Minnesota Vikings Team Captains

Yesterday, the Minnesota Vikings finally announced their team captains for the 2021 NFL season. I’m not sure when the public announcement of team captains became a thing but it sure is now. Teams have been making those announcements throughout the week. The Jacksonville Jaguars even released a video of the selected players receiving word from their respective loved ones. Tear-jerking stuff. The Vikings were one of the last teams to announce their captains. Considering the number of unvaccinated team leaders I was beginning to consider the possibility of a season with no captains. Jeopardizing a football season, not to mention the lives of others, isn’t a terrific sign of leadership. Anyway, the following eight players will be donning the “C” as season-long captains for the Minnesota Vikings. 

Kirk Cousins

Dalvin Cook

C.J. Ham

Adam Thielen

Brian O’Neill

Anthony Barr

Harrison Smith 

Patrick Peterson

Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Anthony Barr, and Harrison Smith are returning captains. C.J. Ham, Adam Thielen, and Brian O’Neill have been team leaders for years. The “C” on the jersey simply shows what their teammates have long known. I remember an interview that O’Neill did as a rookie. I was impressed. He spoke like a veteran. He spoke like a player that would soon be a team leader. He’s going to wear the “C” for a while. His big contract extension this week was a relief. Patrick Peterson is the only newcomer among the eight captains. He’s been with the team for months rather than years but became a team leader the moment he stepped on the field. Despite coming to the Vikings with a load of honors and experience he embraced the coaching and teaching of his new coaches. He was an immediate mentor to the young cornerbacks, in particular, and his new teammates, in general. He spoke at his press conference on Thursday like a leader that was going to be announced as a captain a day later. 

If there was a surprise among this year’s captains, it’s probably Eric Kendricks not being one of them. He’s the heart of the defense. He’s been that for a few years. Barr wears the green dot and sets the defense on the field. Perhaps that’s why he gets the “C” over Kendricks. Whatever the reason, he’s a captain in practice even if he doesn’t have the title. Like Harrison Smith always has, Danielle Hunter leads by example. Neither is vocal. Both are probably somewhat reluctant leaders. They both get their jobs done at an astonishing level. I wouldn’t be surprised if Smith refused a captaincy for years before finally allowing it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hunter has also refused the honor/burden. 

So, there they are. The captains of the 2021 Minnesota Vikings.