Inside The Vikings

J.J. McCarthy among Vikings' eight captains for 2025 season

McCarthy will have a C on his jersey when he takes the field for his first regular season game.
Will Ragatz|
Aug 9, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) warms up before the game against the Houston Texans at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Aug 9, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) warms up before the game against the Houston Texans at U.S. Bank Stadium. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Vikings

When J.J. McCarthy runs out onto the grass at Soldier Field for his first NFL regular season game on September 8, he'll do so with a C on his jersey.

Even though he hasn't yet made his debut, McCarthy was voted as one of eight team captains by his Vikings teammates, head coach Kevin O'Connell announced on Thursday. Here's the full list:

  • QB J.J. McCarthy
  • WR Justin Jefferson
  • RB Aaron Jones
  • OT Brian O'Neill
  • S Josh Metellus
  • S Harrison Smith
  • OLB Jonathan Greenard
  • LS Andrew DePaola

Jefferson, O'Neill, Metellus, Smith, and DePaola were captains last season. Several of those players have held that role for numerous years.

That leaves McCarthy, Jones, and Greenard as the newcomers, replacing Sam Darnold, C.J. Ham, and Harrison Phillips. Jones was previously a captain with the Packers, but McCarthy and Greenard are first-time captains. They've both taken on big leadership roles on their respective sides of the ball over the course of this offseason.

"You can't fool your teammates," O'Connell said when asked about McCarthy being voted a captain. "And that can work in a positive way and a negative way. But I think these guys have just watched the way he's worked, not only this spring and training camp, but I think it goes back beyond that, throughout the time of rehab, dealing with having the game taken away from him.

"When you do it the way we do it and the players get to decide, those votes and those results normally speak pretty loudly about what the team thinks of certain players, and J.J. is definitely one of them."

O'Connell said that 28 players received votes from the team in the process of selecting captains.

The Vikings will be honoring Jim Marshall, the greatest captain in franchise history, this season. Marshall passed away at 87 years old back in June.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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