MINNEAPOLIS – Jamie Erdahl is used to the national stage. But a Gjallarhorn platform?
That prompted some jitters.
"I laughed while trying to assess my nerves. I do so much talking on TV. There was no talking in this role, and yet, I was the most nervous I've been in a very long time," Erdahl told Vikings.com Monday morning.
The Good Morning Football host returned this weekend to her home state to sound the Gjallarhorn prior to the Vikings-Colts Sunday Night Football game, and she leaned into the moment's buildup.
"The 30 minutes between [my instructions] and actually sounding the horn were, it was like wedding-day jitters," Erhdal said. "Like, 'Where do I stand?' People are coming and going, they're asking me questions, and my brain – I was so scattered, and I'm normally a pretty focused person.
"Then all of a sudden, we really just honed in. The video started playing, and I was watching everybody, and there's no rehearsing; this is actually happening," she continued. "I made a friend in the section to my left and was like, 'Give me a high five before I start walking.' It gave me something to do. So, shout-out to that guy."
Give another shout-out to Erdahl's GMFB cohost Kyle Brandt, who had previously texted to advise her to "take it to a 10."
Erdahl joked she is on "Cloud 13, 14, pick a number" from the experience and proudly stated she "took it to an 11, and I regret nothing."
Erdahl's energy may have hit a 12 or 13 when all was said and done. Wearing a custom purple Vikings jersey, she jumped up and down, pumping her fists and feeding off a raucous crowd of more than 66,000 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Erdahl gestured for the fans to bring even more noise, which they did, and proceeded to lead the SKOL Chant before sounding the horn.
"It really was just letting go of any semblance of, 'This is my decorum I maintain at a football game when I'm working on the sideline,' " Erdahl said with a smile. "I really understand that it's such a cool opportunity that many people would want to do, and I told myself, 'I'm just gonna live it up the way a regular fan who would absolutely be going nuts up there would' – and that's just what I tried to do."
A lifelong Vikings fan, Erdahl took in the vibrant atmosphere around her, up-close view of the SKOL Drum and first-hand experience of the famed Gjallarhorn tradition.
"It was amazing," she said. "The field actually is blurred out in my memory. I was more focused on addressing the people. It was, 'I'm gonna do this how rock stars do it – I'm gonna look at this section, then that section, then that section. I'm not just gonna look down.' "
Mission accomplished.
"My family – my dad and my father-in-law, my husband, they're all also from Minnesota," she said, "so when I was up there, it was like, 'This is for everybody that I've come across that cares about the Vikings.' "
Erdahl's performance was praised across social media not only by Vikings fans but also by her GMFB cohosts, who know and appreciate her deep Minnesota roots and love for the team.
Erdahl's expressed gratitude for the genuine nature of Good Morning Football as a program and the intentionality in showcasing its hosts' true personalities.
"Moments like this just allow us all to readdress the fact that we're all humans who love football. We're just like you. We take a lot of pride in that on our show," she explained. "It is our breakfast table, where people come to talk about football."
Sunday's experience sincerely felt full-circle for Erhdal, who grew up a Minnesota sports fan and also kickstarted her career in the Twin Cities – from internships with FOX 9 and KARE 11, to a summer covering the Minnesota Lynx for Fox Sports North (now Bally's) and hosting a Minnesota Vikings Cheerleading show for Vikings Entertainment Network before heading east for positions with the New England Sports Network and CBS Sports, then NFL Network.
Erdahl clearly remembers being 7 or 8 years old and being fully hooked on the 1998 Vikings team that featured a rookie Randy Moss taking the league by storm. She also remembers the heartbreak of that season's abrupt end, just one game short of the Super Bowl.
"There was this red-and-orange plaid couch my parents had, and I was standing behind it – like, even at that age, the fact my nerves were so bad I couldn't be seated to watch that Gary Anderson field goal attempt," Erdahl recalled. "I was standing behind the couch, and he missed it, and I bent down and put my face in those couch cushions and was crying.
"Those teams, watching the personalities of Randy Moss and Cris Carter be the coolest humans in the NFL at the time, those were my formative years," she added. "I remember watching the FOX robot [graphics] and Pam Oliver, she did so many Vikings games, and those guys were so fun. I have this very specific memory of Cris or Randy bumping into her during a sideline report, and she totally had fun with it and played it off."
Erdahl has been a loyal fan, following the team's ups and downs over the years and rooting from afar when Brett Favre joined the Vikings in 2009, right after her internships had come to a close.
"That was another moment for me where I was really hooked," she said. "I was in media and covering the team, but I also just really, really cared – a lot.
"Those were formative moments for me," Erdahl added, grinning. "And now this, of course."
In addition to sounding the Gjallarhorn, Erdahl appreciated the unique opportunity to host Good Morning Football from the Vikings TCO Studios Monday and last Friday.
Keeping with the full-circle theme of the week, she reflected on being hired in 2011 by Vikings Vice President of Content & Production Bryan Harper to host the MVC show that aired locally in the Twin Cities – and now 15 years later having such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"Bryan Harper hired me back then and now had a very direct hand in deciding that I would be up on that platform this weekend. It's so cool," Erdahl said. "This was the best professional experience I've ever come across. I might be biased, but I've been around big games and teams that have had guests out … and this was just such a class operation.
"And now the 31 other teams might be like, 'Wait, if you come do stuff with us, does that mean the show can air from our facility?' We're all just covering the NFL together," Erdahl continued. "I was just very proud that Bryan was involved in the beginning of my career, this moment, what he has built here – and the fact that GMFB was able to be a part of it, I'm so elated by the whole thing."
