Folks Roast J.J. McCarthy for Laughable Gaffe

J.J. McCarthy
Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy at the first day of rookie minicamp on May 10th, 2024, in Eagan, Minnesota. TCO Performance Center. McCarthy was drafted by the Vikings with the 10th overall pick on April 25th, 2024 in Detroit.

Maybe next time they should just decline.

Folks Roast J.J. McCarthy for Laughable Gaffe

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy and EDGE rusher Dallas Turner threw out first pitches at Tuesday’s Minnesota Twins game — and the result emulated a comedy film.

roast
Minnesota Vikings 2024 NFL Draft. Watch as QB J.J. McCarthy addressed the media from the TCO Performance Center on Friday. The Vikings traded up one spot on the draftboard with the New York Jets for McCarthy.

Both outlandishly missed their target, home plate, and predictably, trolls used the occasion to skewer McCarthy, whose profession is throwing a ball.

This was Turner’s pitch:

McCarthy didn’t fare any better:

Of course, neither man needs to successfully throw a baseball at any time, but as athletes, the bar was evidently a little higher than in the two videos above.

X user @TexanicoYT began the trolling fun with commentary of the McCarthy video, “Bro didn’t have a superteam to save his bad balls in baseball.” That referred to the University of Michigan and McCarthy’s National Championship from January, as some claimed his teammates carried him to the Promised Land.

new qb
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports.

@DaveInTheHSV piled on, “My 11 year old did better than that 😂.” @PrimeTime0077 wasn’t too far behind, “Jefferson going to be requesting a trade week 4.”

Amanda Morris took a slightly more serious approach, “I don’t know if it’s worse than 50cents…but pretty bad for someone that’s in pro-sports.”

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports.

On the football side of things — the one that matters — the next big item regarding McCarthy is when he might see a regular season field. After minicamp concluded last week, head coach Kevin O’Connell made it pretty clear that Sam Darnold would start the season as QB1. Minnesota will apparently take the watch-and-learn strategy with McCarthy, who is just 21 years old.

O’Connell has also said no vivid timeline exists for McCarthy’s insertion into the starting lineup. The organization wants the young passer to earn the job organically — so much so that nobody knows when he might take the reins. It’s wait and see. O’Connell said on SKOR North about McCarthy’s development one week ago, “There’s no clock in the corner of the room that is ticking down to a specific date, or game, or things like that.”

Vikings mock draft
Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy looks to pass against Indiana during the second half of U-M’s 52-7 win over Indiana on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, in Ann Arbor. © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK.

Of course, McCarthy will take over the QB1 gig before too long, no matter what. O’Connell also said last week that McCarthy is the quarterback of the future in Minnesota. Yet, generally speaking, the Vikings have a 2017 Kansas City Chiefs situation afoot, with Darnold as Alex Smith and McCarthy as Patrick Mahomes, though it’s unclear if McCarthy will morph into a true superstar. Hopefully.

O’Connell added, “It’s about our team, but also [J.J. McCarthy] is very important to me and very important to our organization, and my experiences tell me for a lot of reasons that our plan for him is in place for a reason and we feel really good about it.”

And as long as McCarthy doesn’t have visions of switching to baseball, everyone should be in good shape.


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,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.