J.J. McCarthy said before the 2024 NFL Draft that playing for the Minnesota Vikings would be a "dream come true." It turns out the Michigan product was telling the truth. Hours after the Vikings drafted the quarterback No. 10 overall, McCarthy's former college coach, Jim Harbaugh, told reporters the signal-caller "had his heart set on" Minnesota.
"Having conversation with J.J., that's where he wanted to go," Harbaugh said. "That's where he had his heart set on. I'm just so happy for him. I love him like a son, and I was praying and pulling for it to work out the way he wanted it to work out. And the stars aligned, and congratulations to Minnesota. They got themselves a great player."
Harbaugh, whose current team, the Los Angeles Chargers, was long speculated as a potential first-round trade partner for the Vikings, all but confirmed McCarthy's own feelings about the possibility of landing in Minnesota.
"It would mean the world," McCarthy previously told "The Adam Schefter Podcast" of potentially landing with the Vikings. "Just because Coach (Kevin) O'Connell, he's a guy that I'd run through a brick wall for. Everything that he wants to do with his football team is something that I wanna be a part of. Obviously, being in the NFC North, being a Bears fan my entire life, and being able to play at Soldier Field and stay in the Midwest and all that good stuff, it'd be just a dream come true. Obviously the weapons there are limitless, so ... it'd be a blessing to be a part of it."
Harbaugh isn't the only one celebrating McCarthy's dream come true, either. Star Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson quickly reached out to the rookie quarterback on Thursday night, McCarthy revealed to reporters, sharing his "Jets" nickname to avoid confusion over the "real J.J." in Minnesota and encouraging him to have confidence entering his NFL career.
