Inside The Vikings

Kevin O'Connell's 'welcome to the NFL' moment featured an impatient Randy Moss

KOC said that moment as a Patriots rookie has shaped his life ever since.
Will Ragatz|
Oct 20, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell throws a ball before the game against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Oct 20, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell throws a ball before the game against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Vikings

Everybody has a "welcome to the NFL" moment. Kevin O'Connell's happened to involve one of the greatest Vikings of all time.

O'Connell, now the Vikings' head coach, was once a rookie quarterback drafted by the Patriots in the third round in 2008. In his first practice, he failed to deliver the play calls in a confident-enough manner to keep the attention of Hall of Famer Randy Moss, he told Josh Metellus in a recent video.

"I would say it was the first practice, I can see it just like it was yesterday," O'Connell said. "I walked into the huddle and I stuttered through about 3, 4 play calls. And Randy Moss decided he wasn't gonna take any reps with me. He said 'ah, blank no' and left the huddle."

"We're getting real here on Tell Us With Metellus, that shaped my whole life ever since then," O'Connell added. "So those moments when I'm about to yell at you 'Hey Josh!' I remember that moment and I say 'You know what, Josh? Let's work through this together.'"

O'Connell's playing career in the NFL didn't last very long, but it all worked out OK. He's now a legitimate Coach of the Year contender with the 8-2 Vikings in his third season as a head coach.

In a roundabout, inadvertent way, when Moss was a former Viking, he was helping set O'Connell on his path to becoming Minnesota's head coach. That's pretty cool.

The full episode of Tell Us With Metellus includes some other entertaining "welcome to the NFL" stories from players and coaches. Cam Bynum's involves current teammate Aaron Jones putting him on Instagram when he was a rookie. Metellus himself has one from Lambeau Field too — a touchdown Davante Adams scored on him during the COVID season, which was followed by some trash talk in his face.

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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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