Is there anything harder to overcome than a bad first impression?
The first time I met my wife was at a party in high school. The party was “glow in the dark” themed, and the host tasked me with taking this can of glow-in-the-dark hairspray and spraying it in people’s hair so they’d glow when the lights went off. My wife, who’d painstakingly worked on her hair for hours before the event, was greeted as she came through the door with me spraying a bunch of radioactive-looking chemicals in her hair. She remembers it as possibly the angriest she’s ever been with a total stranger.
The fact that she ever gave me the time of day again, much less married me, is nothing short of a miracle.
First impressions are essential, in sports and in life. Particularly in today’s NFL, fans, media pundits, and even coaching staffs and owners are making up their minds on young players faster than ever. The world runs on hot takes and instant gratification. Nuance and patience are rarer than ever.
So imagine you’re J.J. McCarthy. You’re making your NFL regular-season debut with all the pressure of leading a team that won 14 games last season but still chose to move on from their starter to let you take the helm. You just spent an entire year with an injury taking the sport you love away from you, and endured an offseason filled with noise and speculation about whether this team is truly committed to you.
While you tried to focus and prepare for the most important season in your young career, the talking heads keep chirping that the team is flirting with old flames like Sam Darnold or Kirk Cousins, or worse, an old enemy in Aaron Rodgers. You’re stepping into that first game with all eyes on you, judging whether you deserve the mantle hoisted upon your shoulders.
McCarthy must also do so on the road, on Monday Night Football, and against a division rival whom many see as a trendy dark horse within the division. McCarthy steps onto Soldier Field with a nation of curious onlookers and vocal skeptics ready to pounce on him if he does anything but hit the ground running.
They never should’ve let Darnold walk.
I can’t believe they didn’t just sign Rodgers.
This kid was a game manager in college. What did they expect?”
For all that pressure and negativity, though, it’s also a tremendous opportunity.
Four of McCarthy’s first five games are nationally televised, something he’s all too familiar with from playing at Michigan. And while Minnesota’s schedule is pretty daunting, the opening stretch of games may be their best opportunity to hit the ground running against teams with question marks.
This may be the perfect storm of games where the Vikings have their most positive disparities in talent and have the opportunity to confidently announce themselves to the national stage. We’ve seen how crucial confidence can be for young quarterbacks in this league, and often, finding those moments of success to build on early in their tenure is what makes the difference.
Think about how Justin Herbert came out of the gate slinging it in his debut season, on his way to winning Rookie of the Year. His early success has completely changed his NFL outlook, and he had plenty of detractors coming into the league. Juxtapose that with Caleb Williams’ debut, where he failed to break 100 yards passing, and the disaster season that followed.
Even after hiring Ben Johnson, the hottest name on the market as their new head coach/offensive guru, Chicago has still had to spend most of this offseason rehabilitating Williams’ image with a combination of hope-selling and excuse-making. If not for being the first-overall pick, many in the general public would’ve already broken out the “bust” label.
If McCarthy comes out and looks good, even relative to tempered expectations, it could completely change the outlook and vibes of the McCarthy era.
Luckily, to that end, he’s got lots of help to achieve that goal. McCarthy has arguably the best supporting cast in the NFC, especially considering the newly renovated offensive line, the elite receivers led by Justin Jefferson, and one of the brightest offensive minds in the game calling his plays. Kevin O’Connell has simply refused to field a bad offense in his tenure with the Vikings, even when he’s piecing things together on the fly with the likes of Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens.
It’s a coach’s job to put their players in the right positions so they can succeed, and O’Connell has a proven track record of going above and beyond to make that happen. If O’Connell can work the same magic with McCarthy and get him slinging it confidently immediately, things get interesting. The Vikings have the talent to compete this season, provided McCarthy can play like a bona fide starter. And if they can come out of the bye week with the confidence of four or five wins, that could work wonders for their confidence down the line.
But more importantly than just this season, McCarthy is their future. He’s their chosen one. He’s the guy this coaching staff and general manager have hitched their wagon to, come hell or high water. Even if this season doesn’t culminate in a Super Bowl or even a deep playoff run, if it can be proof of concept for McCarthy’s potential, that’s a rousing success. Considering the powerful influence the media narrative can have on the decision-making inside TCO Performance Center, it could really make a difference if McCarthy avoided falling on his face out of the gate.
J.J. McCarthy only gets one chance at a first impression. Beyond that, he’ll have ample opportunities to prove himself again and silence the doubters over the next few weeks. However, doing so will be an uphill battle if he gives the football world an “ick” at Soldier Field. But outduel Caleb Williams and squash Chicago’s offseason momentum right off the bat? Talk about setting the tone. That’s the first impression we’re all shooting for.