Getty Keenan McCardell
Newly hired Minnesota Vikings wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell has yet to work with Justin Jefferson, but that hasn’t stopped McCardell from adamantly defending his star receiver.
In a recent video interview, McCardell was asked if Jefferson was snubbed of the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, which went to Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert instead.
McCardell did not mince words.
“He definitely got robbed,” McCardell said of Jefferson. “It’s a quarterback-driven league so they don’t give us any props as receivers.”
Jefferson set the rookie receiving yards record with 1,400 on the season and finished the season as not only the top rookie wideout but one of the best in the league regardless of experience.
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McCardell Speaks From Experience
GettyKeenan McCardell played 17 years in the league.
McCardell’s claim that receivers are underappreciated for annual awards comes from a place of experience. He played 17 seasons in the NFL from 1991 to 2007 and won two Super Bowls — one with Washington in 1991 while on injured reserve and another with the Tampa Bay Buccanneers in 2003.
It took McCardell five seasons before becoming a full-time starter, but once he made it, he became one of the most consistent producers in league history — ranking 24th all-time with 883 receptions.
McCardell’s development into a Pro Bowl talent made him a prime player-turned coach. After retiring as a player, McCardell began coaching his position. Stefon Diggs called McCardell the best coach he had through college while both of them were at Maryland.
Adam Thielen knew of McCardell by proxy of Diggs and how Diggs spoke highly of his former coach.
“The respect (Diggs) had for (McCardell) — he was always bringing up his name and talking about certain things he had taught him,” Thielen said, adding that having McCardell as a coach offers guidance as Thielen enters the later years of his career. “The fact that he’s done it before, just the little intricacies of the game, how he can help me there, and then from a longevity standpoint with him playing 17 years, these young guys think that I’m old and deep in my career, but I’m only going on Year 8, so I’ve got a long way to go to catch up with Coach.”
McCardell Calls Adam Thielen One of the Best Trash Talkers
McCardell, who was hired last month, expressed his excitement to coach and mentor a tandem like Thielen and Jefferson.
“It means a lot to me because all I want to do is give back to the game and give back to these guys,” McCardell said. “I was fortunate enough to be on a team (Tampa Bay) that went way into the playoffs and won a Super Bowl, and I was fortunate also to play with another partner on the other side of me (Jimmy Smith in Jacksonville), that we made up a pretty good duo like these two guys do.”
McCardell, coming from Jacksonville, acknowledged the respect Thielen and Jefferson already have as one of the league’s top duos and likened their relationship to his with Smith.
I want to show them how to continue to play together and don’t let all the outside chatter of, ‘He’s the one, he’s the one,’ or ‘he’s the two, he’s the two.’ Stay together and continue to play together because they can have so much fun together,” McCardell added. “I tell people this all of the time, me and Jimmy Smith had so much fun playing together. I already heard that Adam is one of the best trash talkers in the league that people don’t know about. I like that because that’s kind of how I was, and Jimmy never said anything. We always had fun every time we got out on the field, and we did not let the secondary get by on any of the Sundays. We made sure they respected us and respected our play. When they knew we were coming in the stadium, it wasn’t about all of the trash talking. It was about their business, so I want those guys to have that type of respect around the league. They already have it, and I think they’ll continue to have it.”
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