After signing with Panthers, Adam Thielen says he 'didn't want to leave Minnesota'
Adam Thielen, fresh off signing a three-year deal with the Carolina Panthers, says he's excited about a new opportunity but in his perfect world he would've finished his career with the Minnesota Vikings.
"I've never gone through this process before, so the whole process was nuts," Thielen said Monday on The Pat McAfee Show. "I wasn't really planning on going to the Panthers. Went on a visit there just to hear them out because I wanted to go somewhere that I felt like I had an opportunity to win a Super Bowl. When I went there, I sat down with coach, I sat down with the GM ... and I felt like Carolina was the place to do that. I feel like there is a real chance to win a Super Bowl, and that gets me excited."
Thielen said he had talks with the Broncos, Cowboys and "a few" other teams.
"When they added Andy Dalton, that was a huge part to me going there, just knowing that veteran guy who's played a lot of ball can really help groom and lead a team and a young quarterback that'll be coming in. And then Miles Sanders, Hayden Hurst – I know they're talking to a couple other receivers that could really help, " said Thielen.
Thielen played nine seasons with his hometown Vikings, having grown up in Detroit Lakes in west-central Minnesota and then blossomed as a football star at Division-II Minnesota State University in Mankato.
"I'm a Vikings fan. I was born and raised a Vikings fan. Of course, I didn't want to leave Minnesota and I would've loved to finish my career there," said Thielen, "but I am really excited about a fresh start, a new opportunity and I can't wait to get there."
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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.