Vikings rookies J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner struggle with the first pitch

J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner attempted first pitches at Tuesday’s Twins game. They did not go well

The Minnesota Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft because both are incredible athletes on the football field. Turner was one of the top pass rushers in this draft class, and is coming off an 11-sack season for Alabama. McCarthy was part of a deep quarterback crop, and helped the Michigan Wolverines to a National Championship a season ago.

We bring all that up to highlight the fact that they are great football players, but might not be cut out for a career on the mound.

The Vikings rookies were all invited to Tuesday night’s Minnesota Twins game, with Turner and McCarthy tasked with throwing out the ceremonial first pitches.

It did not go well.

Turner was up first, and airmailed a throw over Twins’ third base coach Tommy Watkins that reached the backstop. McCarthy was up next, and seemed to throw a slider that cut into the dirt on the left-handed hitter’s side of home plate:

Here is another angle of McCarthy’s effort:

To be fair, both rookies went right to the top of the mound, rather than attempting a throw closer to home plate.

As one of the other members of Minnesota’s rookie class summarized things:

“That was scary.”

Hopefully for both Turner and McCarthy, things go better on the gridiron this fall.