Justin Jamal Jefferson (born June 16, 1999) is an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
wide receiver for the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
at
LSU
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
and was drafted by the Vikings in the first round of the
2020 NFL Draft
The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...
. He then set an NFL rookie record for receiving yards with 1,400 (a record that was broken in 2021 by his former LSU teammate
Ja'Marr Chase
Ja'Marr Anthony Chase (born March 1, 2000) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU, where he won the Fred Biletnikoff Award and the 2020 College Fo ...
) and was named to the
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
. Jefferson has been a Pro Bowler and a second-team
All-Pro
All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...
in each of his first two seasons.
Early years
Jefferson attended
Destrehan High School
Destrehan High School is a public high school located in Destrehan, Louisiana, United States and is approximately twenty-five miles west of New Orleans. It is part of the St. Charles Parish Public School System and serves all students on the eas ...
in
Destrehan, Louisiana
Destrehan is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 11,340.
Etymology
The community is named after Jean Noël Destréhan (1754–1823), who was twice President of ...
. A low three-star prospect, ranked by 247Sports as the nation's 308th best wide receiver coming out of high school, he committed to
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
(LSU) to play college football.
College career
![LSUvsNWLA 698A (49104691303)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/LSUvsNWLA_698A_%2849104691303%29.jpg)
Jefferson played at LSU for three years under head coach
Ed Orgeron
Edward James Orgeron Jr. (; born July 27, 1961) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), a position he held from midway through the 2016 season until the 2021 season. Orger ...
.
2017–2018 seasons
After appearing in two games and not recording a catch his first year at LSU in 2017, Jefferson was their leading receiver in 2018 with 54 catches for 875 yards and six
touchdowns
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...
. He scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 65-yard reception from
Joe Burrow
Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with Ohio State, Burrow played college football at LSU, where he won the Heisma ...
against
Ole Miss on September 29, 2018. He had two games going over the 100-yard mark with 108 in a victory over
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
and 117 in a victory over
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
.
2019 season
In the Tigers' second game of the 2019 season, Jefferson had nine receptions for 163 yards and three touchdowns in a 45–38 victory on the road against
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. On October 12, against
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, he had ten receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown in the 42–28 victory. In the
SEC Championship
The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regula ...
, against
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, he had seven receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown in the 37–10 victory. Jefferson and the Tigers qualified for the College Football Playoffs with an undefeated record in the 2019 season. He had a historic performance in the
Peach Bowl
The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...
, catching 14 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns against the
Oklahoma Sooners
The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...
in the College Football Playoff Semifinals. All four touchdowns came in the first half, and set a
College Football Playoff
The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...
game record and tied the record for any bowl game. In the
National Championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...
against
Clemson, he had nine receptions for 106 yards in the 42–25 victory. In his junior season, Jefferson led the country with 111 receptions. His 18 receiving touchdowns ranked second in the country—behind only teammate
Ja'Marr Chase
Ja'Marr Anthony Chase (born March 1, 2000) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU, where he won the Fred Biletnikoff Award and the 2020 College Fo ...
—and his 1,540 receiving yards were third most. He had eight games going over the 100-yard mark. On January 15, 2020, Jefferson announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
.
Statistics
Professional career
Jefferson was selected by the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
in the first round with the 22nd overall pick in the
2020 NFL Draft
The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...
. The Vikings previously obtained the 22nd selection as part of a blockbuster trade that sent wide receiver
Stefon Diggs
Stefon Marsean Diggs (born November 29, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Maryland, and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round ...
to the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
. Jefferson signed a four-year, $13.12 million contract with the team, with a $7.1 million signing bonus. Jefferson was placed on the reserve/
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
list by the team on July 27, 2020, before being cleared and activated a week later.
2020
Jefferson made his debut in Week 1 against the
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
, recording two receptions for 26 yards. He made his first start of the season in a Week 3 game against the
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...
, where he had his first big breakthrough by finishing with 175 receiving yards and a touchdown on seven receptions, but the Vikings lost 30–31. He followed up that performance the next week with four receptions for 103 yards in a 31–23 win over the
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
. In doing so, he became just the fifth rookie wide receiver in Vikings history to have back-to-back games with at least 100 yards receiving. During Week 6 against the
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
, Jefferson finished with nine receptions for 166 receiving yards and two touchdowns .
In Week 13 against the
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...
, Jefferson recorded nine catches for 121 yards and a touchdown during a 27–24 overtime win, in this game he broke the 1,000 receiving yard mark. In Week 15 against the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
, Jefferson broke
Randy Moss
Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee ...
's Vikings rookie receiving record by catching eight passes, putting him at 74 receptions, surpassing the 69 catches Moss had in 1998.
By the season's end, Jefferson had set the NFL record for most receiving yards (1,400) by a rookie in NFL history after surpassing
Anquan Boldin
Anquan Kenmile Boldin Sr. (; born October 3, 1980) is a former American football wide receiver who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State University and was drafted by the Arizona Ca ...
's 1,377 yards in 2003 (although his record would be broken by his former LSU teammate
Ja'Marr Chase
Ja'Marr Anthony Chase (born March 1, 2000) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU, where he won the Fred Biletnikoff Award and the 2020 College Fo ...
the following season). He was one of only two rookies named to the
2021 Pro Bowl
The 2021 Pro Bowl was to be the National Football League all-star game for the 2020 NFL season, originally scheduled to be played on January 31, 2021, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
On October 14, 2020, the NFL announced that it had c ...
, alongside defensive end
Chase Young
Chase Young (born April 14, 1999) is an American football defensive end for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Maryland, he played college football at Ohio State University for the Buckeyes. During hi ...
of the
Washington Football Team
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...
. He was named Rookie of the Year by the ''
Sporting News
The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
''. He was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team. He was ranked 53rd by his fellow players on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2021
NFL Top 100 Players of 2021 is the eleventh season in the NFL Top 100 series. It premiered on August 15, 2021, and concluded on August 28, 2021. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was named the number one player.
Episode list
The ...
.
2021
Jefferson's season started strong, putting up over 100 receiving yards against
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, and the
Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
over the first eight games of the season. In Week 11, Jefferson had eight catches for 169 yards and two touchdowns in a 34–31 win over the
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
, earning NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In Week 13, Jefferson caught 11 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown in a 29–27 loss to the
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
. Jefferson's 464 yards and three touchdowns through four games in the month of November earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Month, the first of his career. During Week 16, Jefferson passed
Odell Beckham Jr.
Odell Cornelious Beckham Jr. (born November 5, 1992), commonly known by his initials OBJ, is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Beckham played college football at LSU and was drafted by the ...
for most receiving yards by a player in his first two NFL seasons.
Jefferson finished the season with 1,616 receiving yards, good for second-most in the NFL in 2021, and just 16 yards short of Randy Moss's single-season franchise record. Jefferson was named to the
2022 Pro Bowl
The 2022 Pro Bowl was the National Football League all-star game for the 2021 NFL season. It was played at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, on February 6, 2022. ESPN, ABC and Disney XD had the national television rights. Voting for the gam ...
, joining
Randy Moss
Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee ...
and
Sammy White as the only three Vikings wide receivers to make Pro Bowls in each of their first two professional seasons. For the second consecutive year, Jefferson was named a second-team member of the AP
All-Pro
All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...
team, missing a spot on the first-team by a single vote. He was ranked 17th by his fellow players on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2022
NFL Top 100 Players of 2022 is the twelfth season in the NFL Top 100 series. It premiered on August 14, 2022 and concluded on August 28, 2022. Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was the number one player for the fourth time.
Episode list
...
.
2022
![Justin Jefferson Commanders vs Vikings NOV2022](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Justin_Jefferson_Commanders_vs_Vikings_NOV2022.jpg)
Against the
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
in Week 1, Jefferson caught nine passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the 23–7 win. During Week 4 against the
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
at
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in north London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850, it is the third-largest football stadium in England and the ...
, Jefferson finished with 147 receiving yards and a rushing touchdown as the Vikings won 28–25. The following week against
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
, Jefferson caught a career-high 12 catches resulting in 154 yards receiving in the 29–22 win. Jefferson's third catch of the game marked 227 career receptions, surpassing Randy Moss for the franchise record of the most receptions in the first three years of a career.
Against the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
in Week 10, Jefferson caught 10 passes for a career-high 193 yards and a touchdown. One of these catches came with two minutes left in the fourth quarter where on 4th down and 18, Jefferson made a one-handed catch for 32 yards, wrestling the ball away from Bills cornerback
Cam Lewis
Cameron Lewis (born April 13, 1997) is an American football cornerback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2019. He played college football at the Buffalo ...
on the way to the ground. The catch was widely heralded as one of the greatest of all time, and his arm sleeves and gloves from the game were put on display in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
. The Vikings went on to win 33–30 in overtime.
In Week 12, against the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
, he had nine receptions for 139 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown in the 33–26 victory. In the game against the Patriots, Jefferson passed Moss for the most receiving yards in a player's first three seasons. In Week 14 against the
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
, Jefferson recorded 11 receptions for 223 yards, setting the Vikings single-game record for receiving yards, in the 34–23 road loss. Additionally, in week 15 against the
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
, Jefferson recorded 12 receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown, setting his season total to 1,623 yards, a new career high.
NFL career statistics
Personal life
His brothers,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and Rickey, also played college football at LSU. Their father, John, played
Division II college basketball. On April 27, 2021, Jefferson was the first NFL player to be added to
Fortnite
''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to-p ...
with his dance, the
Griddy
Griddy was an American power retailer that formerly sold energy to people in the state of Texas at wholesale prices for a $10 monthly membership fee and had approximately 29,000 members. The company itself was based in California.
History
G ...
.
References
External links
Minnesota Vikings bioLSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Justin
1999 births
Living people
People from St. Rose, Louisiana
Players of American football from Louisiana
American football wide receivers
Destrehan High School alumni
LSU Tigers football players
Minnesota Vikings players
National Conference Pro Bowl players