T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings

We continue inside Radio Rose Super Bowl 57. We continue to get you set for the big game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.

And now joining us on behalf of Sleep Number is a man that started his year with the Detroit Lions and wound up with the Minnesota Vikings after the trade deadline, and that is TJ Hockenson. TJ, great to see you. How are you? Great to be here.

I appreciate you for having me. So, we talked after one of your games, and it was right before you were going back to Detroit, and you were getting ready to play the Lions. What was that like for you in the middle of the season? When you hear the speculation you may be traded, you start your career off with Detroit, when you get drafted you think you're going to spend probably your entire career there, that doesn't always happen to the NFL, then you get that notification or you get that call that you were getting dealt to the Vikings.

Yeah, it was a weird call, there's no doubt about it. You think you're going to be in a city for your whole career, but it truly was a great thing for me and my family in the circumstances of it. I really did love Detroit, loved being there for as long as I was. I just truly loved my teammates there. There's some guys that will be brothers for life, but being in Minnesota, being accepted into that locker room halfway through the season, being with a great head coach in KO, and being in the organization that truly has built a culture, was the best thing for me and the best thing for my family and hopefully going to be there for a long time. So sometimes the conversation is so and so is never going to get traded inside the NFC, and then it was okay, you're never going to get traded inside of the division. You had to be shocked when it was Minnesota, right?

Yeah, that was definitely not a call or not a team that I was expecting. When I heard it though, I get to play Detroit twice a year and I get to play some of the guys that I've spent a long time with twice a year was a cool thing for me. Not only that, but to be in the same division, being in the Midwest, I'm a Midwest guy and my family's from the Midwest, so it was super easy for my parents. My parents go to every game, so it's only four and a half hours from Minnesota to my hometown.

So it's super easy to be there for them to come, and so just super excited. It's one of those things you don't get this opportunity very often, but then to be able to do it in Minnesota in a winning organization is incredible. How do you look back at the playoff game up against the Giants and explain what happened?

Yeah, obviously not in a way that we wanted to go out. It was a game that truly was back and forth and kind of came down to the end where it was a fourth and eight and just came up short. New York's a great team. They played their balls off that game, and it was a tough game to be a part of for everyone in that organization.

You look back at the year and you look at all the positives that come from it, it really gives you a lot of hope for the future and to be able to win in Minnesota. So I don't pretend to be an expert, but when I'm watching that last play, I was surprised that they threw the ball to you and it wasn't thrown past the sticks. Did that catch you by surprise when the ball came your way?

There was some pressure in the back of the pocket. Me being the check down late in the progression, going to the flat, I just saw the ball coming and expecting myself to make a play. Falling short was tough, but that's just how the game goes.

That's how it rolls sometimes. To be able to make every play is a standard that you want, but it's never really something that you can get to. It was a tough one, but like I said, there's a lot of positives that come from that year. I'm sure when you come here and you have a playoff team and you don't get to the Super Bowl, when you probably walk around until you're like, wow, I wonder what it's like if TJ Hockenson got to play in a Super Bowl one day, how close do you think Minnesota is and is Kirk the right quarterback to get you guys to the Super Bowl? Kirk's my dog. That's a guy that me coming in halfway through the year, being with two other quarterbacks and two great quarterbacks at that, he's definitely at the top of the spectrum in this league.

The work ethic that he has, the ability he has at quarterback is top notch. To be around that guy, especially coming in halfway through the year and being able to gel the way I did was incredible. I don't think we're going to have to wait too long to be able to come here, but it's just grinding, going to work. Just to be here in Arizona at this event is something you want to come to. Being able to work with Sleep Number, a Minnesota based company, and being part of the Vikings is truly incredible. That's the way you got to get here. It's through sleep and being able to work with the American Cancer Society and have that partnership.

I was at the University of Iowa for three years and working with the Cancer Society at Children's Hospital and going up there and visiting these kids that are truly fighting for their life. Kind of just trying to give a spark with them. It's just a natural partnership. Grateful to be here.

TJ Hopkinson here with us on behalf of Sleep Number. You and Dan Campbell probably just got along. I look at Dan Campbell, I look at you, I feel like you two guys can really just mesh.

Yeah, obviously not well enough. Being part of that was cool for just a little bit. Did you guys have a good relationship? Yeah, it was all good.

To be in Detroit, it was solid. I had a better relationship with the players, for sure. I got a lot better relationship with KO and the Minnesota Vikings. Like I said, it was a good trade for me.

Very blessed to be a part of this organization that I am now. I wouldn't rather play under a better head coach than KO. So I know that you have relationships inside that locker room, but then you get traded inside division. Then you see Detroit go on that run. Was it weird to feel happy for those guys because you are competing up against them?

Yeah, a little bit. On the same hand, we had already clinched the division. It was one of those things where I was happy for those guys.

I was in that locker room for a long time. When you lose a lot like we were, and you lose a lot of coach games like we were, that's tough as a player. The fight for, you kind of look in the mirror and you're like, man, what am I doing this for?

We're trying to win these games and it's just not falling our way. So I was happy for a lot of those guys that I had been drafted with. It had been a grind for these last three and a half, four years that we were there. I'm happy for my boys.

That's really what it is. You play in this league for a long time and you get close to players and you do. To be traded to Minnesota, I played Minnesota twice a year my whole career. I had relationships already in that locker room. It was such an easy transition to be able to be like, hey, what's up, Harry? What's up, Eric? EK, JJ, Adam, these guys in that locker room that I had already seen twice a year that kind of built a relationship in that, but then actually be able to see them every day, really be on their side and understand what they're doing.

Not only in the locker room, but as an organization was incredible. Last thing I'll ask you. When you get set for an NFC North game this upcoming year against the Packers, do you think Rogers will be there? That's a good question. The more I'm seeing, the more I'm thinking it's unlikely, but you never know. You never know. This game and this league is truly business based at the end of it.

You just never know how it's going to go and what guys are going to be there. TJ Hopkinson, good to see you once again on behalf of Sleep Number. Thanks so much.

Thank you. The biggest game of the year, the Super Bowl is on Odyssey and Westwood One brings it to you streaming live for free Sunday, February 12th on the Odyssey app. The Eagles have been the NFC's best team. Touchdown, Travis Kelce. It's the Eagles versus the Chiefs.

The Kansas City Chiefs. The Philadelphia Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. Catch all the action from Westwood One, your Super Bowl, your Odyssey.

Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. The biggest game of the year, the Super Bowl is on Odyssey and Westwood One brings it to you streaming live for free Sunday, February 12th on the Odyssey app. The Eagles have been the NFC's best team. Touchdown, Travis Kelce. It's the Eagles versus the Chiefs.

The Kansas City Chiefs. The Philadelphia Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. Catch all the action from Westwood One, your Super Bowl, your Odyssey.

Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. The biggest game of the year, the Super Bowl is on Odyssey and Westwood One brings it to you streaming live for free Sunday, February 12th on the Odyssey app. The Eagles have been the NFC's best team. Touchdown, Travis Kelce. It's the Eagles versus the Chiefs. The Kansas City Chiefs. The Philadelphia Eagles are going to the Super Bowl again. Catch all the action from Westwood One, your Super Bowl, your Odyssey. Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today.