A generation ago, Minnesota sports embarked on a golden age. While no championships were won between 2000 and 2004, each of the Vikings, Twins, Wild and Timberwolves played in a league championship game or series in that span.
RandBall: Anthony Edwards and Justin Jefferson recreate epic photo and jersey swap, talk trash about Edwards’ NFL dream
A generation ago, Kevin Garnett and Randy Moss were taking the Minnesota sports scene by storm — and now Anthony Edwards and Justin Jefferson, with help from others, are doing the same.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
October 22, 2024 at 4:32PM
Playoff berths were plentiful. Optimism was off the charts.
And two budding stars were at the center of it all: Kevin Garnett for the Wolves and Randy Moss for the Vikings. In 2000, as both stars were about to enter their primes, they posed for an iconic photo that graced the cover of Sport magazine.
KG donned an 84 Vikings jersey; Moss wore the 21 Wolves jersey. Their youthful exuberance was as evident as their talent.
It’s only fitting that nearly a quarter-century later, with Minnesota perhaps already in the midst of another golden age of sports, arguably the two biggest stars leading the charge now recreated that iconic photo.
It sure seems like the Wolves’ Anthony Edwards and the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson had fun along the way in posing for the ESPN Magazine photos and sitting for an interview.
Edwards, 23, and Jefferson, 25, are similar in ages to Garnett and Moss at the times of the shoots. Edwards comes off as the brash one in the interview, with a personality perhaps more akin to Moss. He brags that he could play in the NFL, with Jefferson razzing him about the possibility.
“Y’all got some athletic guys,” Jefferson said of the notion that Ant and other NBA players could play in the NFL. “But when you put on them shoulder pads and helmet, y’all gon’ get hit and you’ll be like, ‘Oh no. This not for me — back to basketball.’”
In a video, Jefferson is even more incredulous when Ant suggests he would play free safety and square up against Derrick Henry.
Like Moss, Edwards has already had team success at a young age after leading the Wolves to the Western Conference finals last year. Moss went to the NFC title game in two of his first three seasons. At the time each photo was taken, Jefferson and KG had yet to advance in the playoffs.
But there is momentum in both cases. The Wolves are a contender and should be for years to come as long as Edwards is here (“If I can, I’m trying to be here for my whole career,” Edwards says. “I ain’t trying to go nowhere.”)
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The Vikings are are a surprising 5-1 this season and look to have the nucleus plus future cap space to contend for a while as well. Both players will be in their late 20s before their lucrative long-term deals expire.
Will one or both bring a title that has eluded the Wolves, Vikings, Wild and Twins since 1991?
“I just want to bring a championship to Minnesota,” Jefferson says. “The people are too good here. The fan base is too good. It’s been a long time coming.”
Here are four more things to know today:
- Tuesday’s Daily Delivery podcast featured Wolves/Lynx talk at the beginning and plenty of Vikings talk in the middle.
- If you only have seven minutes, watch the segment I recorded with Andrew Krammer about the Lions, Blake Cashman and the Vikings missing a chance at history.
- The Wild have played 300 minutes of regulation hockey through five games and have yet to trail an opponent. But the test gets tougher against Florida tonight.
- You’ll learn about six-man football from Chip Scoggins and get a handle on Big Ten football from Randy Johnson on Wednesday’s podcast.
Questions abound on starting rotation and bullpen, free agents like Max Kepler and Kyle Farmer, promising rookies and arbitration decisions.
