Adam Thielen

Adam Thielen

refer to caption

Thielen playing for Vikings in 2014.
No. 19 Minnesota Vikings
Position: Wide receiver
Personal information
Date of birth: (1990-08-22) August 22, 1990
Place of birth: Detroit Lakes, Minnesota
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight: 195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school: Detroit Lakes (MN)
College: Minnesota State
Undrafted: 2013
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
  • NFC Special Teams Player of the Week (Week 13, 2014)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 15, 2015
Receptions: 18
Receiving yards: 260
Receiving TDs: 1
Tackles: 18
Return attempts: 2
Return yards: 33
Player stats at NFL.com

Adam Thielen (born August 22, 1990) is an American football wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota State University, and signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2013.

Early years

Adam attended Detroit Lakes High School in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, where he participated in three sports (football, basketball and golf). In football, he helped lead the Lakers to a 9-1 season and was an All-conference and All-state selection in his senior season. He also was a member of Detroit Lakes golf team who won the state championship while Thielen was a senior.[1]

College career

After red-shirting the 2008 season at Minnesota State University, Thielen caught 21 passes and a touchdown as a freshman in 2009. In 2010, he led the team with 686 yards and 6 receiving touchdowns. In 2011 and 2012, he became the main target for Minnesota State's passing attack and was the team's starting kick and punt returner. He finished near the top of several career receiving categories after his four years at MSU including finishing second in receiving yards (2,674), second in receptions (192) and third in touchdown catches (19). He also tallied a career-high 167 receiving yards against Southwest Minnesota State (10/13/12). He notched five 100-yard receiving games as a Maverick. During the 2012 season, Thielen helped MSU to a 13-1 record, as the Mavericks advanced to the NCAA Semi Finals. He led MSU's receiving corps with 74 receptions, for a total of 1,176 yards and eight touchdowns. For his efforts, Thielen was named NSIC South Division All-NSIC First Team, the Daktronics Super Region #3 Second Team and Don Hansen Super Region Three Second Team.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP
6 ft 1 in 192 lb 4.49 s 2.54 s 4.49 s 6.77 s 36 in 10 ft 0 in
All values from Pro Day[2]

At his pro day, Thielen ran the 40-yard dash in 4.49 seconds.[3]

Minnesota Vikings

After going undrafted in the 2013 NFL Draft, Thielen attended a rookie tryout and evaluation session at Winter Park with the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings liked what they saw and on the following Monday after the minicamp took place, they signed Thielen to a contract. Thielen was released by the Vikings on August 31, 2013 (along with 18 others) to get to a 53-man roster[4] and signed to the practice squad the next day.

In the Vikings 2014 preseason opener vs. the Oakland Raiders, Thielen had one catch for 15 yards and three punt returns, including one 26-yard return.[5] Thielen scored his first NFL touchdown in Week 13 of the 2014 NFL season on a special teams play in which he blocked Carolina Panthers' punter Brad Nortman's kick and returned the ball 30 yards to the end zone.[6] Thielen briefly held the record for the longest blocked punt returned for a touchdown in franchise history, but was bested just minutes later by Everson Griffen as the Vikings had 2 blocked punts returned for TDs in the game.

Thielen scored his first receiving touchdown in week 17 of the 2014 NFL Season on a 44-yard reception from Teddy Bridgewater, after which he promptly threw the ball to his wife (then fiancée) Caitlin (Graboski) Thielen.

Thielen was named the PFF 2014 All-NFC North Special Teamer of the Year [7] and to the 2014 PFF All-Pro Special Teams Kick Return Unit.[8]

Career Statistics

Season Team Games Receiving Rushing Fumbles
GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Att Yds Avg Lng TD FUM Lost
2014 Minnesota Vikings 16 2 8 137 17.1 44T 1 - - - - - - -
2015 Minnesota Vikings 11 0 9 116 12.9 30 0 1 14 14.0 14 0 - -
Total 27 2 17 253 14.9 44 1 1 14 14.0 14 0 0 0

References

  1. ↑ "Adam Thielen - 2012 Football". Minnesota State University Mavericks. Minnesota State University, Mankato. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "Adam Thielen, DS #161 WR, Minnesota State". College Football NFL Draft Scout. The Sport Xchange. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
  4. ↑ Hasan, Arif (2013-08-31). "Minnesota Vikings Release Final 53-Man Roster, Final Cuts". SBNation. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
  5. ↑ "Oakland Raiders 6 sv. Minnesota Vikings 10: Analyze". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
  6. ↑ http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=400554363
  7. ↑ https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/01/21/2014-pff-all-nfc-north-team/
  8. ↑ https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/01/06/2014-pff-all-pro-special-teams/

External links

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