Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson thinks he’s just like Michael Jordan, but not in the way any athlete wants to be compared to MJ.
Athletes idolize Michael Jordan, aspiring to change the game they play the way MJ transformed the NBA.
And while there’s a lot of ways in which young players want to be like Mike, there’s also obstacles that Jordan faced that no athlete would want — like taking hits from the Bad Boy Pistons.
While Justin Jefferson is busy trying to be the Michael Jordan of NFL wideouts, he’s also battling against defenses with wrath of Detroit at the turn of the decade.
“It’s just like Michael Jordan and the Detroit Pistons,” Jefferson told reporters on Wednesday per KSTP. “They tried to take out the best player, try to put as much physical abuse as they can on him. I kind of feel that way. People on those defenses that we’re facing, they try whatever it takes for me not to get those big plays, not to set the offense up to get more and more yards. I feel like it’s happening more and more every game, but it is what it is when you’re this type of player.”
Justin Jefferson compares himself to Michael Jordan against the Pistons
If Justin Jefferson is Jordan, then Stephon Gilmore is Dennis Rodman — at least from Jefferson’s perspective.
“I didn’t really feel like it was a clean hit,” Jefferson said of a hit he endured from Gilmore on Saturday. “Him lifting up and going to tackle me high, I felt like it was a little dirty hit. That’s why I really got angry.”
Others in Minnesota agreed, including head coach Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings coaching staff. According to Tom Pelissero, the Vikings coaching crew wanted Gilmore ejected from the game. Even the Voice of the Vikings Paul Allen thought Gilmore was a “punk” for tackling like that.
If Jefferson wants to be like Jordan, then being the target of opposing defenses comes with the territory. Officiating crews will have to watch closely to make sure no one beats up on Jefferson unnecessarily.