It Was a Crazy Night for Vikings at the NFL’s Honor Ceremony
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes took home the 2022 NFL MVP award Thursday night, Brian Daboll of the New York Giants won Coach of the Year, Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers earned Defensive Player of the Year hardware — and then the Minnesota Vikings took over.
Wideout Justin Jefferson was a finalist for the MVP award, ultimately won by Mahomes, and encountered a pretty eventful night otherwise.
It Was a Crazy Night for Vikings at the NFL’s Honor Ceremony
Here’s how the Vikings fared.
Offensive Player of the Year
Jefferson became the third Viking — Fran Tarkenton (1975), Adrian Peterson (2012) — to win the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award, and he teased a little Griddy in the process.
He also performed modestly via MVP voting as NFL writer and analyst Jason Hirschhorn tweeted, “In the end, Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson received the most points in the 2022 voting of any non-quarterback.”
Jefferson thanked God, his parents, and his tough-loving brothers for creating his athletic prowess. He concluded by telling the world, “More to come. More to come.”
The 23-year-old is just the fourth wide receiver ever to win Offensive Player of the year, joining Jerry Rice (he won it twice), Michael Thomas (2019), and Cooper Kupp (2021).
NFL Moment of the Year
Not long after, Jefferson, with a side dish of Kirk Cousins, won the NFL’s Moment of the Year for Jefferson’s conversion of a 4th and 18 at the Buffalo Bills in November.
Jefferson didn’t expect to win any more awards — OPOY was evidently enough — and told the crowd in Phoenix, “Second speech of the night, I didn’t prepare another one.”
This was the play.
The Vikings trailed 27-10 at Buffalo in Week 10 and somehow battled back to win 33-30 in overtime. In hindsight, it was Minnesota’s highlight of the year and a game that fans will never forget.
And had Jefferson dropped the reception — like a normal human — the Vikings would’ve lost. Plain and simple.
Kirk Chainz Returns — and Sings
After Jefferson won his two accolades, Cousins took the stage with show host and singer Kelly Clarkson, and the rest is history. He sang with (to?) Clarkson and broke the internet.
Cousins wore the pile of chains around his neck as a reference to the team’s winning streak back in October. The Vikings were triumphant in oodles of road contests, and for some reason, teammates began tossing chains on Cousins, and the QB1 seemed to rather enjoy the icy flair. Not long after, Kirko Chainz, or Big Kirko, was born, and the routine extended for about a month before the torch — and chains — were passed to cornerback Patrick Peterson.
Nobody at all, anywhere on the planet, expected Cousins to hop on stage and sing, but the crazy transaction capped a busy night for the Vikings in Arizona.
Clarkson told Cousins after his solo, “Wait, you can really sing.”
4 Vikings Got Richer on Thursday
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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