Vikings, Adam Thielen Preparing to Play Against Each Other For First Time

This one's going to be a bit weird for Adam Thielen.

The longtime Vikings receiver and native Minnesotan, now in his first season with the Panthers, will be facing his old team for the first time on Sunday. The team he grew up cheering for, first as a kid in Detroit Lakes and later as a star player at Minnesota State in Mankato. The team he made after paying to attend a regional tryout. The team with which he worked his way up from the practice squad to playing on special teams to making two Pro Bowls. The team whose Ring of Honor he will be entering someday, whenever he decides to call it a career.

Although Thielen admitted it'll be a different experience, he said he's trying his best to treat it like any other game.

"Before the game, it'll be a lot of catching up (with old teammates and coaches)," Thielen told Panthers reporters this week. "But then once the game starts, it's football."

"It's going to definitely be an emotional day, but I'm excited," he added.

Thielen joined the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and spent ten seasons with the Vikings. He's fourth on the franchise's all-time receiving yards leaderboards and third in receiving touchdowns, behind only Hall of Famers Cris Carter and Randy Moss. Truly, he's one of the all-time great underdog stories in Minnesota sports history.

This offseason, the Vikings made the difficult decision to release the 33-year-old Thielen, making sure to thank him via statements from head coach Kevin O'Connell, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, and owner Mark Wilf.

Everyone who has coached or played with Thielen has nothing but positive things to say about him.

"One of those guys I look back on last year and very thankful I got a chance to coach him," O'Connell said this week. "The personal relationship with Adam and his family, I couldn’t be a bigger fan of Adam Thielen the person and it’s not a surprise to me one bit that he’s gone down there and having a huge impact."

"I’ll always be pulling for him, but on Sunday, obviously, we’ll have different interests for the first time in about six years," Kirk Cousins said. "He’s just been so reliable all these years. A great football player, and I would think he’ll always have a great impact on this community when he's done playing."

There's no revenge on Thielen's mind, as he's said he has no hard feelings towards the Vikings, but he'd surely love to have a big game against his former team. The Panthers, like the Vikings, are 0-3 and hoping to pick up their first victory in this game. Unlike the Vikings, the Panthers were more or less expected to be in this position as they embark on a rebuild with No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young.

Thielen got off to a slow start to his Carolina career, catching two passes for 12 yards in the opener. But he posted a 7-54-1 line in Week 2 and then exploded last Sunday for 145 yards and a touchdown on 11 catches while playing with veteran backup Andy Dalton.

"I think he’s got 11 third-down receptions, he’s been really targeted, and you can tell the quarterbacks, no matter who’s in the game, have such a confidence in Adam to make the play, separate, and make contested catches as well," O'Connell said. "He’s doing great things, jumping off the tape, and it’s not a surprise to me at all."

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