When the Minnesota Vikings take on the Chicago Bears on Monday night, all eyes will be on quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
"I just try to be completely present. You know, at the end of the day, there's gonna be anxiousness, excitement and a whole lot of adrenaline, but at the end of the day, that's completely normal," McCarthy said.
WCCO talked to four former NFL quarterbacks — a Super Bowl champ, an MVP, a talent whose injuries curtailed his career and a No. 2 overall pick who turned into a bust — to get their advice for McCarthy.
"First of all, he has so many of the qualities and the intangibles that you love at that position. I think you have to start with physical and mental toughness," Rich Gannon said. "That's really important to play that position. I think his ability to create and manufacture offense. I think his intelligence, his football IQ."
Jim McMahon, who won a Super Bowl as the Bears' QB in 1985, says McCarthy has to want the moment.
"If you don't want to be the guy, you're never gonna be the guy, no matter how much talent you got," McMahon said.
Ryan Leaf was the No. 2 overall pick in 1998. His career faded fast. He now understands more on why, and because of that, he's well-versed on McCarthy and what he is about to embark on.
"I mean, what the organization flat-out said is that the guy we got is better than a 14-winning-game quarterback," Leaf said.
Ex-Viking Daunte Culpepper waited his turn, a first-round pick as well. An injury robbed some of his career. He's seen enough of McCarthy to believe.
"He has that it factor, I always say, he has it and and I can see it in his eyes," Culpepper said. "He's ready to go out and tear it up and I think that he's gonna surprise a lot of people."
Let's talk leadership. McCarthy has been named a captain. That's just the first step to winning the team over.
"Well, you have to have answers and you're never gonna fool anybody in the huddle. Those players, they understand who's capable of being a difference maker," Gannon said.
Now, how's this one for an intangible? McCarthy and his fiancee are soon to become parents, and Leaf believes that will be a big help that he did not have — having to shut down football and be a father.
"I've talked to some of the guys that had success in places where they were heavily scrutinized, and I said, 'How did you stay away from all that stuff?' And they were just like, 'Well, we didn't read any of it. We didn't see any of it.' And I go, 'How?'" Leaf said. "He's like, 'Well, we had started families, and I had — when I got home from work, I was changing diapers and I was being a dad.'"
Gannon had years before he became the man and eventually an MVP in Oakland — experience that can matter.
"He doesn't have a lot of experience and that's the biggest challenge. I talked to him, spoke to him again today. We've had some conversations. It's all about getting the reps. It's all about understanding situational football. It's all about managing, game plans," Gannon said.
And McCarthy has a head coach who was a quarterback. Maybe more importantly, head coach Kevin O'Connell has made a statement by making McCarthy the man.
"Both Kevin O'Connell, the staff, the organization have to feel really good about J.J. McCarthy, otherwise they don't make that type of decision," Leaf said.
At least one former quarterback has spent time with McCarthy, and he says bet the house.
"I think he's just going to be a master. I think he's working his way to be a master and just remember I said it first," Culpepper said. "He's going to tear up the league."
Mike Max
Mike Max is sports director at WCCO-TV. Mike returned to WCCO-TV as a sports reporter and anchor in April 2005, having joined WCCO Radio in 1998.