Adam Thielen bids farewell to Minnesota in emotional post
Adam Thielen's nine-year career with the Minnesota Vikings ended Friday as the team announced it had released the 32-year-old Minnesota native.
Hours after the news broke, Thielen released a statement to bid farewell to the team that he loves while maintaining that Minnesota will always be home to him and his family.
"To go from a kid growing up in Detroit Lakes to playing for the Minnesota Vikings has been a journey beyond what I could have dreamed of. I want to thank everyone within the Vikings organization – coaches, teammates, the Wilf family and fans – for all the love and support I have received over the years," wrote Thielen.
"I poured everything I had into these last 10+ years in representing and playing for this team and state. My family and I will always cherish the memories we created on and off the field.
"Minnesota is – and will always be – home to us."
Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said Thielen "is the best representation of what the Minnesota Vikings should stand for," and head coach Kevin O'Connell said "Adam's story is one many know and admire and an incredible example of what a relentless pursuit of a goal can ultimately accomplish."
Thielen grew up in Detroit Lakes – a town of just under 10,000 people in west-central Minnesota – and went on to star at Minnesota State-Mankato before getting a shot with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2014.
Cutting Thielen now frees up an estimated $6.4 million on Minnesota's 2023 salary cap, which remains over the league's threshold by approximately $8.6 million, according to OverTheCap.
Related: 5 of the best moments of Adam Thielen's career with Vikings
Related: Report: Vikings have received a trade offer for Dalvin Cook
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.