Vikings’ Justin Jefferson Talks Randy Moss, Undefeated LSU Team, More in B/R AMA

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Minnesota Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson has taken the NFL by storm in his first two seasons. He lit up opposing defenses to the tune of 108 receptions for 1,616 yards and 10 scores in 2021.

He joined B/R for an AMA that covered everything from his childhood idol, Randy Moss, to winning a national championship with LSU and his rankings of the top five wideouts in the NFL today.

You were recently announced as the newest brand ambassador for Lids. Can you tell us more about your partnership with them?

First off, I’m just excited to partner with them. I remember being a little kid and going into the Lids store and picking out different hats with my brothers. So it’s exciting for them to want to partner with me. I have 11 different logos designed, so I’m excited to see what we have in store in the future.

I know you’ll be debuting a hat collection along with some custom designs that will be ONLY available at Lids locations soon (custom embroidery Friday, followed by hat(s) on July 29). What went into the collection, and what can the fans expect from it?

You have to have something dealing with the Griddy of course. So it’s a few images of me doing that and some with logos of me and my chain. It will be exciting to see what people think about it. All of those different things, and when we were creating those, I definitely wanted it something that was special and represented me. I thought fans would enjoy those things.

Every athlete has a unique sense of style, whether it’s their game-day fit or how they’re dressing on the daily. How would you sum up your personal sense of style and where headwear fits into that?

I’m a fashion person. I like to dress up and like to look good. Adding hats to the fashion is an extra touch towards the whole fit. It brings out the whole fit, especially if you have a cool design or a colorful hat. I have plenty of hats. I can’t even recall how many I have. So it’s definitely a no-brainer.

@Just_in_Time You grew up with 2 older brothers who are also athletes. Do you have any good memories or stories of just being ultra competitive and wanting to beat them at everything?

All the time. My whole childhood has been competitive with them. If we’re playing basketball or football or cards or board games, it doesn’t really matter since our whole family has always been competitive like that. It’s in my bloodline. Me and my middle brother would always go at it. Me and my older brother would be cool, but it was me and my middle brother that would always have all the arguments. It’s been a battle living in the house for sure.

@Rhettro Which NFL player did you most want to be like growing up ?

Randy Moss. Him just being one of the greatest players of all-time at receiver, I just idolized him and definitely just wanted to be like him. Growing up, I was playing QB and wanted to be like my older brother, seeing him at LSU games, and I wanted to be on that big stage too. Going into high school, things didn’t go how I wanted, and then being switched to receiver helped me grow love for different players after watching a lot of film.

@Haydenlit What was the game and moment you knew your LSU squad was going to be legit?

It really clicked for me in the spring. Our defense at LSU was always one of the best in the country. Once we started killing the defense and making them mad in practice, it really became a thing for us where we felt we were becoming a really good offense. And we knew our defense was always going to step up. Having the players that we had on offense and our coaches coming in with the game plan—we had a great time reaching that championship.

@Hudson_Mire Would you say your national title winning squad was the best CFB team ever?

I would say it’s the best to ever play college football. All the different awards and accolades and going undefeated—a lot of things we accomplished throughout that year. Our stats prove it too, breaking so many different records, like me and Ja’Marr [Chase] getting over 1,500 yards each, that’s especially hard to do in the SEC.

@CalebBuck Did you feel you had a chip on your shoulder being the 5th WR going in the draft? Or were you more grateful for the opportunity?

A little mixture of both. I definitely felt some type of way about being the fifth receiver picked and didn’t feel like I should’ve fell that low. But I am glad to be on the Vikings, and it’s all God’s plan. It’s all working out perfectly for me.

@Ginobilians What was your ‘welcome to the NFL’ moment?

My first start in the NFL when I was playing against Tennessee and getting 175 yards and hitting the Griddy for the first time. It made me feel like I had a place in the league and I could really do something. Hopefully I don’t have any bad “welcome to the NFL” moments and only good ones.

@CJShoe What is the most important trait to have as a WR? I feel like route running isn’t talked about enough.

You have to have so many different ones. You can’t just have hands and run routes. You just have to buy into all the different things you can do to better yourself at that position. You might be good at one thing more than others, but you have to focus on being good at more than one thing.

@CJShoe Do you and Stefon Diggs still keep any kind of relationship, and if so what is that like because you both will have a special place in Minnesota sports history?

We don’t really talk as much. Some comments on social media and stuff like that. I’ve always been a fan of Stef, and I’m always keeping tabs on him and watching him. It’s cool to see me and him both doing great things.

@SenseiSportsGuy There have been a few recent changes in Minnesota with a new HC. What do you expect from your new coach along with your guys K.J. [Osborn] and Irv [Smith Jr.] to help you take this team to the next level?

We’re expecting big things. All of us are expecting to at least make the playoffs. We’re feeling with all of these players on this team, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be there for the big game. All of us are connecting with the new coaches, and we’re ready to see what happens. It’s just a matter of time.

@Rykerlloyd Can you please tell my brothers to stop doing the griddy? They don’t do a good job and it hurts to look at … Do you ever see someone doing the griddy and you’re just like ‘man this ain’t it’ ? or are you more supportive ?

I’m more of a supporter. Just thinking about it as people doing it because it’s something that I kinda started in the league, so to see people doing it all over the world, it doesn’t matter if it’s right or wrong. It’s just the concept of them doing the Griddy is a sign of respect to me.

@JBigz Have you ever toyed around with a new celebration?

Still working on something. Might add a little stuff to the Griddy. I want to be a little more creative and get some of the other guys involved. Having fun on the field, to me, is the best way to not really think about the game. So we’re trying to cook some things up to get guys out of their character a bit instead of throwing the ball to the ref and running off the field. It brings the excitement to the game.

@Thunder14 Funniest guy in the Vikings locker room?

Kris Boyd

@Bologna997 Favorite restaurant in Minnesota?

The Nook. It has gooey cheese inside the meat, and it’s pretty good.

@Theverdinverdict Who hits the SECOND best griddy in the NFL?

I guess you could say Ja’Marr Chase.

@BruinB If you weren’t a WR, what position would you play?

QB for sure.

@KaydenL45 If it weren’t for football, what would you be doing right now?

It would be some other sport like basketball. I’m pretty sure if I had the same dedication I had to basketball that I had with football, I’d be doing something there.

@NotDrewLock Favorite NBA player?

LeBron James. The GOAT.

@The_Killmonger Give me your top 5 current NFL WRs

1. Davante Adams 2. Me 3. Cooper Kupp or Ja’Marr Chase are interchangeable 5. Stefon Diggs