MINNEAPOLIS – That's a nifty 50 for Adam Thielen.
The Vikings receiver recorded his 50th career touchdown reception Sunday afternoon, hitting the benchmark at home against the division-rival Lions.
"I don't like the whole stats thing, so I'm glad I got that one out of the way because people kept telling me about it, but there's so many factors that lead into that, so I'm thankful for my teammates," Thielen said. "A bunch of guys came over to me right when it happened and said, 'Keep that ball,' so I'm just thankful for the guys that have helped me get to that, because it's definitely not an individual thing."
Thielen caught a 1-yard pass from Kirk Cousins to put Minnesota on the board in the second quarter. The opportunity came after former Viking Mike Hughes was flagged for defensive pass interference while covering Justin Jefferson on the previous play.
"Coach kind of told me all week that I was probably going to be the guy," Thielen said. "Again, the great thing about this staff and this offense is they're not going to say, 'We're going to throw it to you.' They're going to read it out, and we're going to try to do things to try to get guys open, and then Kirk is so good about reading it true because someone else could have popped in practice, other guys popped. A great play design, and it was probably one of my easier touchdowns I've ever had in my career, so I'm thankful for those."
The grab marked Thielen's first catch of the game and 472nd overall (regular season) in Vikings Purple. He's up to 477 for his career, which is one shy of Anthony Carter for fourth in team history. Thielen is also two touchdowns shy from tying Carter for third in Vikings lore.
Thielen's 50th touchdown catch ties him with Vikings Legend Sammy White – who is in attendance for today's Vikings Legends recognition – for fourth most in franchise history.
"It was pretty cool because I got to talk to him yesterday," Thielen said. "The PR guys told him, 'Hey, he only needs one more to tie you.' He's like, 'Oh, really?' So it was pretty cool."
Thielen needs two more to tie Anthony Carter. Hall of Famers Cris Carter and Randy Moss continue to have quite the lead with 110 and 92 Vikings touchdown catches, respectively.
The grab marked Thielen's first catch of the game and 472nd overall (regular season) in Vikings Purple.
Thielen's 50th touchdown catch ties him with Vikings Legend Sammy White – who is in attendance for today's Vikings Legends recognition – for fourth most in franchise history. He needs two more to tie Anthony Carter. Hall of Famers Cris Carter and Randy Moss continue to have quite the lead with 110 and 92 Vikings touchdown catches, respectively.
Thielen now has 316 career points, which ranks 14th in Vikings history. Another score will leap-frog him over Ted Brown's 318 career points.
The Minnesota native now has three career touchdowns against Detroit. He caught touchdowns of 2 and 25 yards from Cousins in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
This season marks Thielen's ninth on Minnesota's active roster, after spending the 2013 season on the practice squad.
