Twins – 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.

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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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Scattergun Column Talking Mimosas, Vikes, Gophers & More

Posted on October 26, 2025October 26, 2025 by David Shama

Well, good morning.

I’d like to tell you I am at the downtown Four Seasons having brunch and mulling my upcoming week while on my fourth mimosa. Ha!

Instead, I am sipping an Ice Mountain and contemplating whether to do an all-day fast. After all, there’s no “football feast” with the Vikings laying low this weekend after last Thursday night’s 37-10 loss to the Chargers.

So, without distractions from the Four Seasons buffet or a kickoff approaching with the Purple, I offer another “buffet.” Here’s to a Sunday scattergun of comments to enjoy with your mimosa. …

As the years go by, I’ll never think of Carson Wentz without seeing that expression of agony on his face shown multiple times in Thursday night’s game. His lame left shoulder will become part of the 32-year-old’s legacy which includes quarterbacking North Dakota State to two FCS national championships and the 2017 Eagles to NFC glory when he was an NFL MVP candidate.

It’s controversial why coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t pull Wentz earlier in the game given his pain and suffering.

After seven games who is the Vikings MVP? Place kicker Will Reichard? He has 55 of the team’s 155 total points.

Talented second-year edge rusher Dallas Turner continues to be an enigma. Performance hasn’t matched the hype and that was a poor decision he made Thursday night arriving late to deliver a blow to Charger quarterback Justin Herbert resulting in a personal foul.

The Vikings were 9-1 in one score games last season. Through seven games this year they’re 2-2 in one score games.

Three years ago, there was debate about whether Vikings safety Harrison Smith would be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after retirement. Now, at 36 and with additional playing longevity, his tenure and accomplishments look more Hall of Fame worthy. Could this be his last season? He will have to wait at least five years after retirement to be eligible for the hall.

It’s been true for a long time now, the public’s interest in the Vikings dwarfs the Gopher following. Even if the Gophers made three consecutive appearances in the College Football Playoffs, and the Vikings took up residence in the NFC North cellar all those years, the Purple would still remain a bigger deal in the state.

The last time the Gophers had moved into possible position to become the state’s football darlings was the mid-1980s when Lou Holtz was at the U. In his two seasons he mesmerized the football fandom, and when he left the Gophers were at about 56,000 season tickets. The Vikings were so concerned after one season of Holtz they brought Bud Grant out of retirement to coach the 1985 team.

After the Gophers played their best game of the season at home on October 18 in a win over Nebraska, they were awful in just about every way yesterday in a 41-3 road loss to Iowa. The Gophers, 5-3 on the season, are 0-3 in road games. Best guess here is for a 6-6 finish and low-profile bowl invite.

Grumbling fans can take positive action by contributing, or increasing, money for Name, Image and Likeness via Dinkytown Athletes.

The Gophers are overdue in erecting statues outside Huntington Bank Stadium for their football immortals. A good place to start would be with coach Bernie Bierman who led Minnesota to five national titles and the legendary Bronko Nagurski who was recognized as the greatest college football player of the first half of the 20^th century.

Shame on me for never driving to Grand Forks to watch the Gophers and Fighting Sioux…um Fighting Hawks play hockey.

Feeling good about arranging a Tuesday get together with new Golden Gophers basketball coach Niko Medved, 52, and former coach Jim Dutcher, 92. Dutch’s 1982 team won the Big Ten title.

On that team was Jim Petersen who has made a career of color analysis on Timberwolves TV games. He had a health concern this summer but is well now.

Happy 82^nd birthday this month to former Gophers public address announcer Dick Jonckowski. At the request of Tubby Smith, Dick used to tell the Gopher basketball coach a joke close to tip off.

A Tubby favorite was about Dick dating a homeless woman. How did that go? Great, Dick said. “I can drop her off anywhere.”

Does the NBA’s alleged gambling scandal come as a surprise? It shouldn’t if you acknowledge the lack of accountability and restraint over the years by so many players in their on-court and personal lives.

Timberwolves fans couldn’t ask for more than seeing two of the NBA’s top MVP candidates during the opening week of the home season with the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and the Lakers’ Luka Doncic at Target Center Monday and Wednesday nights respectively.

BTW It was 65 years ago this month the Lakers, having moved from Minneapolis, played their first game in Los Angeles.

Casual baseball fans are more likely to be watching the World Series with the opportunity to follow the game’s “new Babe Ruth.” Pitching or hitting, the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani can have everyone shaking their heads in amazement.

Awareness of Japanese born or Japanese American baseball players has greatly increased this millennium. High profile players include Ohtani and Ichiro Suzuki, the first Japanese-born player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Former Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki, a Japanese American, was just named Angels manager. Back in 2008 Don Wakamatsu, hired by the Mariners, became the first MLB manager of Japanese descent.

Local fans will root for St. Paul-born and former Twin Louie Varland coming out of the bullpen for the Blue Jays. He was roughed up by the Dodgers last night in a Jays loss, giving up two hits and two runs in two-thirds of an inning.

It’s easy to anticipate the Twins opening day lineup and starting pitcher (Pablo Lopez or Joe Ryan) next March. But who will be the closer and what will the overall bullpen look like?

All-time favorite Twins clothing: cream colored Twin Cities jersey.

All-time favorite Wild sweater: MPLS. St. Paul 2022 Winter Classic jersey.

Look for an announcement in November of who the Pohlad family is bringing in as minority owners.

Don’t think business and sports leaders aren’t highly anticipating the results of the city council and mayoral elections in Minneapolis next month.

Take it from this keyboard, two of the best sports reporters around are Andy Greder from the Pioneer Press and Michael Russo of The Athletic. Both are worth the money for subscriptions.

Sorry to see the local golf season coming to an end. Was hoping to make a career season high three hole-in-ones.

Ha!

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