You constantly have to grind, work harder than anyone else.
Adam Thielen
I love when people doubt me. I love when people don't think that I'm good enough to play at a certain level, not good enough to be a starter, things like that. That's the stuff that drives me.
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.
I've always been a very observant person, a visual person. That's my way of learning. Things on paper, notes and things like that, don't help me the same way as watching things live.
I have tried to have a really good, positive attitude.
In high school I just loved to compete and play sports. I didn't have a sport that I was going to say, 'Hey, I'm going to play this at the next level.' Whatever my best opportunity was was what I was going to do.
I thought I was better at basketball, but obviously people didn't think so. But I loved them equally, whether it be baseball season, basketball, football, golf, I liked them equally.
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.
My wife and I are breakfast people.
When I was early in my career, I really followed Twitter, seeing what people were saying about me. I definitely saw them talking about Mr. Mankato and all that. It was fun for me to have a little bit of extra support from outside people. I definitely helped me build confidence, that's for sure.
You make yourself tougher in the offseason.
I've never been a numbers guy. Numbers don't excite me. Winning games excites me.
I was pretty realistic about my chances of being drafted.
I always played 'FIFA' and stuff like that growing up, and seeing those guys celebrate, I kind of got inspiration from that.
Cris Carter and Randy Moss - they're the guys who made me want to play football and be a receiver.
I had a coach when I was getting recruited say maybe you should play basketball at a Division III level, because you're not good enough to play football in college.
Something I remind myself every day, just do your job to the best of your ability and that's the most important thing.
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 really try to avoid looking at or thinking about my stats because I'm just trying to do my part in winning games.
It doesn't really matter who's getting the credit. We just love to be on the field and winning games.
It's really nice to be able to go into the offseason and attack the training as soon as possible.
When there are things I see on tape that I think I can get better at, it frustrates me.
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.
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.
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.
When you're a competitor, you just want to go against the best.
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.
I think there were a lot of people at Mankato reaching out to the Vikings saying to just bring me in for a tryout.
I love to compete and I hate failing.
If I get a target, I want the ball in my hands.
Being a part of the practice squad was a tough year for me.
You have to be able to make plays.
You have to be able to hit the deep balls.
We put everything we have into the offseason.
In this league, it's all about being close to 100 percent on game day.
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.
The players have got to make the plays.
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.
It's football. There's emotions.
I'm going to try to go out and do my best, and I'm going to try and compete every play.
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.
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.
I really am genuinely happy for guys that get paid and have success when they actually work their tails off.
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.
You have to have a great offensive line, great quarterback and guys around you that believe in you and help you.
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 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.
There is no better feeling than coming into a tough environment and winning.
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.
For me, it's simple: easy recipes equal more family time.
