The Thielen File
Team: Carolina Panthers
Height: 6-2
Weight: 200
Birthday: 8/22/1990
40-Yard Dash: 4.45 seconds
College: Minnesota State
Draft: N/A
Contract: Signed a 3-year, $25 million deal with the Carolina Panthers after the 2022 season
WAG: Caitlin Thielen
Children: Asher, Hudson James, and Cara Jean
Betting Odds: +20000 to win OPOY
Record/Accomplishments:
- Two Pro Bowl selections, 2017, 2018
- One Second-Team All-Pro selection, 2017
- Holds the NFL record for most consecutive 100-yard receiving games and 100-yard games to start a season (8)
Adam Thielen's Impossible Story
Most stars you'll see on Sundays played Division I football, particularly in a Power Five conference. Adam Thielen, however, is one of the few to make it from the Division II ranks.
Thielen, who also starred in basketball at high school, didn't exactly see a lot of collegiate buzz. He received one offer from the Minnesota State Mavericks. Yeah, I didn't know they existed, either.
They gave him a $500 scholarship and a chance to pursue his dreams. The rest is history.
Thielen would go undrafted, despite impressing at a small-school combine. However, his game film was enough for the Vikings to offer the hometown kid a contract. They're probably glad with how that one turned out.
Thielen turned into one of the best Z receivers in football, at times pushing himself into top 15 wide receiver territory, at least among the general public. After his Minnesota tenure ended, he showed enough to get a gig in Carolina to headline a young receiving corps and make life easier for a young quarterback.