The Vikings Have Yet Another Hero
Without the primary kicker because of a quad injury, the Minnesota Vikings asked new kicker Parker Romo to score all their points on Sunday.
The Vikings Have Yet Another Hero
Romo delivered flawlessly en route to four field goal conversions and zero misses. Minnesota scored no touchdowns and won 12-7 on the road at the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Vikings’ otherwise decent offense could not finish drives, as quarterback Sam Darnold encountered his worst game to date with the franchise, including 3 interceptions that easily could’ve turned into 4 without a convenient penalty flag. So, Minnesota needed a hero, and Romo said, “Sure.”
Before Week 10, the other kicker, Will Reichard, had performed heroically, helping the Vikings cruise to 6-2. Yet, in Week 9, Reichard injured his quad, and Minnesota chose the cautious route of tossing him on Injured Reserve for four games. It needed a kicker, calling Romo for the gig.
Minnesota originally signed Romo in March, and in fact, onlookers were rather optimistic about his upside. Nobody knew the Vikings would later choose Reichard in the draft, so Romo was theorized as the kicking fix. Minnesota chose Reichard over Romo in the summer, but after Reichard’s quad injury, Romo became the next man up via free-agent addition.
This is the 27-year-0ld’s football resume to date, though he had never kicked in a regular season NFL game until the Jaguars-Vikings tryst:
- New Orleans Saints (2022)
- San Antonio Brahmas (2023), XFL
- Detroit Lions (2023)
- Chicago Bears (2023)
- Minnesota Vikings (2024)
Romo attended three colleges — Central Kansas (2016), Tulsa (2018), and Virginia Tech (2019-2021) — and was a teammate of Christian Darrisaw at Virginia Tech. He was awarded All-XFL Team honors with the Brahmas in 2023 and also finished as that league’s field goal leader.
During the win, Romo hit field goals from 45, 34, 33, and 29 yards. The Vikings didn’t ask him to blast it from beyond 50, but his scouting report suggests he’s capable of that. We shall see.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert described the Vikings’ win in two words — “clutch kicks.” He explained, “In his first NFL game, place-kicker Parker Romo converted all four of his field goal attempts to account for all of the Vikings’ scoring. Romo replaced the injured Will Reichard (quadriceps) last week, and the Vikings needed every one of his kicks Sunday. His longest came from 45 yards.”
Head coach Kevin O’Connell included Romo in his synopsis of the team effort in the win. “I was proud of the way the guys just kept playing. The defense picked them up, and then Romo shows up on Tuesday with [long snapper] Jake McQuaide and Ryan Wright had a couple nice holds in there, as well,” he told reporters Sunday.
“Execution of the team around [the offense] when you don’t have the performance that you want in any other aspect, that’s a team win, and these guys can have a lot of confidence moving forward from that.”
Unsung heroes have risen to the occasion all season for Minnesota, including Patrick Jones II, Jihad Ward, Josh Oliver, Jalen Nailor, and Kamu Grugier-Hill, especially earlier in the year.
Romo is the latest.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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