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Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff WriterNov 8, 2024, 04:15 PM ET
- Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia. You can follow him via Twitter @SeifertESPN.
EAGAN, Minn. — Amid a tough moment of his career last weekend, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson got a surprise pep talk. It came from the opposing coach after the Colts’ 21-13 loss Sunday night to the Minnesota Vikings, a game Richardson watched from the sideline after losing his starting job to Joe Flacco.
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell approached him and, according to an NFL Films video that circulated this week, said: “You’re a bad dude and you’re going to play a long time in this league.”
He added: “I still believe in you. I know these guys do, too.”
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O’Connell evaluated Richardson extensively prior to the 2023 NFL draft, but the Colts selected him at No. 4 overall — long before the Vikings’ pick at No. 23. The Vikings waited until 2024 to draft their quarterback of the future, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
Speaking Friday about the exchange, O’Connell said he assumed it had been a rough week for Richardson and that he wanted to let him know he still had strong support both inside and outside the Colts organization.
“I wanted to let him know how I felt,” O’Connell said. “And whether it meant something to him, or not, didn’t matter. And I think it’s a good thing for everybody in society to do. If you’ve got the ability to help somebody else in circumstances that maybe as they’re working through it are less than ideal, but there is a road and a path — a rather large one in my opinion to him having have a very, very successful NFL career — [you should].
“Quarterback journeys are what they are, and every single one of them has their own story. And I just felt like if I can have an opportunity to just let him know how I feel about him, and not only him and where he’s at now but where I think he’s going in the future, I thought it was a good moment to tell him that. I’m just a big fan, and if you have something to say to uplift somebody else, you might as well say it and not keep it to yourself.”
Richardson will remain the Colts’ No. 2 quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills.
The Vikings, who are 6-2 this season with veteran Sam Darnold at quarterback while McCarthy recovers from season-ending knee surgery, will play at the Jacksonville Jaguars.
