I don't really care what people think about me or the color of my skin. I'm just playing football.
— Adam Thielen
For me there is so many factors in football, that's why it's the greatest team game. There are so many things that lead into having success, just like when you have a ton of success and when you have no success, it's not just you.
I have tried to have a really good, positive attitude.
Being able to put the film out there that I did and prove that I can be a starter in this league, it's put me in a good situation.
For me, it's simple: easy recipes equal more family time.
I think when you're not in the NFL or when you're early in your career, you don't understand how hard guys work, especially the guys that play a long time and are successful.
You have to have a great offensive line, great quarterback and guys around you that believe in you and help you.
A lot of times you don't see that, doesn't matter when they're drafted, first round or not. You usually don't see guys come in and wow you.
It doesn't really matter who's getting the credit. We just love to be on the field and winning games.
We know how hard it is to get to the playoffs in general, and then to get to the NFC Championship Game. You just never know if you'll have the opportunity again, so you really want to make the most of it.
In this league, it's all about being close to 100 percent on game day.
You have to be able to make plays.
I just want to make sure that I'm competing every day and giving my best effort, because everything else just falls into place.
I had no idea the Vikings were interested. I was actually expecting other teams because the Green Bay Packers and three or four other teams asked for film after the combine in Dallas, and the Vikings weren't one of them.
When you're a competitor, you just want to go against the best.
That's probably the biggest difference from a hamstring to different injuries. You can play through pain with other injuries. But as I found out quickly with a hamstring, if you're feeling any pain, eventually, it's not going to work.
It's frustrating when you don't feel like you help the team like you should, but at the end of the day there's going to be ups and downs and it's how you react.
Whatever play is called, I go run the route.
I feel like I've proven that I can be a starter in this league, and I want to be respected in that way.
For me, Thursday night football is a great time for me to enjoy the game with my family, as I'm not able to watch as much on Sundays.
I think there's a lot of people that still don't believe in me, and obviously, I love proving people wrong and helping the football team win games any possible way I can.
It doesn't matter who you are in this league: You're always trying to have a bigger role. Anybody who said they weren't trying to do that would be lying.
By the time the season's over, I'm ready to get back in the weight room and start training as far as getting stronger.
I'm going to try to go out and do my best, and I'm going to try and compete every play.
The players have got to make the plays.
We put everything we have into the offseason.
At some point, you're not going to be able to run the ball for 180 yards, even with the best running back in the NFL. That's when you have to be able to throw the ball.
If I get a target, I want the ball in my hands.
I think there were a lot of people at Mankato reaching out to the Vikings saying to just bring me in for a tryout.
It's the same thing as a competitor with anything whether it be a play, an injury, a distraction. You just put it behind you, you take the situation for what it is and you control what you control and the people that do that the best are usually the more successful team, person, individual, what have you.
That's something you work on Day 1. You never stop your route.
I have a lot of confidence. I'm a competitor.
You have a little more time to make moves when you're in the slot.
As a competitor, when you have a bad play, all you want is to get the ball again and get going.
There is no better feeling than coming into a tough environment and winning.
There's a lot of guys out there that can play at this level, and sometimes they might be discouraged because they come from a small school or a tough situation.
I really am genuinely happy for guys that get paid and have success when they actually work their tails off.
It's really nice to be able to go into the offseason and attack the training as soon as possible.
It's football. There's emotions.
It doesn't matter what play is called, you have to run that play and you have to be successful on it. It just comes down to execution, all 11 players doing the right thing.
You have to be able to hit the deep balls.
Being a part of the practice squad was a tough year for me.
I love to compete and I hate failing.
The whole goal was to get an opportunity to go somewhere for OTAs because OTAs in this league are extremely important, especially for undrafted guys and guys who are on the bubble. You don't get a lot of opportunities in preseason games and training camp, so OTAs are huge.
It doesn't matter what happened in the season or what happened the last play, there's always an opportunity to make the next play.
