EAGAN, Minn. -- Justin Jefferson is the face of the Minnesota Vikings, and the headliner of one of the most talented wide receiver groups in the NFL. Everywhere he goes, he is noticed. Not only for the sparkle of a necklace afforded by one of the richest contracts in league history, but for the playful personality that's summoned a national spotlight to a franchise still devoid of Super Bowl luster.
He is, by every measure of the word, a superstar.
It is close to the opposite effect with Brandon Powell, who resides in the same wide receiver room. At 5-foot-8, he is literally one of the shortest players at his position on this level. Undrafted back in 2018, he had all 32 NFL teams say no thanks despite his playing for the Florida Gators. He stands with the Vikings now, entering his second season with Minnesota, only after five other teams cut him or let him walk. The cameras rarely follow him. The defenders tower over him. The expert voices overlook him.
But not Justin Jefferson. Not the NFL's smoothest playmaker.
"Aw, Brandon Powell," Jefferson says after the Vikings' final training camp practice of the summer. "He just reminds me of that little bulldog at the house. He's a little feisty. That's just BP. ... I love him. I love his work ethic, coming to practice every single day. ... You gotta know to know."
Now, you will.
Like father, like son
Vikings fans know firsthand the downside of stern leadership. The team's current regime, led by ever-optimistic coach Kevin O'Connell, arrived in part because the disciplinarian approach of Mike Zimmer failed to nurture star egos in addition to postseason victories.
Powell, on the other hand, likes himself a rigid teacher. When asked how he's made it to this point, overcoming the odds as an undersized prospect to enter a seventh NFL season, he points first to former Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia, who was widely criticized for a polarizing short-lived stint in Motown.
"He used to be hard on us, and it reminded me of my Pops," Powell says. "So coming into the league playing for him as a rookie, it taught me how the league was, right out the rip. ... Anybody that played for their dad, they know how that is. That's tougher than anything. So hard coaching is nothing to me."
The firm upbringing has only emboldened Powell as he's worked mostly in the background for a half-dozen NFL teams, bouncing between practice squads and offseason competitions with the Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. His action has increased in recent years, namely as a return specialist for the Los Angeles Rams during their 2021 Super Bowl run, and as a regular slot receiver for the Vikings in 2023. To Powell, though, the size of the role has never been the chief motivation.
"My dad, my grandma, my mom," Powell says. "This is what's gonna take care of my family."
Born and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida, Powell says his grandmother had "never been anywhere, really," until he flew her to California during his stint with the Rams. His brothers had "never been out of the state of Florida." His ultimate goal as an NFL player isn't to set records or even seize the spotlight for his own underdog story, but rather to "use this game to ... help them see the world just like I get to see it."
So when Vikings fans watch his No. 4 jersey shifting across the formation, scurrying past defenders on a punt return or speeding alongside Jefferson out wide, they will see a reflection of these family values, whether or not they realize it. It turns out the No. 4, which Powell also wore in high school and college, is a tribute to one Brian Powell, who rocked the number in his own playing days at Memphis.
"I like to be like my Pops."
The secret ingredient
Powell's improbable ascent to the NFL is also a testament to his God-given ability. While short in stature, he is as chiseled as any player on the Vikings roster, and his compact build doesn't hinder his burst, making him a sort of mini wrecking ball in the slot. His feel for the game may be his most underrated trait, considering the plethora of all-star talent he's learned under during his roller-coaster NFL journey.
"I've played with Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Odell Beckham, Cooper Kupp, Golden Tate, Marvin Jones," he says, "but these guys, they work hard. They're young guys that are hungry. We got the best receiver in the NFL in Justin Jefferson. I love Jordan [Addison]. I love both of 'em. They're always competing in the meeting room about, 'Oh man, you were supposed to catch this, get more yards.' It just motivates you."
Maybe, just maybe, Powell is the unseen glue of all these special wide receiver rooms? His laugh suggests he won't go that far, but he's willing to bet on his own speed even in Minnesota's elite crop.
"Nah, I'm the quickest for sure," he says.
(When informed he has an "88" speed rating in the newest "Madden NFL" game, Powell reverts to his trademark humility, genuinely and pleasantly surprised: "Oh for real? Dang! That's good for me. I'll take it.")
The combo of strength, speed and learned instincts promises potentially the biggest offensive role of Powell's NFL career this season. The Vikings already possess a highly esteemed system under O'Connell: "The concepts we run," he says, "no matter what defense you play, the concepts always work." But with Addison facing an early year suspension and star tight end T.J. Hockenson still recovering from injury, it's possible the 28-year-old Powell will be one of Minnesota's primary pass outlets aside from Jefferson.
"[I want to] bring the first Super Bowl to Minnesota," he says. "Whatever I can do, that's all I'm here for."
But is that even a feasible goal for a franchise that's often dreading middling finishes rather than celebrating glorious winters? A team that lost maybe its most promising new talent, first-round quarterback J.J. McCarthy, to a season-ending knee injury before his rookie campaign could begin? A team that's betting on Sam Darnold, the ex-New York Jets castoff, to rejuvenate his own career in purple?
"He's a hard worker," Powell says of Darnold. "One day, he might miss this throw, [and] he comes back the next day and it's on the money. Sam's just a hard-working guy. He can sling the ball. You better get that head turned around, because the ball is coming."
Quarterback questions or not, Powell believes the Vikings have the infrastructure to support an unexpected run. And he knows a little something about improbable journeys and Super Bowl wins.
"Everybody's gonna write us off," he says. "Every team I've done been on we've been written off. When I was in L.A., we won the Super Bowl, and they thought the 49ers were going to win. Even when we made it to the Super Bowl, it was the Bengals. We've got the same amount of talent [here], probably even better, than we had in L.A. We got a great coach in Brian Flores on defense, we got young guys that are hungry. ... As long as we do what we're supposed to do on Sunday, that ultimate goal of getting a Super Bowl, we can achieve that."
Committed to the Midwest
After Powell signed his first NFL contract, he didn't return home to Deerfield Beach for about three years, putting all his efforts toward getting "situated" in a league where the average length of a player's career is about roughly that long -- three years. Call it the necessary sacrifice to aid loved ones back home.
"But I went back home," Powell says, "and, hearing the little kids talk about how they play with you on 'Madden,' they watch you on TV, they want your jersey, they want your autograph ... Like, man, I wanna help them, give them the confidence, a boost to make it where I'm at one day. You're motivating kids and you don't even know it."
When the receiver took it a step further in recent years, forming the Powell Legacy Foundation to fund back-to-school shopping sprees, free holiday meals and summer football camps for at-risk youth, he may as well have adopted Justin Jefferson status back home. But home is no longer confined to the coast. "Jets" may dominate headlines as the regional football celebrity, but Powell has extended his behind-the-scenes impact beyond the gridiron in Minnesota, adopting the area as his own in the process.
"I like the Midwest because it's quiet," he says. "It's a lot different from South Florida where you hear horns honking all day, you hear police sirens. Out here, you don't really hear anything. [There's] cold weather, you might hear some birds. It's a lot of nature out here, and that's what I like. ... I don't leave the house anyway, so it's perfect for me out here. ... Like I said, my dad was my coach, so it was always 'Go home, study, do your homework, go home and work out,' and that's kinda what I do now."
Not exactly your brash and boisterous NFL star, eh? It's the only way he knows. And it's perfect for Minnesota, where Powell has a few other goals for 2024. One of them is getting "in the backfield again, getting handoffs" like he did back in high school, especially if it means sharing the job with former Green Bay Packers star Aaron Jones. The other? Further melding with Vikings Country -- and the work-first, talk-second plains of the Midwest -- in the form of his first visit to the Minnesota State Fair.
"Fried Oreos," he says, confidently naming his target. "I heard that was it."
