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Daniel Carlson met Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame kicker Jan Stenerud

By Adam Carlson

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 30: Jan Stenerud, Bobby Bell and Archie Manning attend the 2014 Legends For Charity Dinner at Grand Hyatt New York on January 30, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Joe Kohen/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 30: Jan Stenerud, Bobby Bell and Archie Manning attend the 2014 Legends For Charity Dinner at Grand Hyatt New York on January 30, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Joe Kohen/Getty Images) /
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The past and the future got together when Minnesota Vikings rookie kicker Daniel Carlson took a photo with Hall of Fame member Jan Stenerud.

The Minnesota Vikings provided fans one of the most unexpected moments during the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft when the franchise used to sixth-round picks to trade up and choose kicker Daniel Carlson out of Auburn

With that draft selection, Carlson immediately becomes the favorite to be the team’s kicker during the 2018 NFL season but will need to beat out returning specialist Kai Forbath before he can officially get the job.

Recently, Carlson got the opportunity to meet with an NFL legend at his position at the new training facility for the Vikings, the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center. Check out the post on Twitter from Daniel Carlson showing the meeting:

The man standing next to Carlson is Jan Stenerud, who spent the 1984 and 1985 seasons with Vikings before entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991.

Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings /

Minnesota Vikings

The 6-foot-2 native of Fetsund, Norway led the NFL in field goal percentage for four seasons, making 373 field goals and 580 extra points totaling 1699 career points.

Stenerud played in the NFL for 19 seasons, spending a majority of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs (1967-1979) while also being a member of the Green Bay Packers (1980-1983) where he connected on an amazing 91.7% of his field goal attempts in 1981.

Carlson is a tall kicker as well. At 6-foot-4, he looks more like a receiver than a kicker, something the and Stenerud share based on their NFL experiences. But the rookie kicker will need to work hard and prove himself if he wants to have more in common with the Pro Football Hall of Fame legend.

Next: Ranking the Vikings' 2018 draft picks

Do you think Daniel Carlson has a chance to follow in the footsteps of Jan Stenerud to have a long and successful NFL career? Is he a potential Pro Football Hall of Fame kicker? Can he even get past Kai Forbath in training camp? Let us know what you think about Carlson’s future in the comments section below.

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