Vikings – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Reichard Been Booting Field Goals Since Grade School

Posted on October 6, 2026October 6, 2026 by David Shama

The 4-0 Vikings have won two of their games despite not scoring touchdowns, with kicker Will Reichard booting three field goals in a 9-3 victory over the Bears and five three-pointers in a 15-10 triumph against the Dolphins on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Reichard leads all NFL kickers with 12 field goals this season. He’s tied with four other players for the most points in the league with 42, per ESPN.com

Reichard is starting his third NFL season, all with the Vikings. His 31 consecutive field goals is the longest active streak in the NFL. He is tied with Fuad Reveiz (31) for the third-longest streak in Vikings history. Reichard’s 22-career field goals of 50-plus yards are the second most by a player in his first three seasons in NFL history, trailing only the Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey (35).

The Hoover, Alabama native has been kicking a football every year since second grade. He told Sports Headliners soccer was his “first love” but his dad wanted him to experience football to make him tougher.

Reichard said he could kick the ball 35 yards off the tee in second grade. He was a hero on his youth teams because league rules awarded two points for kicking the ball through the uprights after a touchdown. He also recalled a winning field goal in second or third grade from around 30 yards out.

As he has progressed through a football career that included playing for the Alabama Crimson Tide, Reichard has pretty much avoided the physical wear and tear experienced by others because of his role, with kickers usually not subject to contact.

“Yeah, No doubt,” Reichard said. “It’s a great gig. The Lord has blessed me with talent…to go out there and be as good as I can at it.”

Andrew DePaola, the Vikings 39-year-old long snapper and a team captain, took Reichard aside in 2024 and helped the rookie learn about the NFL. Reichard, 25, said the veteran gave him confidence and is a “great leader” for the team.

DePaola has played on four NFL teams including the Vikings. He told Sports Headliners that Reichard doesn’t remind him of anyone else he has played with.

“Honestly, no. He’s in a category of his own. He’s one of one. I played with some good kickers in my time and he’s at the top.”

What makes the 6-foot-1, 190 pound Reichard so effective? “His preparation, his approach to the game, his practice habits,” DePaola said. “He’s competitive as all get out. He doesn’t stop. He knows there’s another level that he can achieve. I am just grateful that I can be with him and help him get there.”

Worth Noting

DePaola turns 40 next July. How much longer does he want to play?

“I think that’s up to God,” he answered. “That’s up to Jesus. We’ll see how long my body will hold up. But I’d like to think I have a few more (years) left in me. But we’ll see.”

Sunday the Vikings offense generated 336 in total net yards and for the first time this season exceeded 250 in a game. Eight penalties and other mistakes continue to make the offense falter.

Minnesota is the second team in the last 90 years (1994 Steelers) to win three straight games in a season while scoring one or fewer scrimmage touchdowns, per Opta Stats. The other team was the 1994 Steelers.

It’s been over 100 years since an NFL team started a season 4-0 despite not scoring a touchdown in two of their first four games. The Vikings join the 1922 and 1923 Chicago Cardinals as the only teams to do this in league history, per NFL Research.

Vikings WR Jordan Addison — Jordan Addison image courtesy of Minnesota Vikings

Wide receiver Jordan Addison, who had four receptions for 52 yards on Sunday, offered this view to Sports Headliners on what ails the offense: “I would just say discipline. It’s nothing that the defense is doing that’s stopping us. We stopping ourselves. So being disciplined and being intentional at practice.”

The defense ranks with the elite in the league in points and yards allowed, sacks and efficiency. “They gonna be a problem for the league,” Addison said. “We just gotta do a better job on offense helping them out. Keeping them off the field a little bit but you know they’re playing their tails off. “

Since the beginning of the 2024 season, the Vikings have at least 2.0 sacks in 32 games, the most in the NFL over that span.

The Vikings have won nine straight games dating back to Week 14 of the 2025 season and that’s the longest active win streak in the league. The only better streaks in franchise history are 1974-75, 13 games; 1969, 12; 1999-2000, 10.

Tight-end T.J. Hockenson found his rhythm on Sunday with freedom running routes. “Got the ops (opportunities).,” he told Sports Headliners. “That’s all you need is the ops.”

Hockenson had a career-high-tying 13 receptions for 119 yards on 13 targets.

Safety Harrison Smith played in his 211th career game, passing Fred Cox (210) for the third-most games played in Vikings history. Jim Marshall and Mick Tingelhoff played in 270 and 240 respectively.

Purdue, which ended a streak of 19 consecutive conference losses by defeating Illinois last Saturday, is a 2.5 underdog against Minnesota at home Saturday night, per BetMGM. The Illinois win brought Purdue coach Barry Odom to the verge of tears after the game seen on the Big Ten Network.

Purdue is 2-3 overall, 1-1 in the Big Ten, while Minnesota is 4-1 and 2-0. The Big Ten Network has the game which starts at about 7 p.m. Minneapolis time.

Elite local football authority Daniel House (follow him on X and his websites) told Sports Headliners UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy is a name to watch in the college coaching profession. The undefeated Bruins are among the most surprising stories of the fall under new coach Bob Chesney.

MLB legend, Hall of Famer, St. Paul native and ex-Gopher baseball and basketball star Dave Winfield turned 75 on Saturday. He and Noel Jenke and Paul Giel are among those on a short list of the greatest Gopher multi-sport athletes ever.

The Big Ten announced its 10-member All-Big Ten Preseason men’s team yesterday as chosen by a media panel and no Gophers were selected. Former Gopher Pharrell Payne, from Park High School of Cottage Grove and now playing for Maryland, along with Wisconsin’s Nolan Winter from Lakeville North, were chosen. Payne, BTW, might be among the more highly compensated players in the league.

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Big Apple Will Be No Retreat for QB J.J. McCarthy

Posted on September 28, 2026September 28, 2026 by David Shama

If quarterback J.J. McCarthy felt the impact of outside criticism during his tenure with the Vikings, he should know he is diving into the deep end of the pool in New York City.

Gotham is now home for the 23-year-old as of today when the Vikings sent him to the Giants for a 2027 fifth round draft choice. McCarthy, Minnesota’s first round draft choice in 2024, never did establish himself as the team’s long-term answer as the starter at the most important position on the field.

This despite head coach Kevin O’Connell declaring his protégé “the franchise quarterback” prior to the beginning of the 2025 season. McCarthy couldn’t achieve enough consistency to prompt a commitment from O’Connell who brought in veteran Kyler Murray to be the “man” during the past off season.

McCarthy’s subpar mechanics have been a repetitive topic of conversation in the northland and amateur psychologists have debated his level of confidence. While, of course, McCarthy didn’t acknowledge self-doubts, his mental outlook understandably could have been at least side-swiped by booing fans, media jabs and digital digs.

There’s no pretention here to know what’s inside McCarthy’s head but he is a long-time practitioner of meditation and mindfulness. And it will be no yoga camp or mental health retreat in New York where media and fans are capable of eating quarterbacks for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

If McCarthy wants a tutorial, he’s probably got the phone numbers of former quarterback teammates Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones on speed dial. They could tell stories about the raucous and often disapproving culture of the big city from their times with the Jets and Giants respectively. Darnold got an earful for not being the franchise savior and Jones was even booed on draft night.

J.J. McCarthy, Vikings QB, image by David Shama — J.J. McCarthy

This is a change, however, that McCarthy and his inner circle apparently wanted. He could have a shot at the starting job later this season, replacing 32-year-old journeyman Jameis Winston. Starter Jaxson Dart is injured and out for the season.

McCarthy will start out with the confidence of head coach John Harbaugh who almost certainly spoke with brother Jim Harbaugh prior to the trade. The latter was McCarthy’s head coach at Michigan in 2023 when the Wolverines won the national championship. There’s no reason to believe Jim gave his brother anything less than a positive endorsement about McCarthy.

The Giants get a quarterback friendly deal with McCarthy. He’s under team control through 2027, with a team option for 2028.

The Vikings apparently lost patience with McCarthy’s development. Why else would you move on so quickly from a No. 1 draft choice and the possibility of still becoming your starter in a quarterback cluster where neither Carson Wentz nor Murray have come close to dazzling and may not.

The view here is McCarthy didn’t cause problems internally for the Vikings. He was a solid teammate and could be among the first to congratulate another Viking on making a big play.

If the Giants finish around .500 or worse in the standings after this season, the fifth round draft choice could yield a top 150 or so player in the draft. This year the Vikings took Max Bredeson in the fifth round and the fullback projects as a valued part of the team for years to come. BTW, the best of modern day NFL fifth rounders include stars Tyreek Hill, George Kittle and Puka Nacua.

Don’t think the Vikings didn’t try to do better than a fifth round pick. That’s apparently the market value right now for McCarthy who in his 10 NFL career games has thrown 12 interceptions and 11 touchdown passes.

The Giants had a firsthand look at McCarthy in the preseason. He completed four of seven passes for 34, with no interceptions. He had moments when he looked hurried and produced no points of what would be a 13-10 preseason opening win over the Giants in New Jersey.

If McCarthy turns out to be an NFL bust, the deal will look like a good one for the Vikings. If he becomes a star in the Big Apple or elsewhere, and the Vikings are still on their marathon search for a franchise quarterback, well, let’s just say the jackals will be howling like never before.

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Vikings Now Face Potential Quarterback Controversy

Posted on September 22, 2026September 22, 2026 by David Shama

Kyler Murray has cleared concussion protocol and will be the Vikings starting quarterback on Sunday in Tampa against the 0-2 Bucs.

Murray has missed almost two whole games as the Vikings have started 2-0 on the season. He suffered a concussion in the opening minutes of the first game and Carson Wentz replaced him. Efficient game managing by the 33-year-old veteran Wentz has helped the Vikings to wins over the Packers at home and the Bears on the road.

Since the 29-year-old Murray was head coach Kevin O’Connell’s choice to the No. 1 quarterback in the weeks leading up to the season, it’s no surprise the diminutive and potentially explosive passer-runner has been reinstalled as the starter.

But if Murray and the Vikings encounter “head winds” near the Gulf of Mexico Sunday and falter after that, too, look for a quarterback controversy to surface. If the Vikings are losing and Murray is even mediocre, the fan base (and media) will be restless.

Listed at 5-foot, 10-inches and 207 pounds, Murray has a high velocity throwing arm, quickness of foot and running ability that can bedevil opponents. His potential dazzles and we have yet to see what kind of offensive plays O’Connell has created to take advantage of his potential playmaker.

The Cardinals gave up on Murray, now in his eighth NFL year, after last season. His career profile has included persistent injuries and periods of inconsistency. His resume and profile instill optimism, though, among those who want to feel it. In 2019 he was the Pro Football Offensive Rookie of the Year. Twice in his career he was a Pro Bowler.

If things go south for the Vikings, O’Connell knows what he’s got in Wentz who he praised yesterday. “I think Carson is just so steady. He knows exactly, and we talk a lot about what’s going to be required to win, and his role over these last, whatever it is, maybe 106 snaps.

“You think about it, we have no turnovers during that time, and I think we had maybe one procedural penalty where the left side of our O-line lined up too deep yesterday (Sunday). But outside of that, he’s running the show. …”

With either Murray or Wentz running the offense, fans hope the Vikings can not only qualify for the playoffs but win their first postseason game of the O’Connell era that started in 2023. It’s been a quarterback carousel dating back to that year, with nine different starters.

Leading the offense (at least for two games) have been Max Brosmer, Kirk Cousins, Sam Darnold, Joshua Dobbs, Jaren Hall, J.J. McCarthy, Nick Mullens, Murray and Wentz.

Cousins, the 38-year-old who left the Vikings in free agency for the Falcons after the 2023 season, is tied with the most touchdown passes in the NFL after two games. His six have helped the Raiders to a 2-0 start.

Worth Noting

Wide receiver Jordan Addison has only two receptions in the first two games but O’Connell liked his blocking on Sunday. He praised it as well timed with wide receiver Jauan Jennings, a quality blocker, not playing in the game for personal reasons.

O’Connell also said on Monday defensive lineman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins has a hip injury and the coach considers him “day-to day.” Punter Brett Thorson has a hamstring injury that will be evaluated during the week.

Brian O’Neill told Sports Headliners the knee issue that made him listed as questionable for last Sunday’s game isn’t going to be an ongoing problem. He played in the Bears game and doesn’t expect the knee issue (details not disclosed) to trouble him in the future, including at the Bucs on Sunday.

Who is the only Golden Gophers football player ever to be the coverboy for Sports Illustrated? The answer is quarterback Bobby Cox who played for Minnesota in 1956 and 1957 after transferring from Washington.

He was labeled the nation’s top quarterback on the November 4, 1957, cover. Interestingly, the 1957 Gophers defeated Cox’s old school 46-7 that year. Also of note, Cox was of Hispanic background, and this is National Hispanic Heritage month.

The Gophers play at Washington Saturday night with a 10 p.m. kickoff on Fox Network. It’s the first game between the two programs since 1977.

Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch is in his third season in Seattle. He was 32 years old in 2009 when Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster hired him to be offensive coordinator.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning knew of Fisch and wanted him to be his quarterbacks coach in Indianapolis, but Fisch chose the Gophers where he coached for one season. Then Fisch left to become quarterbacks coach for the NFL Seahawks.

Joel Maturi, the former University of Minnesota athletics director, attended the 60^th reunion of the 1966 national champion Notre Dame football team in South Bend earlier this month. The Minnesota native was a student trainer on the undefeated team that included former Vikings legend Alan Page.

Maturi, 81, stays active walking a total of eight miles a day.

Former Gopher quarterback Tanner Morgan, who did the color analysis on the Big Ten Network coverage of last Saturday’s Minnesota-Akron game and still lives in the Twin Cities area, runs QBMotion Midwest where he uses science-based mechanics to tutor teen quarterbacks.

Throne Spud, the digital creator and vlogger, posted the 10 most liberal and conservative FBS schools on Instagram. The Big Ten landed six in the top 10 most liberal including Oregon No. 1, Minnesota No. 6 and Wisconsin No. 10. No Big Ten schools on the conservative list with Liberty No. 1, followed by a top five of BYU, Baylor, Mississippi State and TCU.

Sports scorer Stew Thornley — Stew Thornley

Stew Thornley, 71, is finishing his 20^th year as an official scorer for the Twins. A highlight this summer was working as official scorer for the Twins-Phillies Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa.

The Minneapolis-born Thornley estimates he’s done 750 games as a scorer for the Twins, including 2018 when he worked two games in Puerto Rico. He has also worked the 2017 World Baseball Classic games in Mexico which he referenced as a “wild scene.”

Thornley, also known to Minnesotans for authoring sports books, is an official scorer for Gophers and Timberwolves basketball games, penalty timekeeper for Gopher hockey and sometimes scoreboard operator for Gopher football. And wait, not done yet: official scorer for Gopher baseball and sometimes public address announcer.

Thornley estimates his roles have him out of the house over 100 days and nights per year. Asked tongue in cheek if wife Brenda was happy to have him gone, he said: “Yeah, she is.”

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