On Tuesday, along with his longtime Minnesota Vikings teammate C.J. Ham, Adam Thielen is holding a press conference to formally announce his retirement from the NFL and celebrate his time in the league.
Vikings fans likely first noticed Thielen when he returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in a Minnesota win over the Carolina Panthers all the way back in 2014.
Who was this local kid from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and how long was he going to last with the Vikings?
Thielen went on to spend the first 10 years of his pro career with Minnesota before eventually leaving for a new adventure in the NFC South in 2023.
Those first 10 seasons with the Vikings were full of magical moments and impressive performances. But Thielen's exit in 2023 and how his return season with Minnesota in 2025 came to an abrupt end left a bad taste in the mouths of some members of the fan base.
Adam Thielen's career with the Minnesota Vikings was straight out of a Disney movie
After Thielen's college career at the Division II level school, Minnesota State University, Mankato, came to an end in 2012, he wanted to see if he had what it took to play in the NFL.
Thielen wasn't invited to the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine, so to get in front of pro scouts, he had to first drive multiple hours from Minnesota to Chicago, Illinois, for a Regional Combine that cost him $250 just to participate in.
His testing numbers turned out to be good enough to earn him an invitation to a Super Regional Combine a few weeks later inside the massive AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas. Thielen tested well there also, and it ultimately resulted in him getting invited by the Vikings to participate in their rookie camp.
The former Minnesota State Maverick impressed the Vikings during their rookie camp, and they kept him on the 90-man roster for the rest of the 2013 offseason.
Thielen wound up spending the 2013 season on Minnesota's practice squad, and then in 2014, he made enough plays in training camp and the preseason for the Vikings to keep him on their 53-man roster for the regular season.
During the 2014 campaign, he didn't get much time on offense, as he finished with just eight catches. Instead, the majority of Thielen's on-field opportunities came on special teams, and he certainly made sure to make the most of every snap he was given that year.
His hard work began to really pay off in 2014 during Minnesota's Week 13 matchup against the Panthers.
Midway through the first quarter, Carolina lined up to punt from their own 43-yard line on 4th-and-5. Standing right behind the group of Vikings on the line of scrimmage, Thielen snuck through the middle of multiple Panthers blockers after the snap and outstretched his arms to block the punt.
He then picked up the football and returned it all the way to the end zone for the very first touchdown of his NFL career.
Little by little over the next few years, Thielen would continue to get more snaps on offense, and unsurprisingly, he took advantage of every opportunity he was given.
By the start of the 2017 season, he was one of Minnesota's two starting wide receivers, and thanks in part to him hauling in 91 passes for 1,276 yards and four touchdowns that year, the Vikings found a way to make it all the way to the 2017 NFC Championship.
Between the 2017 and 2021 seasons, Thielen really began to emerge as one of the most productive and reliable wide receivers in the entire NFL. During that five-year span, he accumulated a total of 375 catches, 4,718 receiving yards, and 44 touchdowns.
Thielen was living the dream.
He was not only playing for the team that he grew up rooting for, but he was making a significant impact each time he stepped on the field.
But then came the 2022 offseason when Minnesota moved on from head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman and replaced them with Kevin O'Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
A new regime was in town, and a 32-year-old Thielen knew his time in purple could be coming to an end sooner than he had previously anticipated.
Still, Thielen had a solid season in 2022, finishing with 70 catches for 716 yards and six touchdowns. He was even targeted 107 times (remember this for later), so it's not like O'Connell shoved him into a corner when he took over as the Vikings' head coach.
Unfortunately, Minnesota's 2022 campaign came to a surprising end in the opening round of the playoffs when they were upset by the New York Giants inside U.S. Bank Stadium.
As the Vikings headed back into their locker room after the loss, many inside the building wondered if they had just witnessed Thielen's last game in purple and gold.
In 2023, Minnesota needed to clear cap space, and Thielen's contract was one the team could cut ties with to create some spending money. The wide receiver knew he was potentially on the chopping block, but he made it clear in multiple offseason interviews that he still wasn't ready to be done playing in the NFL.
Thielen also made it a point of emphasis in these interviews that he wanted an "opportunity to show that I can play at a high level."
So, um, 107 targets in 2022 weren't enough opportunities?
Ultimately, Thielen was released by the Vikings, and his messy departure didn't get much better after he was shown the door.
Shortly after his release, his agent lashed out at Minnesota fans online who didn't believe Thielen had much left in the tank. The wide receiver's spouse also took to social media to voice her frustrations and said "onto better things!" after his release, which didn't exactly rub Vikings fans the right way.
Eventually, Thielen found a new home with the Panthers, who signed him to a multi-year contract.
His first season with Carolina was solid (103 catches for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns), but his production with the Panthers took a significant hit in 2024 due to injuries.
In the 2025 offseason, Thielen was in the middle of preparing for the third and final year of his contract with Carolina when rumblings of him potentially returning to Minnesota began to pick up steam.
The Vikings were going to be without Jordan Addison for the first three games of the 2025 campaign due to a suspension, and Jalen Nailor was dealing with a hand injury near the start of the regular season. So, Minnesota was in need of some wide receiver help, and the Panthers had a guy who they were very familiar with.
After a ton of back-and-forth rumors and reports, the Vikings eventually worked out a deal with Carolina to bring Thielen back to Minnesota.
Vikings fans were excited about the kid from Detroit Lakes coming back home. Sure, he had a few more gray hairs in his beard this time around, but Minnesota didn't need him to perform at an All-Pro level.
Thielen was on the field for more than 55 percent of the Vikings' offensive snaps in the team's first three games of the 2025 season, but that snap percentage quickly decreased significantly after Addison returned from his suspension.
It seemed like the veteran receiver was content with just being along for the ride in 2025, but midway through the season, he requested a release, and Minnesota granted it.
The Vikings revealed in a statement that Thielen wanted to be with a team that would give him more playing time, which was understandable. But even when he was on the field for Minnesota in 2025, he didn't do much (eight catches for 69 yards, no touchdowns, and three drops).
After Thielen's second departure with the Vikings, he was claimed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and it didn't take long for him to make Minnesota fans question their opinions about him.
Following his first appearance with the Steelers, Thielen stated, "I got my love for the game back," and Vikings fans everywhere had the same collective thought in their heads: "Really?"
In six matchups with Pittsburgh (including the playoffs), Thielen used that rediscovered "love for the game" to catch a total of 13 passes for 142 yards and no touchdowns.
But at least he got more opportunities!
After the Steelers lost in the opening round of the playoffs, Thielen made it known that he was done seeking opportunities elsewhere, and he officially announced his retirement from the NFL.
On Thursday, both he and C.J. Ham will get the opportunity to reflect on their time in the league in front of family, friends, teammates, and coaches.
Thielen will likely do his best to make everyone forget how poorly his two departures with the organization went down, but just as Jonah Hill's character said in "Superbad," one of the most iconic films in American history, "people don't forget."