After struggling through the first four weeks of the season while sparking frustration among his wide receivers, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins turned in a season-best performance. He led his team to a decisive victory and received a congratulatory call from President Donald Trump.
A spokesperson for the Vikings confirmed to WCCO4 CBS Minnesota that the president had indeed phoned Cousins to “briefly congratulate him and the Vikings on the win in New York.” This followed the 28-10 win over the Giants in which Cousins found wide receiver Adam Thielen for two touchdowns and finished with 306 yards through the air.
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According to a source, Trump and Cousins briefly discussed a rally that will be taking place at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Thursday evening. However, the purpose of the call was not the rally. The team also said that Cousins will not be attending.
As the $84 million man under center, Cousins was expected to lead this offense to greatness after an inconsistent 2018 campaign. However, the early portions of the year did not pan out as expected. The Vikings reached 2-2 on the season while defeating the Falcons and Raiders but lost to division rivals in the Bears and the Packers.
This battle with Chicago, in particular, caused many headlines due to Thielen seemingly calling out his quarterback and Cousins responding by publicly apologizing. Also, fellow receiver Stefon Diggs was absent from multiple practices amid reports that he wants out of Minnesota.
There was considerable turmoil surrounding this Vikings squad heading into Sunday, but Cousins shut down some of the criticism with his performance. He will need to continue producing to keep the doubters at bay, but this game against the Giants was a step in that direction.
Interestingly enough, this was not the first interaction between President Trump and the Vikings quarterback. Back when he was playing for the Washington Redskins, Cousins was invited to play a round of golf with the president. As he explained to Sports Illustrated at the time, there was no way he was turning down an opportunity to golf with the President of the United States.
“I got an invite,” Cousins said in the 2017 interview. “I thought somebody was pranking me. … Look, if it had been any president – far left, far right, middle – I was gonna go. That’s the President of the United States. If any other former president would love to play golf, I’m open to it. Let me know. … I want to win football games first and foremost. But I also want to be enlightened and educated on issues and just keep an open mind, keep a listening ear. I constantly want to be learning, growing and better understanding things. And see where that takes us.”
