November 21, 2025 • 10 mins
Vikings WR Adam Thielen joins The Power Trip and talks about being a leader and his thoughts on his squad's border battle this weekend
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Adam Thieman joins the Power Chier morning show every week
during the football season.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Good morning, Adam, how are you.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
I'm great, Good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
We're just talking movies. We're talking about Wicked, about Zootopia too.
I'm sure your kiddos are excited for one or two
of those films.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Probably, Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited for both. And it's always
good to have some good movies coming out again. I
feel like it's been a while since we've had some
good movies in theaters. So I'm not a theater person.
I'd rather watch it in my own comfort of my house.
But I know, I know meatsos would love to put
on some pajamas and bring a blanket to the theater
(00:39):
and check that out.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
Thanksgiving, you gotta check out Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Man, right,
It's it's in Woodbury, right up the road. Awesome spot.
It is like watching it in your basement. They bring
your food and snacks.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Can't beat it, man, I do love that place. We
go there every once in a while. The kids love
the movie theater, so they forced me to get out
of the house and go to the theater every once
in a while. But yeah, that's a great spot. What
a what a cool spot. I thought we were going
to lose it there for a minute, but yeah, sounds
like it's back and back and good.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Well, not an option in Green Bay because Wisconsin does
not have movie theaters. There's not a lot to do
in Dame Day, Wisconsin.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
But that's okay.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
You're only there for like twenty four hours anyway, So
no big deal this weekend, just in and out.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I didn't really have a question. I just wanted to.
I just wanted to rip Green Band. I didn't expect.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Families from Wisconsin, so he's got to be careful, same
with mine.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
That's why I rip.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Anyway.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I wonder if you cut out or what happened there.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
No, that was just the end of my sentence. Hey,
anim of all the times you've played at Lambo, what's
your favorite Lambeau memory?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Good question, great question.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Well my first thank you. I believe my first NFL
catch was in Lambeau. So that was pretty cool.
Speaker 5 (01:59):
I mean, that is pretty cool that you were looking
for sauce.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, yeah, perfect, yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Mm would you like him to catch what some football's
on Sunday?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
One of my coaches actually back in the day, gifted
me for Christmas the picture of my first catch and
it was obviously in Lambeau and uh Green Bay Packer
player and which was absolutely perfect. That was regifted to
my father in law because he's a huge Packer fan,
just to show them, you know that I that that
that worked better than the Packers. Well.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
So yeah, and how do you feel about going in
this weekend? What are we up against as far as
their defensive backfield goals goes in Green Bay?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Yeah, obviously excited to get get back there to Lambeau. Uh,
such a special place and such a great atmosphere, you know,
obviously the Viking Packer rivalry and just just this week
in general. It is just such a fun week. I
remember so many memories obviously going back to as a
little kid, you know, the Monday, the Monday after the game,
everybody's showing up with with their jerseys on depending on
(02:59):
who won, and had some breaking rights for the for
the week. So uh so a lot of memories, uh,
and excited to get back there. This defense is a
really good defense, so a great challenge for us, especially
in the in the back end. A secondary that's that's
really good. Maybe not a lot of big names, but
but just a group that's that's physical, they're fast, they
(03:22):
can kind of do everything. So be a great challenge
for us and we always look forward to to matchups
like that. You know, it kind of makes you prepare
a little a little harder. You watch some of the
tape and you realize, all right, I gotta I gotta
bring it this week. You see some of these safeties
coming downhill and you're like, all right, I'm gonna have
to put the big boy, big boy pads on this
week and and get ready to hit somebody.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Adam.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
When you have a quarterback that's young and trying to
figure it out and is struggling, how do you know
as a leader and as a veteran when to give
him a pep talk and pet him on the back
and say we all have your back. And how do
you know when to just leave them alone and let
him be. How do you have to judge that that
fine line?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah, I think I think it really just goes off
of you know, letting it be natural. Right. You know,
if there is a situation that comes up and you
feel like you can have a one on one conversation
and it's it's just you two. You know, I think
I think those kind of naturally happen, and I've always
kind of felt that way that you build you build
these relationships first so that you can have those natural
(04:23):
conversations and it doesn't have to be forced. And you know,
he's a lot of athletes, I'd say ninety nine percent
of athletes, especially at this level, they're harder than it
on themselves than anyone else is on them. So, uh,
he already he already knows, you know, what, what he
feels that he needs to be better at and how
(04:44):
he can be better. And you know, me personally, I
know how I could get better. You know, right when
you do something as an athlete, you kind of like,
all right, I could have done a lot better there,
and this is how we're going to fix it. So
I say that all to say that sometimes there doesn't
need to be a whole lot to be said because
he knows it before or before we even say anything.
But yeah, just a lot of great conversations about about
(05:05):
just experience really just things that I've seen in the
past with different guys or personally and just trying to
share those experiences.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
Well, and let me ask you about that because I'm
not gonna pretend I know a lot about what's going
on in Carolina with the Panthers, with that young quarterback price,
and did they not kind of make him take a
step back at one point? And now he's obviously he's
caught up and he's doing really well. There's been injuries,
and there're six and five right now competing for that division.
But a lot of people have already written him off
and said he couldn't do it in this league, and
(05:33):
right now he's starting to succeed in a big way.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yeah, I mean I saw it firsthand, just that progression.
You know, I think, like you said, there was a
time where where there was a lot of talk about
him being being a huge bus right, one of the
one of the biggest busts in the NFL, and then
now it's like, hey, he's playing pretty well. I think
he just set the set the record for most passing
(05:57):
yards in Carolina Panthers history, uh game. So so yeah,
it's it's a progression, right. Not everyone just comes into
the NFL first year and just blows it up, especially
at the quarterback position. You look at a lot of
guys in NFL history who have been pretty dang good quarterbacks,
and I think a few of them are in the
Hall of Fame didn't have great first years as a starter.
(06:20):
So I think it's it's just one of those positions
that you just need a little bit of time. I
was able to talk with him a little bit and
and just talking about you know, some of these throws
that you make in a game, or I look back
in my career and there's so many times that you
run a route and you're like, man, like I could
(06:42):
have you know, you look back at you're like, man,
I could have done this or that. And the next
time you get that route, like you remember very clearly, like, oh,
I remember when I ran that route and I did this,
I should have done this, And then you got and
you execute it, and you you have that experience to
draw from. Well, he doesn't have those experiences to d
off from yet, and so I think it's a really
exciting thing for him that he now is starting to
(07:05):
have some of those experiences where he can look back
at and be like, all right, I remember when we
ran this play last time and and I should have
done this. So boom, he does it and has a
lot of success. So that's that's just kind of the
progression it takes to have success in this league.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Hey, Adam uh Micah Parsons leads the league and pressures
from an offensive like weapons standpoint, You guys, as the
wide receivers in the tight ends, how do you work
into kind of chipping him and moving him off of
his spot.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
Without getting a penalty that's going to get you in
trouble with the referee without that, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Your fan boy, speaking of that, Speaking of that, I
did hear a couple of coaches came up to me
yesterday and said, hey, by the way, the league came
back and said that that was not a penalty, So
he doesn't do as much good week later. But I guess, yeah,
I guess they said it wasn't a penalty. So yeah,
(07:57):
I think it's important that it's all hands on deck
when you play some of the best players in the NFL,
guys that can really beat game wreckers. It's all hands
on deck. It's whatever it takes. You know, sometimes you're
not gonna be running a route as a receiver. You're
gonna be chip blocking, and you're gonna be in protection
and sometimes the tight ends some nights running back sometimes
(08:18):
it's you know, sometimes we just got to lean on
those old linemen that that we feel really strongly about
on the edges to just to just be able to
handle themselves. But yeah, it's all hands on deck and
and it's only gonna help the team have success. So
that's what you gotta do.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Speaking of frustration, we've seen one of your best buddies
on the team, Justin Jefferson, have a little frustration. How
do you as a leaders as they've asked you about McCarthy,
but how do you talk to the best player on
the team about frustration?
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Yeah, well, I if I you know, could he evaluate that?
You know, as far as Justin's frustration, I would say
he's done a heck of a job. To be honest us,
I think I think he's done a really good job
of just of just being in the moment. You know,
it's tough when you're when you're the guy, and he
knows what he can do and and make a difference,
(09:12):
especially if he gets the right coverages right if if
they play him true just normal defense like that guy
is unbelievable. And so for him to be able to
take on, you know, teams that are just putting three four,
you know, six eyes on him. You know, it's it's
it's tough, and it gets frustrating, and I think he's
(09:33):
handled it really well. But yeah, I think there's times
that we all, right, that we all kind of let
our frustration get to us and it boils over a
little bit. But yeah, I haven't said much to him
because I think he's done a heck of a job
just handling that, especially as as such a competitor and
and and you know, one of the best football players
in the league. And I think he's done a really
(09:53):
good job. And he does a really good job communicating
when he he's very accountable, I should say, you know,
he he doesn't let that stuff just you know, just
mosey over or sweeping under the rug. He addresses it.
He talks about it and says, you know, I could
do better and moves on. So we really appreciate that,
and that's why he's got to see on his chest,
(10:14):
all right.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Good luck on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
With the Thanksgiving holiday next week, I don't know if
we're going to talk to you in a week or
two weeks, but either way.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Good luck on Sunday. We'll talk to you pretty soon.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Thanks all right, Thanks guys all right,
Adam Thieman joins the Power Chier morning show every week
during the football season.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Good morning, Adam, how are you.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
I'm great, Good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
We're just talking movies. We're talking about Wicked, about Zootopia too.
I'm sure your kiddos are excited for one or two
of those films.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Probably, Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited for both. And it's always
good to have some good movies coming out again. I
feel like it's been a while since we've had some
good movies in theaters. So I'm not a theater person.
I'd rather watch it in my own comfort of my house.
But I know, I know meatsos would love to put
on some pajamas and bring a blanket to the theater
(00:39):
and check that out.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
Thanksgiving, you gotta check out Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Man, right,
It's it's in Woodbury, right up the road. Awesome spot.
It is like watching it in your basement. They bring
your food and snacks.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Can't beat it, man, I do love that place. We
go there every once in a while. The kids love
the movie theater, so they forced me to get out
of the house and go to the theater every once
in a while. But yeah, that's a great spot. What
a what a cool spot. I thought we were going
to lose it there for a minute, but yeah, sounds
like it's back and back and good.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Well, not an option in Green Bay because Wisconsin does
not have movie theaters. There's not a lot to do
in Dame Day, Wisconsin.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
But that's okay.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
You're only there for like twenty four hours anyway, So
no big deal this weekend, just in and out.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I didn't really have a question. I just wanted to.
I just wanted to rip Green Band. I didn't expect.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Families from Wisconsin, so he's got to be careful, same
with mine.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
That's why I rip.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Anyway.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I wonder if you cut out or what happened there.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
No, that was just the end of my sentence. Hey,
anim of all the times you've played at Lambo, what's
your favorite Lambeau memory?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Good question, great question.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Well my first thank you. I believe my first NFL
catch was in Lambeau. So that was pretty cool.
Speaker 5 (01:59):
I mean, that is pretty cool that you were looking
for sauce.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, yeah, perfect, yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Mm would you like him to catch what some football's
on Sunday?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
One of my coaches actually back in the day, gifted
me for Christmas the picture of my first catch and
it was obviously in Lambeau and uh Green Bay Packer
player and which was absolutely perfect. That was regifted to
my father in law because he's a huge Packer fan,
just to show them, you know that I that that
that worked better than the Packers. Well.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
So yeah, and how do you feel about going in
this weekend? What are we up against as far as
their defensive backfield goals goes in Green Bay?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Yeah, obviously excited to get get back there to Lambeau. Uh,
such a special place and such a great atmosphere, you know,
obviously the Viking Packer rivalry and just just this week
in general. It is just such a fun week. I
remember so many memories obviously going back to as a
little kid, you know, the Monday, the Monday after the game,
everybody's showing up with with their jerseys on depending on
(02:59):
who won, and had some breaking rights for the for
the week. So uh so a lot of memories, uh,
and excited to get back there. This defense is a
really good defense, so a great challenge for us, especially
in the in the back end. A secondary that's that's
really good. Maybe not a lot of big names, but
but just a group that's that's physical, they're fast, they
(03:22):
can kind of do everything. So be a great challenge
for us and we always look forward to to matchups
like that. You know, it kind of makes you prepare
a little a little harder. You watch some of the
tape and you realize, all right, I gotta I gotta
bring it this week. You see some of these safeties
coming downhill and you're like, all right, I'm gonna have
to put the big boy, big boy pads on this
week and and get ready to hit somebody.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Adam.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
When you have a quarterback that's young and trying to
figure it out and is struggling, how do you know
as a leader and as a veteran when to give
him a pep talk and pet him on the back
and say we all have your back. And how do
you know when to just leave them alone and let
him be. How do you have to judge that that
fine line?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yeah, I think I think it really just goes off
of you know, letting it be natural. Right. You know,
if there is a situation that comes up and you
feel like you can have a one on one conversation
and it's it's just you two. You know, I think
I think those kind of naturally happen, and I've always
kind of felt that way that you build you build
these relationships first so that you can have those natural
(04:23):
conversations and it doesn't have to be forced. And you know,
he's a lot of athletes, I'd say ninety nine percent
of athletes, especially at this level, they're harder than it
on themselves than anyone else is on them. So, uh,
he already he already knows, you know, what, what he
feels that he needs to be better at and how
(04:44):
he can be better. And you know, me personally, I
know how I could get better. You know, right when
you do something as an athlete, you kind of like,
all right, I could have done a lot better there,
and this is how we're going to fix it. So
I say that all to say that sometimes there doesn't
need to be a whole lot to be said because
he knows it before or before we even say anything.
But yeah, just a lot of great conversations about about
(05:05):
just experience really just things that I've seen in the
past with different guys or personally and just trying to
share those experiences.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
Well, and let me ask you about that because I'm
not gonna pretend I know a lot about what's going
on in Carolina with the Panthers, with that young quarterback price,
and did they not kind of make him take a
step back at one point? And now he's obviously he's
caught up and he's doing really well. There's been injuries,
and there're six and five right now competing for that division.
But a lot of people have already written him off
and said he couldn't do it in this league, and
(05:33):
right now he's starting to succeed in a big way.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yeah, I mean I saw it firsthand, just that progression.
You know, I think, like you said, there was a
time where where there was a lot of talk about
him being being a huge bus right, one of the
one of the biggest busts in the NFL, and then
now it's like, hey, he's playing pretty well. I think
he just set the set the record for most passing
(05:57):
yards in Carolina Panthers history, uh game. So so yeah,
it's it's a progression, right. Not everyone just comes into
the NFL first year and just blows it up, especially
at the quarterback position. You look at a lot of
guys in NFL history who have been pretty dang good quarterbacks,
and I think a few of them are in the
Hall of Fame didn't have great first years as a starter.
(06:20):
So I think it's it's just one of those positions
that you just need a little bit of time. I
was able to talk with him a little bit and
and just talking about you know, some of these throws
that you make in a game, or I look back
in my career and there's so many times that you
run a route and you're like, man, like I could
(06:42):
have you know, you look back at you're like, man,
I could have done this or that. And the next
time you get that route, like you remember very clearly, like, oh,
I remember when I ran that route and I did this,
I should have done this, And then you got and
you execute it, and you you have that experience to
draw from. Well, he doesn't have those experiences to d
off from yet, and so I think it's a really
exciting thing for him that he now is starting to
(07:05):
have some of those experiences where he can look back
at and be like, all right, I remember when we
ran this play last time and and I should have
done this. So boom, he does it and has a
lot of success. So that's that's just kind of the
progression it takes to have success in this league.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Hey, Adam uh Micah Parsons leads the league and pressures
from an offensive like weapons standpoint, You guys, as the
wide receivers in the tight ends, how do you work
into kind of chipping him and moving him off of
his spot.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
Without getting a penalty that's going to get you in
trouble with the referee without that, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Your fan boy, speaking of that, Speaking of that, I
did hear a couple of coaches came up to me
yesterday and said, hey, by the way, the league came
back and said that that was not a penalty, So
he doesn't do as much good week later. But I guess, yeah,
I guess they said it wasn't a penalty. So yeah,
(07:57):
I think it's important that it's all hands on deck
when you play some of the best players in the NFL,
guys that can really beat game wreckers. It's all hands
on deck. It's whatever it takes. You know, sometimes you're
not gonna be running a route as a receiver. You're
gonna be chip blocking, and you're gonna be in protection
and sometimes the tight ends some nights running back sometimes
(08:18):
it's you know, sometimes we just got to lean on
those old linemen that that we feel really strongly about
on the edges to just to just be able to
handle themselves. But yeah, it's all hands on deck and
and it's only gonna help the team have success. So
that's what you gotta do.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Speaking of frustration, we've seen one of your best buddies
on the team, Justin Jefferson, have a little frustration. How
do you as a leaders as they've asked you about McCarthy,
but how do you talk to the best player on
the team about frustration?
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Yeah, well, I if I you know, could he evaluate that?
You know, as far as Justin's frustration, I would say
he's done a heck of a job. To be honest us,
I think I think he's done a really good job
of just of just being in the moment. You know,
it's tough when you're when you're the guy, and he
knows what he can do and and make a difference,
(09:12):
especially if he gets the right coverages right if if
they play him true just normal defense like that guy
is unbelievable. And so for him to be able to
take on, you know, teams that are just putting three four,
you know, six eyes on him. You know, it's it's
it's tough, and it gets frustrating, and I think he's
(09:33):
handled it really well. But yeah, I think there's times
that we all, right, that we all kind of let
our frustration get to us and it boils over a
little bit. But yeah, I haven't said much to him
because I think he's done a heck of a job
just handling that, especially as as such a competitor and
and and you know, one of the best football players
in the league. And I think he's done a really
(09:53):
good job. And he does a really good job communicating
when he he's very accountable, I should say, you know,
he he doesn't let that stuff just you know, just
mosey over or sweeping under the rug. He addresses it.
He talks about it and says, you know, I could
do better and moves on. So we really appreciate that,
and that's why he's got to see on his chest,
(10:14):
all right.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Good luck on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
With the Thanksgiving holiday next week, I don't know if
we're going to talk to you in a week or
two weeks, but either way.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Good luck on Sunday. We'll talk to you pretty soon.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Thanks all right, Thanks guys all right,
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