J.J. McCarthy explains his gameday intensity — it's his alter ego

McCarthy has an alter ego called "Nine" that comes out when it's time to go to battle.

J.J. McCarthy in his NFL debut against the Bears. | Images Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

As Kevin O'Connell prepared to give him a game ball in the visitor's locker room at Ford Field on Sunday, J.J. McCarthy stared, nodded his head, and talked to himself like a man possessed. Cameras captured the look on his face in that moment, following the Vikings' upset win over the Lions, and the clip drew plenty of attention on social media.

"McCarthy in a trance there?" commented NFL on FOX host Curt Menefee. "He was locked into it."

We legit have a psychopath at the most important position in sports lol pic.twitter.com/fk3njJnFdV

— The Brohioan (@TheBrohioan) November 4, 2025

Except that wasn't McCarthy — at least in a sense. No, that was Nine, his jersey number-inspired alter ego who comes out on game days. On Wednesday, the Vikings' young quarterback was asked if he goes to a different mental place on those days, and it led to an explanation of his second persona.

"I feel like I do, yeah. There's definitely a level of a switch that gets flipped," he said. "For me, I call him 'Nine.' Nine comes out, and I gotta understand he can't be at his peak performance throughout three and a half hours. So how do I find little ways on the sideline, get back to my breath, get back my visualization, that can kind of maintain that intense, competitive stamina throughout the whole game. But yeah, it's just the pure will, determination to get the job done."

Three starts into an NFL career that has been delayed by two major injuries, McCarthy is becoming known for his intensity on game days. He meditates on the field before games. His face is streaked with eye black, which he has called his "war paint." He's rarely seen smiling. It's worked for the Vikings so far, with a 2-1 record and a pair of divisional road wins in McCarthy's three outings.

"He's a killer," linebacker Blake Cashman said. "He's the ultimate competitor. He takes everything, when it comes to his work, very serious."

"I just know to give him the football, deliver the message that I'd like to deliver, and then get the hell out of the way, for my own personal safety in that moment," O'Connell joked about their interaction in the locker room in Detroit.

Some of McCarthy's rituals date back to his time at Michigan, or earlier. But this level of ferocity and emotion is relatively new, he said. It spawned last year, during his rookie season, when he was sidelined by a torn meniscus.

"To be honest with you, it really kind of started to show up this year," he said. "It came about last year, during IR. Just never had a full season where you want to be out there so frickin' bad but you can't. It was just this built-up anger that was ready to explode. And I chose to harness it instead of letting it go into a self-destructive kind of way."

Sep 8, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) reacts after defeating the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

This year, McCarthy was sidelined by injury again. After leading a comeback win in Chicago in his NFL debut and then struggling in Week 2, he found out he had a high ankle sprain. It wound up costing him the next five games. But now he's healthy again, which means he gets to let out his pent-up frustration on the football field.

"I kind of love feeding that wolf, because my entire life — you know, at Michigan, it was a smiley face on my hand and smile and 'You have fun, you're gonna play better' and all that, which is true," he said. "But I also think there's a lot of power that comes from that built-up anger that you can transmute into your performance."

After games, when all the intensity and adrenaline is pumping through his system, it takes a little while for him to come back down to earth. McCarthy, who is engaged and welcomed his first son in September, has learned that he has to return to being himself before he heads home.

"It's a gradual comedown," he said with a smile. "My fianceé, she definitely doesn't like when Nine comes home. She does a great job keeping me level-headed and understanding there's the football player and then there's the fiancé, father part of me that I obviously gotta make priority 1A, 1B in both areas."

The Vikings might also want McCarthy to rein in his emotions just a tad during games. He sailed a few throws against the Lions, which may have been a result of being too amped up. But that figures to come with experience. And as long as McCarthy — or Nine — keeps scoring touchdowns and leading them to wins, they're not going to argue too much with the method to his madness.

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