The Minnesota Vikings captaincy has a heavy Michigan flair, with the honor bestowed upon one former Wolverine who has yet to officially play a down for the franchise during the regular season.
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The Vikings announced on Thursday that former Wolverines J.J. McCarthy and Josh Metellus have been named captains for the franchise, with McCarthy set to make his debut for the Vikings on Sept. 8 against the Chicago Bears.
McCarthy’s captaincy comes after missing his entire rookie season with a torn meniscus suffered in his right knee, the Vikings would go on to win 14 games in the 2024 season in his absence.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said that the players’ vote for McCarthy to be named captain speaks loudly to who McCarthy is as a person and player, despite not officially playing for the franchise.
“You can’t fool your teammates,” O’Connell told reporters this week. “That can work in a positive way and a negative way. I think these guys have watched the way he’s worked. Not only this spring and training camp but I think it goes back beyond that during his, what was, throughout the time of rehab and kind of dealing with having the game kind of taken away from him. Getting to step on the grass every day and play. I think they’ve just seen a guy that works. You guys have heard me talk about some of the unique personality traits and qualities that he has that, I think, bodes really well in this day and age in the leadership department and in an NFL locker room.
“On an offense with a lot of veteran players, it’s always a great exercise for me because I can have a perception all I want on players and how their teammates may view them. 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.”
McCarthy played three seasons in Ann Arbor and was one of many instrumental figures who aided in the program’s turnaround, which culminated in winning the 2023 national championship for the Wolverines.
Metellus was a multi-year starter at safety for the Wolverines and was selected in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Vikings.
Metellus’ ascension with Minnesota has been impressive as he worked his way up from a depth piece to his first career start in 2022 against the Detroit Lions.
Since then, Metellus has been a mainstay on the Vikings’ defense, and he was recently awarded a new three-year, $36 million contract extension this offseason to go along with the honor of being named captain for the franchise.
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