Vikings fullback C.J. Ham used the words of his grandfather to overcome the loss of his grandfather

Sitting with his grandfather and a cousin last Saturday, Vikings fullback C.J. Ham recalled a sentiment his grandfather used to share.

“C.J., you don’t play football. You play football,” George Ham, a Golden Gloves boxer and Navy veteran, would tell his grandson.

The message had stuck with Ham since he was a child — that when he took the football field, he must put his whole heart and strength into it. He wasn’t just playing a game.

The next morning, Ham prepared for a noon kickoff against the Bears, homing in on that message while his family spent his grandfather’s final hours by his side.

A game against the Bears always holds special meaning for Ham and his family, who are from Chicago, but his grandfather’s death gave that game even more importance. Ham played 19 snaps at fullback, tied for his third-most this season, and 20 on special teams in the Vikings’ 30-27 overtime victory over the Bears.

After the game, head coach Kevin O‘Connell awarded Ham a game ball.

“I love [Ham] with every ounce of me, and we gotta be there for him right now,” O‘Connell said in a video shared on the Vikings’ social media. “This guy showed up and was willing to lay it on the line all day long.”

Ham, who’d known his grandfather hadn’t been doing well for a few weeks, went to O’Connell when the team landed in Chicago and asked if he could go see his grandfather.

O’Connell said yes “without hesitation,” Ham said.

“It really touched my heart,” Ham said Wednesday of receiving the game ball. “It really meant a lot to me ‘cause it was hard. It was hard to go out there and play a game with that on my mind, thinking about my family and my dad, who was in the stands. He loved his dad with everything.”

Ham said he plans to gift the game ball to his dad, Cortez Ham Sr. It will be painted with the commemorative game details and his grandfather’s name, birthday and date of death.

Ham mostly kept his pain “in his heart” before and during the game, but his teammates knew he’d gone to see his grandfather the previous night and could tell something was weighing on him.

He said that during a difficult pregame moment in the locker room when he grew emotional, a handful of teammates came to his aid, hugging him and helping him through it.

Running back Cam Akers encountered Ham crying in the bathroom. He chose to give him his space in that moment but said later he gave him a pat on the shoulder and made sure to say he was there for him.

Though Ham didn’t have a carry or reception in the game — he was targeted once by quarterback Sam Darnold — his presence was integral in the victory. Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said Tuesday that Ham played “a really, really good football game,” referencing his involvement in 21-personnel (two backs, one tight end) and on third-down protections.

Phillips noted Ham’s ability not just to find his own man in coverage but to pick up a different man if he needs to aid the offensive line in clearing space.

Playing football, not just playing it, Ham’s grandfather might say.

“It just shows how resilient he is,” Akers said. “How resilient, how responsible and how he can put things into perspective and understand that obviously it’s a tough time for him but he still has a job to do. Everyone’s not able to do that in a tough time like that.”

This is not the first time Ham has dealt with loss during his time with the Vikings. His mother, Tina Ham, died in 2020 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Ham said his teammates’ ability to read that he needed support Sunday and then provide it starts at the top of the Vikings organization with GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell.

Football is not just a job Ham and his teammates punch in and out of. It’s a part of life, as is loss.

“This is something that we do, and we’re gonna obviously care about it and do everything we can to win games, but real-life things do happen,” Ham said. “Adversity hits us in all different types of ways.

“Just knowing that, hey, outside of football, we all know we’re gonna be there for each other.”