’ve said for four years, and we continue to say, we’d love to play the Gophers either in a …game at their place or start a home and home series,” Tauer told Sports Headliners this summer. ”We’d love to play them in a regular season game and our (future) schedule) is wide open.”

Tauer isn’t interested in playing Minnesota in a future exhibition game. Medved isn’t interested at this time in a series of games.

Medved didn’t go into a lot of details, but he said there are many factors impacting Big Ten teams like his that go into the scheduling process. (These can include timing on the calendar, prior commitments with other teams, logistics, and finances.) It’s also no secret that who you play in non-conference games, and whether you win, can make or break an invite to the NCAA Tournament and March Madness. Medved acknowledged you schedule to make the tournament.

The Tommies, who won a Division III title under Tauer in 2016, are the preseason favorite in the Summit League poll to win the conference championship. Last winter the Tommies came within one victory of winning the league’s postseason title. This is the first season the Tommies will be eligible for the NCAA Tournament.

The Gophers are forecast to finish near the bottom of the 18-team Big Ten. Medved is rebuilding after Johnson’s last team missed the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive year.

While the novice fan is intrigued by a Gophers-Tommies matchup, there is much more upside for St. Thomas. A mid-major program, the Tommies could flaunt their resume (including with state recruits) with a win over a team from the Power Four and prestigious Big Ten Conference.

Possible scenarios from a matchup could look like this:

A blow-out Minnesota win? The public conclusion: “What do you expect from a Big Ten team playing at home?”

A narrow Gopher victory? “See the Tommies could have won. They’re just as good as Minnesota.”

A St. Thomas triumph? “The Gophers can’t even beat a good mid-major program.”

It’s well-known among college basketball programs the Tommies are a risky booking and light years from being labeled a patsy by anyone. No Big Ten team is scheduling them this season or has any recent history with St. Thomas. The analytics and intuition tell Big Ten and other schedule makers not to play the Tommies who have talent starting with the head coach who is among the best in the country.

None of this is to say the Gophers are ducking the Tommies. A game at some point appears likely. Medved believes a matchup is a “great way to get everybody talking about local basketball.”

With a season tickets base expected to be similar in size to the 5,500-basketball capacity of the St. Thomas arena, the Gophers likely will play host to the first matchup in 14,625 seat Williams Arena. It’s believed the Tommies, who are challenged to find nonconference road games against prominent foes, would receive about a $100,000 guarantee to play at Williams Arena. The game could generate 2,500 to 5,000 additional single game ticket sales than normal for a home Minnesota nonleague game.

Gopher players, not having to be concerned about anything but competing against opponents, might welcome facing their neighbors. A small sampling of players last week was favorable about a UST game.

“I would love to play St. Thomas,” said B.J. Omot …”We’ll see who really runs the cities. So that would be pretty cool to play them.”

Guard Isaac Asuma is intrigued, too. “I think it’s slowly getting put into motion, so I am ready for it.”

A third native Minnesotan and Gopher, Grayson Grove, is on board. “That’d be really fun. I know a bunch of the St. Thomas guys. Good friends with a bunch of them, so I think it would be really fun to play against them.”

Gophers Notes

Medved’s team, which opens the regular season at home November 3 against Gardner- Webb, allowed fans into Williams Arena last Saturday to watch an intrasquad scrimmage. The team looked well drilled on fundamentals and effort was apparent.

Playing in front of fans may have prompted nervousness. Neither the maroon nor gold team scored until almost five minutes had elapsed. North Carolina transfer Cade Tyson’s two free throws took the goose eggs off the scoreboard.

Tyson played sparingly at Carolina last season after he transferred from Belmont where he averaged 15 points in 61 games. He told Sports Headliners last Friday his confidence “definitely took a hit” at Carolina where he played eight minutes per game.

Tyson, a 6-foot-7 guard-forward who could be the team’s best three-point shooter and scorer, said he’s “grateful” for lessons learned last year after a 2023-2024 season at Belmont where he was second in the nation in three-point conversion percentage at 46.5.

“I feel really good about my shot right now,” he said. “Honestly, I feel like I feel better about my shot when I am not thinking about it, too much. …Just let me go.”

Tyson is one of several mid-level transfers who are part of an almost totally new Gophers roster from last season. Another is Davidson transfer and forward Bobby Durkin who was asked about the low season expectations for Minnesota in the standings.

“I try not to think too much about that,” Durkin said. “Obviously, I saw it (the Big Ten media poll) and I think we’re not too worried about what that says. I think we have the belief in ourselves that if we can become the best that we’re able to, that we’ll have a great season.”

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