Vikings’ Justin Jefferson is the latest standout athlete to choose to remain in Minnesota

Maybe it’s the way arctic winds, after causing tears to run down your face, freeze the tears to your face, like they’re tiny versions of Jack Nicholson at the end of “The Shining,” or Blair Walsh, at the end of the game, at TCF Bank Stadium.

Maybe it’s the way our spring lasts all day.

Maybe it’s our quaint self-esteem issues, or the sheer dominance of our sports teams.

Whatever the reasons, star athletes can’t quit Minnesota, although sometimes we quit them.

Last week, Justin Jefferson signed a massive contract with the Vikings, ending more than a year of wrongheaded speculation that he wanted to leave.

He got a great deal. He also signed with a team that doesn’t currently have a proven starting quarterback, and he might be facing years of waiting for J.J. McCarthy to develop.

Jefferson could have forced a trade. He could have made demands that would have prompted the Vikings to trade him.

Across town, the Timberwolves have just about every key member of the organization signed to a long-term contract. In the NBA, the league most known for players orchestrating exits from their current teams, the Timberwolves have their top seven likely returning and are trying to find a way to bring back their No. 8, Kyle Anderson.

Anthony Edwards could sell a lot of shoes in another market. (Or at least that’s the way some people think, whether it’s true or not.) He chose to stay. Karl-Anthony Towns has taken regular virtual abuse from the Wolves fan base. He wants to stay. Rudy Gobert moved here from Utah, where he still has his primary home. He wants to stay.

Regarding the Twins, it’s remarkable how many players and managers remain in Minnesota, or keep a place here, even if they’re not from here and have no connection here other than their former job. Tony Oliva is at the top of a long list. Justin Morneau is from the Vancouver area. He played for three teams after the Twins traded him. Now he lives in Minnesota, and he did so before he became a broadcaster.

Hockey isn’t even worth discussing because — and if this isn’t a fact, it should be — every other lake house in Minnesota is owned by a former NHL player.

There are still Purple People Eaters living in the Twin Cities, all these decades later.

Lindsay Whalen still lives here. Lynx coach and President of Basketball Operations Cheryl Reeve, who could have left for a plum job at almost any point of her career, still lives here. Darrell Thompson still lives here.

Even some of the athletes who left did so against their will.

David Ortiz and Kevin Garnett were so angry about the terms of their departures that they carried grudges for years. Garnett still won’t step into Target Center while Glen Taylor is the owner.

A few notable Vikings have signed elsewhere or forced a trade. Kirk Cousins left because the Vikings were searching for his replacement. So he took a megadeal with Atlanta, only for them to immediately draft his replacement. Stefon Diggs forced a trade to Buffalo, proving he wasn’t leaving because of the climate or entertainment options but because he didn’t want to play with Cousins, or for a defensive coordinator-head coach.

Mostly, though, great athletes find that this is a pretty good place to play, and live.

Locals may complain about the cost of living or traffic, but both are better here than in the bigger coastal cities.

Vikings great John Randle moved to his home state of Texas after his retirement, but he found that health care for his ailing daughter was better in Minnesota, so he moved back. He was probably last seen playing one of our beautiful golf courses with fellow Vikings great Randall McDaniel, who was born in Arizona but settled here.

That which can induce cringes can also be true. As the sign read at the 1987 World Series: “We like it here.” And so do many athletes, whether they’re from here or not.