Former Vikings LB joins front office as director of player engagement

Jasper Brinkley is back with the Vikings.

Oct 17, 2010; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jasper Brinkley (54) during the third quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at the Metrodome. The Vikings defeated the Cowboys 24-21. / Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Former Vikings linebacker Jasper Brinkley is back with the franchise, joining the front office as Minnesota's director of player engagement. The team also announced that former Wake Forest RB Arkeem Byrd is their new assistant director of player engagement. Both new hires will work under Vikings executive director of player development Les Pico.

The #Vikings have named Jasper Brinkley director of player engagement and Arkeem Byrd assistant director of player engagement.

📰: https://t.co/I7bmdkcojN pic.twitter.com/ttyu50d8XD

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) July 26, 2024

Brinkley was selected by the Vikings in the fifth round of the 2009 draft out of South Carolina. He was with Minnesota from 2009-12 and then again in 2014, also spending a year with the Cardinals and a year with the Giants during his NFL playing career. He started 42 games in the league, including 15 with the Vikings in 2012 and 11 more in 2014. Brinkley had 100 tackles and three forced fumbles during his career year in 2012.

Since 2017, Brinkley has assisted with the Vikings' rookie success program. He's also been running his own trucking company, "while also serving as a mentor and coach for several youth football teams and organizations in Katy, Texas," per the Vikings' release. Now he's back in a full-time role with the organization that drafted him.

Byrd became a student-coach at Wake Forest after suffering a career-ending injury in 2018. Since then, he's worked at Penn State, Arizona State, Oregon, and Temple in various student-athlete development roles. This is his first full-time role with an NFL franchise. Via the Vikings:

"During his time with the Owls, Byrd developed the football team's first internship program and created a transition program to help new football student-athletes adjust to college both on and off the field. He also assisted with official and unofficial visits, planned community service opportunities and served as the liaison between football student-athletes and Temple's academic support staff."

The Vikings, who have ranked in the top two in the NFLPA's report cards in each of the two years that they've been published, set the standard in the league when it comes to the player experience. Adding to their player engagement staff is another step on that front.