JJ McCarthy & Dallas Turner Speak to the Media

Vikings 2024 1st round draft picks JJ McCarthy & Dallas Turner address the media.  

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Good afternoon. Thank you for comingout here. Obviously, we're so excited
to welcome JJ and Dallas here today. New members of the family as as
we've always tried to add here,just really talented players, positive growth,
mindset oriented UH, players that areable to be great in the community.
UH. Players that are able touphold the tradition of this great organization.

(00:22):
So we're excited to have them.They fit everything we've ever asked for.
I'm sure they've had a few minutesto talk about the CFP and and and
how that game went, but we'reglad to have them promote, you know,
the championship pedigree that they come from, the talented players and you know
we're through the moon. We wereable to get both of them yesterday.
So with that, I'll welcome JJ. Just want to say, you know,

(00:48):
it's an absolute blessing to be partof this great organization. You know
so much thanks to the Will family, coach O'Connell quacy for you know,
having faith in me to you know, be a part of this organization and
help win games here. And youjust can't wait to get to know everyone
in the building, get to knowall my teammates and get them the playbook
and get this thing wrong. Anyquestions kJ you talked about on the call,

(01:11):
just about wanting to be with theVikings, this is the place you
want to be. What was itthat was most attractive to you about wanting
to be a Viking? First?Obviously, just the organization's outstanding, and
then you add the players and thepieces that are around it, and the
coaches and just everything about you know, being in the Midwest is something that
I always gravitate towards, and youknow, it was just a perfect fit

(01:32):
for me. And you know,I talked with a lot of the quarterbacks
throughout this process and it was theperfect fit for them too. So,
you know, just extremely blessed tobe here. Obviously it's a you know,
huge honor and I hope to justyou know, prove them right.
Did you telling you kind of goabout the competitive part of this that you're
just going to start getting into nowin terms of, you know, when

(01:56):
you get on you or you knowout signed Sam Donald here, what's your
sort of mind set as you enterinto that into that period of your career.
My mindset is just take one dayat a time, you know,
really focus on just getting to knoweveryone's names, getting to know the playbook
inside and out, and you know, focus on being the best version of
myself every single day. And youknow, I've been doing that leading up
to this point and it got mehere, and I'm just gonna continue to

(02:19):
you know, strive to do thatevery single day. JJ. What was
that moment like when you heard yourname called, you got the call from
Quasi and Kevin. I'm sure youhad envisioned that. Was it better than
what you had expected? It wasdefinitely better than what I expected. I
woke up that morning and I feltlike my stomach was in my throat.
It was just one of those bigdays, you know, for all of
us that are going through this processthat you know it's once in a lifetime

(02:43):
and you try to soak it allin. But you know, when that
phone call came around, it was, you know, something different, the
feeling that I can't describe, andit was just you know, overwhelming emotions
of joy, you know, bliss, everything about the opportunity that's in front
of me. You know, justextremely grateful from you know, this organization
all the way down to you know, all the way up to God and
putting me in this position. So, you know, just absolutely thrilled when

(03:07):
I got that call, and nowit's just let's get to work. Interesting
text from some of your teammates thatare already on the team, welcoming.
Yeah, I got a lot oftexts, you know, just in Josh
mctellis, i'd say this form Michigan. Man. He told me, you
know, hey, this is Joshmctellis, number forty four. It's like,
come on, man, I knowI know your number, I know
who you are. But uh yeah, i'd say that's the most interesting one

(03:28):
so far. Yeah, what wasthe scouting report of Dallas? Uh name
yourself? Game wrecker, game wrecker, somebody that could affect you know,
the game at all times. Youknow, somebody that we're gonna have to
make sure our mic point is directedtowards his side. You know, Chris
Braswell, another great player. Butyou know, we knew fifteen was somebody

(03:49):
we were gonna have to worry about. And you know it's gonna be amazing
not being able to, you know, get hit by him now, you
know, in practice might get alittle dicey. I don't know how it
is as a rookie, but youknow I'm just super blas that them on
the team, not just because ofthe great player is, but you know,
the great person. You know,I got to spend some time with
his family on the plane and justyou know, made it the right roots
and really just appreciate that coach O'ConnellKoaesi the will family add them to the

(04:14):
team because he's a great addition.JJ, Welcome to Minnesota. Sorry,
but my audio issues all good.I wanted to ask you about Obviously you've
done a lot of things like withkids in the community and you establish your
foundation. I know, just howmuch do you know about the Vikings kind
of off field culture. What kindof an impact does that make or how
much does that matter to what Iknow so far? You know, just

(04:35):
a little booklet I was given thatthey're very involved in the community, especially
with the next generation, and that'ssomething that you know, makes this organization
so great and something that I reallyappreciate. So just being able to learn
from the older guys and how theywent throughout that process with the nonprofits and
the foundations and stuff like that isgoing to be invaluable. And I can't

(04:56):
wait to get wrong with it becauseall I hear about is how great the
people are in Minnesota, and Ican't wait to you know, meet them
individually and make those connections. AndCrazy said yesterday that your superpower is your
multiple elegance. What would you sayyour superpower is? You know, Clasey
is smart man. I go withthat. I go with that just because
you know, I understand whenever you'repart of a team, whenever you're trying

(05:19):
to build something, you have toall do it for each other. You
know, it's not about me,it's about we. And being able to
connect with my teammates on and offthe field is something that I hold to
the most important and realize that,you know, in order to go to
battle with somebody, you got totrust that they got your sex at all
times. So it starts with developingthose relationships and being able to connect with

(05:42):
each each person individually because everyone hasa different style of leadership and a different
style of you know, communication,and just being able to figure that out.
You know right away, it's goingto be another thing that I'm really
focusing on stepping in here. Andyou know, I'd say it's that eq
for sure, ja to anybody fromthe quarterback room. Yeah, I'm excited
to work with them. I haven'ttalked to anybody yet, but I've only

(06:04):
heard great things about the quarterback room, obviously from the top down. Coach
McCown. He's just an amazing coach, amazing human being. Sam jaren Nick.
Just can't wait to be a partof it because all I hear is
that they're just great dudes that loveball, want to compete every single day,
and I want to be a partof that. So you know,
it's going to be a lot offun meeting times, a lot of fun

(06:26):
practices, and you know, Ican't wait to spend a lot of time
with him. DIDJ what do youthink about the potential of playing with Justin
Jefferson? Surreal, honestly, JustinJefferson, Jordan Addison, you know,
Aaron Jones, the Big Boys,Christian darrisaw Brian O'Neil, I just met
him earlier, you know, GarrettBradberry, all great pieces. You know,

(06:46):
there's so many more that I cansit up here and just list all
of them, but you know,a lot of great pieces that make this
organization what it is, and youknow Justin is just a key part of
that. And you know he alreadylet me know I'll go buy jets so
we get any confusion there, butuh, yeah, it would be it'll
be great to get that connection goingwith all the guys, and he's definitely
a key piece to that UD.A lot of the pre draft comments like

(07:10):
you said that you're a winner,What does that mean to meet or that,
Uh, it means everything, becauseyou know, the way I view
the game of football is, youknow, winning is the ultimate thing you
strive for, and uh, youknow, I'm a believer every place I've
been. It's the ability to attractwinning. That's a byproduct of what you
do on a day to day basis, and you know, how you water
your roots to get those apples offthat tree and just being able to continue

(07:35):
and evolved to you know, getto the success that we want to get
to as an organization. It's goingto be a fun ride and I just
can't wait to do it with agreat group of people and you know,
a great you know, top downorganization. When when you're at Michigan,
are you ever aware that you're inthe type of offense that might be harder
for NFL teams to reject that businessI guess from this sandpoint of just you

(08:01):
know, volume of reps. Icould see that, especially being you know
three and done. But you knowthis is a pro This was a pro
style offense that I came from thatcoach, Harball Rand and san Fran and
had success with. So just beingable to do the things that you know,
they expect me to do coming inhere and have those reps, it's
been huge and crucial. And youknow it was a process of a lot

(08:26):
of you know, questionable like,hey, wh aren't we throwing it here?
But that's just because you know,confident my abilities and you know,
want to want to sling it.But you know, just at the end
of the day, do whatever thecoach has asked of me, and you
know, go from there. Justinreach did justin reach out to you?
Did you reach out to him orhad you guys had that little He reached
out to me. He sent mea great text and you know I'll add

(08:46):
to that. You know, hetold me confidence is key in this league.
And just being able to hear thatfrom him and just be able to
get introduced to all the wise wordsthat he's going to be giving me over
the years. I'm just extremely excited. Can't wait to get going. Could
you hear what age that you couldplay at the highest level. I would

(09:07):
say it didn't really hit me untilI got here. You know, I've
always just been striving to be abetter version of myself every single day,
and wherever that takes me, ittakes me. You know, fifth grade
is really when I started editing mylife to get to this point today.
You know, stop with the bsin school and really focus on my grades,
focus on train and focus on allthe right things. And you know,

(09:28):
it got me to this point.So I'm just going to continue to
go down that path. You talkeda little bit about how this was such
a good fit for you in termsof development, How do you, now
that you're here, go about kindof leveraging whether it's Josh McCown, Kevin
O'Connell, veterans in building, howdo you leverage those resources to develop quarterback?
Well, they have to know thatyou care and that you want to

(09:50):
get better. So just being inthe building, you know, first one
here, last one to leave,just getting around them and exhausting those relationships
and making sure that you know,I almost bugged them too much about wanting
to get better and wanting to learnfrom them because you know, that's a
lot of the regrets that you know, former players have told me is that
they wish they spent more time withtheir coaches and use those resources to their

(10:13):
utmost advantage. And I plan ondoing that. J. J. Clacy
talked about a call that you guyshad during the whole process where you had
asked him like, is the reasonthat you wouldn't draft me? I'm just
curious like kind of your recollection ofthat conversation and how it went getting to
know him, and you talked aboutconfidence, just your comfort level and asking
what maybe kind of a bolder directquestion or that you know that's something like

(10:37):
that. First off, that conversationwas on the spring game, you know,
right when it started, and Iwanted to be no place but talking
with him, and you know,he's such a great guy, such a
great human being, and being ableto answer the questions he would ask,
you know, his executives. That'swhat he introduced it as, was you
know, an honor to be ableto be in that position, and you

(10:58):
know, it would just hit itoff, like he was asking like what's
the song that embodies who you are? And all that good stuff. But
the reason I asked that question,is because I was genuinely curious because I'm
always trying to get better and Iwant to hear from great minds and different
perspectives on how to do that.And you know, in Case and I
developed a great relationship and I feltcomfortable, you know, asking him that

(11:18):
question. Jji, with your backgroundon the ice as well as in football,
it's a fun coming to the stateof hockey. And at what point
did you decide to concentrate on footballinstead of hockey. It's amazing coming to
the state of hockey. I've heardso many great things. Got my butt
kicked by a lot of Minnesota teams, so you know, I can't wait
to get out there on the pondin the winter and do all that fun

(11:39):
stuff, go to a wild game. And you know, ed stopped my
freshman year of high school just becauseit was getting too much. I was
first year tripa a hockey at thetime, so I was, you know,
practicing Monday through Thursday with football,and then right after that, I
was driving an hour to Scochey,Illinois, and I have hockey practice twice
a week, so it got alot and you know, just with the

(12:01):
travel and just you know, overdoingyou know, my are overstraining my schedule
and had to make a choice.And you know, I just listened to
my heart, listened to my gutand felt like I made the right decision.
I called over to Yost when theyuh hockey injuries last winter. No
I did not. I wasn't thatgood. I was that good. But
I enjoyed it for sure. Allright, thanks, bring out, thank

(12:24):
you guys. What's going on everybody? Uh, it's first off, I
just want to give it big thanksto the will family. Uh Chlacy,
you know, coach O'Connell for takinga chance on me and picking me up,
you know in the seventeenth and trainingup to give me, you know,
just a blessing and ready to bea Viking. Questions, look at

(12:46):
thors scheme. What's one thing thatexcites you most about playing Cam The sacks
that are produced by him, youknow, and how he freezes his pastors
up to make a lot of playsand stuff like that. But uh,
I definitely know his history, youknow, it's defensive background. So you
know, I'm really excited to getto work. Yeah, Ja, James,
Now what did you think about himafter you all played in that game.

(13:13):
I don't be honest. Uh,J J definitely heard my feelings January
first. You know, that wasprobably the first time I had cried a
little minute, but uh, butit it was it was you know,
uh, we're teammates now. Youknow after the game, I I kind
of wouldn't follow him on Instagram,you know, a little salty, but
uh, you know, but yeah, we're teammates now. You know that's
my brother now, so you know, we go to war together. So

(13:33):
you know that's my cause, myright of dog. No. So yeah,
did you read follow him? Yeah? I did? I did,
I actually did recently. Yeah,but she always kept up with him still.
You know, I always knew whohe was. We was came out
in the same high school class,so you know, we always you always
knew about each other. That wasWhat has it been like just going through
this process with your family or withyour with your brother. Looked like you

(13:54):
guys had a matching job. Justwhat does that mean to you? Uh,
you know, it's just a blessing, you know, Uh, whole
family. You know, they've beenthat since day one, so you know
they seen him from the bottom tothe top. But you know, it's
just a blessing, you know,to spend time with my family, you
know, the time like this too, you know, seeing a lot of
stuff payoffs. You know a lotof dreams come true. You know,
there's a lot of time you know, and sacrifices you know, just payoff.

(14:16):
So you know, I wouldn't wantto spend up with nobody else but
my family, you know, theones that have been there since they want
so, you know, try tolove him. How need Nick Saban and
Alabama prepared you to be an NFLpro because we always hear about how NFL
rate you guys are. Did youthink you're prepared should step on the building
contribute day one? Oh yeah,I feel I'm most definitely prepared. But
uh, it was more of Iwouldn't say it was a certain lesson,

(14:37):
but it was probably just like theday to day life of you know,
being held at a standard up beinga student athlete at the University of Alabama,
and you know everybody can't do that, but uh, you know,
it was definitely just a day today lifestyle, you know, just being
an athlete student athlete, and youknow, just being coach by him,
you know, seeing him every dayand practice you know, him always being
hard on you no matter what.Uh, and so you know, it's

(14:58):
just it was a blessed because bykose And you know, I feel like
I wouldn't be who I am todayif I if I wasn't at the University
of Alabama or for KOSEB. Butyou know, it was just a he
said, blessed to because by himfor sure, you know, to be
a part of that last team Igot right like that. You played against
Caleb Williams in high school, isthat right? Yeah, that's true.
That's true. It was we playedhim, you know, it was I

(15:20):
wasn't the life that I believe.Yeah, so we had we actually came
up to DC from South Florida toplay again Zachery and it did. It
didn't turn out the best way,but uh, you know, uh I
kind of seen the potential, youknow, the the first pick and everything
like that. You know, areal good quarterback for sure, and hopefully
good to playing. I mean wedo play in this season, so yeah,
so you know, hopefully I geta seen him again, yeah twice.

(15:41):
Yeah, Dels, what was uhlast night like for you to see
all those offensive players going off theboard. Uh, just what was kind
of your feeling is that was happening? It was. It was most definitely
surprising for sure, But you knowI still clapped, you know, sowed
a lot of support. You knowa lot of guys dreams came through last
night. But you know it wasa good, a good experience. You
see that much offensive dudes go first, but you know, uh, defensive

(16:02):
players gotta get a lot. Igotta get a little love too. But
uh, you know, uh,it was different for sure, but you
know, I'm I'm happy to bea Viking. You know. When I
got that phone call, you know, it was just and I seen where
it was from. You know,I immediately drop my head, you know,
cause I knew I was going toa good organization. So yeah,
Dallas. Yesterday, Kevin said,you have lofty goals for yourself. What
uh you know, Uh, Myone of my main goals going into my

(16:26):
rookie season is pretty it's really justbeing the best teammate possible, you know,
uh, being one of those dudesthat my teammates could trust, and
you know, honestly, just beinga sponge and just being willing to learn
all the information I can as fastas I can. And you know and
just you know, just always madeit a humble, humble two you know,
throughout this process, you know,not getting a big head, you
know, the situation right now.But uh, you know, I'm just
blessed and thankful, blessing, thankful, you know, and just uh without

(16:48):
God, none as possible to Dallas. Has anyone reached out for you?
Oh yeah, so you know,Uh, Aaron Jones frees out to me.
Uh, John vy Denard, youknow a person that I used to
watch them on. He was playingfor the Texans, you know, so
I remember him from college too,you know, I used to watch him
a lot. So you know whenI got that teat from Jonay Ornard you
and it was a it man,it meant something for sure. Uh.
But all the text missions that Igot from Josh mctelli's, uh Aaron Jones,

(17:11):
Uh, that it meant a lottoo, you know. Uh,
just feeling that love for you know, my teammates now, you know,
it's just a It's a blessing tohave to be in a building with a
good group of guys like that.So yeah, yeah, I was one.
Exactly did you realize being a passrusher at Crusher text was was your
best t at the football honestly,Uh, probably even like the ninth tenth
grade, to be honest. Youknow, my parents and my family could

(17:33):
tell you this too. You know. Uh, growing up, when I
first started playing for I was five, I was a I was a running
back run running back slash like linebackerslash corner dB whatever. But I was
a skale position. So I alwaysused to playing up in open field and
stuff like that. And so itwas all throughout middle school wide receiver strictly
offense though at that time. Andthen my ninth grade year, uh shot

(17:53):
out of coach passer team past herteam's dad. Uh he was my high
school coach, uh, and soit it was one time I was at
receiver and then uh he asked meto get the rep at d N and
then so, uh that won't repchanged my whole football career. So I'm
here now as a past rassion.So you know, yeah, must it
been like to proof to yourself thatyou could continue to advance as a manager

(18:15):
rusher after that? Yeah? Ohyeah, you know after that, you
know, very ambitious person. Soyou know, as soon as I found
my my little like what I knewI was gonna do for the sport of
football. You know, it wasI went hard. You know, I
went hard. You know, Iwanted to know everything about it. I
want to know different pass rassues,how they rest, you know, and
just different techniques and stuff like that. And I was doing to learn a

(18:37):
lot. So, you know,watched a lot of guys, watched a
lot of football and just understood likethe art of past rushing, just playing
on line, screamers in general,you know, just being a defensive end.
So you know, I fell inlove with it. Yeah, you
on that one rep. Oh yeah, I definitely didn't when that rep.
Yeahat oh now, it was uh, it was yeah. I was like
a little sad, but you knowI was I was fast, you know,
you have fast and stuff like that. So you know, I did

(18:59):
a little moving. It looked goodand so he was like, Okay,
I like it. And then youknow it's ever since then I was my
hand was in the dirty. Soyeah, thats what was it like?
Just kind of going through the schoolfree draft process, finishing up school all
that, and now if you know, just kind of being able to you
know, where you are yes on. Yeah, I mean I really feel
like it's just that cloud is justgone. Now you know, knowing where

(19:21):
you're at, and you know,knowing where your feet are at to and
just knowing like you know where whereyour home is now, so you know
it's it's now. It's just timeto get to work, you know,
as fast as prossule. So yeah,