We’ve reached the dead part of the offseason, and the Minnesota Vikings have little news going around outside of the impending training camp. But just because there’s not much football news doesn’t mean there’s no news at all — like, for instance, Olivia Rodrigo announcing her soon-to-be-released third studio album.
Rodrigo is coming off back-to-back hits from her debut and sophomore albums, Sour and Guts, both of which topped the charts.
Like the Vikings, Rodrigo has managed to become associated with both the color purple and unfathomable heartbreak. Also, like the Vikings, she has had a busy offseason, headlining events like Glastonbury and Lollapalooza. Meanwhile, the Vikings were busy in free agency with their big additions on both sides of the ball.
I thought it would be a fun exercise to compare some prominent former and current Vikings players to songs in Rodrigo’s discography.
Now, maybe you’re saying, Preet, there is no way that any Vikings players have any sort of similarities to songs that a woman wrote in her late teens/early 20s. First, I would advise you to broaden your musical perspective and discard your prejudices. Secondly, I would tell you that a lot of the lyrics apply to some of the players you love watching on Sundays.
Harrison Smith – Teenage Dream
Rodrigo’s “Teenage Dream” is a beautiful piano ballad about the end of one’s youth, the struggles that come with the pressures of growing up, and the weight of expectation. It also expresses the fears of unfulfilled potential, despite already having an impressive career.
In many ways, the song perfectly encapsulates Harrison Smith’s career with the Vikings. While it’s unfair to put the “unfulfilled potential” label on Smith, there are some similarities in the song that feel so poignant when discussing Smith’s overall career.
Rodrigo sings, “But I fear that they already got all the best parts of me, and I’m sorry that I couldn’t always be your teenage dream.”
In some ways, fans may have already seen the “best parts” of Smith’s career. He has gone from a superstar to a veteran leading the next generation.
The bridge of the song goes, “They all say that it gets better, it gets better the more you go, yeah they all say that it gets better, but what if I don’t?”
There was considerable promise surrounding the Vikings earlier in Smith’s career. The 2017 team made it to the NFC Championship game. It looked like that core should have had more success in the next few years, but it was unable to replicate its 2017 run.
Sam Darnold – Scared of My Guitar
Have you ever done everything right in a relationship, only for the other party to move on to someone they had been planning to be with? In some ways, the song “Scared of My Guitar” perfectly encapsulates Sam Darnold’s career.
The USC gunslinger joined the Vikings under the pretense that he’d only be here for a year. Still, after J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury, Darnold took over for the entire season and won over fans with his play, which led to 14 wins despite the disappointing ending. Even though Darnold played as well as he did, the Vikings clearly had one foot out the door the entire relationship.
Rodrigo sings, “Perfect, easy, so good to me, so why is there a pit in my gut in the shape of you? Distract myself, say it’s something else. Maybe I’m just overwhelmed. Maybe I’m confused.”
Speaking about a guy who is everything she wanted, but for some reason, it just isn’t working. In some ways, after the Cousins era, Darnold was the refresh that the team needed. Still, despite all Darnold’s best efforts, the team moved on from him in search of something better. While the era ended disastrously, it was overwhelmingly better than the years that had come before it.
Although neither can find fault in the people they are currently with, Rodrigo and the Vikings veer off in a way near the end. While Rodrigo says, “So we’ll stay together ’cause, how could I ever trade somethin’ that’s good for what’s right?” The Vikings made their decision and let what was good go for what they deemed was right.
Justin Jefferson – All-American Bitch
Enough of the depressing stuff. Here it feels like Rodrigo is singing about Justin Jefferson, an all-time-great wide receiver in his prime, in “All-American Bitch,” a song all about juxtapositions and the inherent contradictions, which somehow describes Jefferson.
Rodrigo opens the song by singing that she is “built like a mother and a total machine,” emphasizing her nurturing aspect and her more lethal side. In some ways, Jefferson is built similarly. In an era where the conversation often revolves around how a receiver fits a certain mold, Jefferson is an exception who can do it all. He thrives after the catch, in possession, and contested catch situations.
In the Netflix docuseries “Receiver,” Jefferson acknowledged the off-field side of Justin, who is calm, cool, and collected, and his on-field alter ego, Jets, who is arrogant and self-confident.
Rodrigo mimics a similar juxtaposition in this song, oscillating between heavy rock themes and screaming into the microphone to almost a lullaby. She has lyrics like, “I scream inside to deal with it. Like, ‘Ah’ Like, ‘Ah’ to “All the time. I’m grateful all the time. I’m sexy and I’m kind. I’m pretty when I cry.”
Aaron Jones – Enough for You
Has there ever been a time in your life when you’ve given someone so much time and effort only to see them turn around really quickly and get with someone else? Have you ever seen your former person talk about how superior this new person is?
That’s the theme Rodrigo explores in “Enough For You.” It’s similar to what Aaron Jones went through in his separation from the Green Bay Packers.
Rodrigo sings about changing her personality and making sacrifices for this person in hopes that she will “be enough” for them, saying, “Tried so hard to be everything that you liked. Just for you to say you’re not the compliment type.”
That’s remarkably similar to what Jones experienced in his final seasons with the Green Bay Packers. He took a pay cut, played through injuries, and continued to play even after his father’s passing.
Rodrigo later sings about the way this person disrespected her, saying, “Don’t you think I loved you too much to be used and discarded? Don’t you think I loved you too much to think I deserve nothing?”
The Packers similarly discarded Jones the moment they were able to bring in Josh Jacobs to replace him.
However, Rodrigo adds a hopeful element to the song, singing, “But don’t tell me you’re sorry, boy. Feel sorry for yourself. ‘Cause someday I’ll be everything to somebody else.”
Similarly, Jones was everything to Minnesota’s rushing attack last season, and they rewarded him in the same way, giving him a pay raise on his contract extension.
“The Grudge” and “Traitor” both work for Jones as well.
Jordan Addison – Drivers License
Sorry. Easy joke.
Dallas Turner – Jealousy, Jealousy
I know it might be weird to compare a first-round pick feeling jealousy to that of the then 18-year-old singer-songwriter. However, you’ve made it this far, so walk with me.
While Dallas Turner was the 17th-overall pick in the draft, he was projected to be a top-10 pick. Instead, he ended up being the third edge rusher taken in his class behind Jared Verse and Laiatu Latu.
Verse and Latu went to situations where they were immediately the starters. Meanwhile, Turner had to sit behind two All-Pro-level edge rushers, Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard, watching them gain all the accolades and adoration of the fans. Some people started throwing around the term “bust.”
Rodrigo sings of similar struggles, saying, “And I see everyone gettin’ all the things I want. I’m happy for them, but then again, I’m not.”
There is a similarity between Rodrigo and Turner, seeing their peers getting the things that they covet. While they are happy for them, an underlying feeling of jealousy remains.
