LA GRANGE PARK, Ill. — The father of the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback of the future shifts over, swipes at his phone, and leans in to show a picture.
“Check this out,” Jim McCarthy exclaims.
The image displays a kid with shaggy blond hair donning an oversized Iowa State football jersey, looking quite small at just 85 pounds. J.J. appears like a pipsqueak.
“Pretty crazy, right?”
What is truly remarkable is how ordinary it all seems. The family’s fluffy dogs, Hubert and Blue, are contained in the kitchen, barking away. J.J.’s mother, Megan, a project manager for a staffing firm, is downstairs handling work calls on her laptop. It’s a mid-July morning roughly 15 miles from downtown Chicago. As NFL training camps draw near, if not for Jim’s gray hoodie with subtle purple and gold details, there would be no indication that a member of this household is a high school football player, let alone the Vikings’ first-round pick.
There are no framed jerseys on the walls, no football photos adorning the entryway. It’s a humble kitchen table, a living room, and a cluttered, screened-in deck. Jim, who works in sales for a waste management company, lounges comfortably like he’s hanging out with his buddies.
He recounts the night leading up to the Iowa State picture, and as he does, a Twitter notification chimes in:
Sources: Minnesota Vikings No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy is signing a four-year, fully-guaranteed contract worth $21.85 million that includes a $12.71 million signing bonus and a fifth-year team option. pic.twitter.com/Cc9CE8A4nj
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 19, 2024
I show Jim my phone.
“What’s this?” He leans in to see. “Oh, OK.”
“Did you know this was happening?”
“Not at all. Awesome!”
“You didn’t even know?”
“Had no clue!”
A while later, Megan opens the door to the deck and mentions she’s stepping out for errands.
“Did you see J signed?” Jim asks.
“Huh?” Megan responds.
“J signed his contract,” Jim informs her.
“Really?” Megan exclaims. “He never gives us a heads up on anything!”
Jim chuckles, shrugs, and remarks, “That’s just how we roll.”
The family did not travel to Minnesota for J.J.’s introduction press conference with the Vikings. Jim has not yet met head coach Kevin O’Connell. When questioned about J.J. potentially sitting behind veteran Sam Darnold at the start of the season, Jim speaks as if his son is in a corporate profession.
“If you want a promotion, you have to earn it in life,” Jim states. “It’s a career. Ultimately, it’s a job where performance determines promotions. So, go out there and perform, or find another job.”
While it may seem that the McCarthy parents are somewhat detached from their son’s achievements, the reality is the opposite. As a family, they made a decision long ago that maintaining space and normalcy would allow their child to remain just that — a child.
Thanks for having me @IowaStateFB @ISUMattCampbell @JimHofher @CoachGolesh @CoachDHoodjer @CoachJGordo @EDGYTIM @AlexHalsted @NxtLevelAtx pic.twitter.com/VR7A6YgMCq
— J.J. McCarthy (@jjmccarthy09) March 25, 2018
J.J. McCarthy’s initial private quarterbacks coach rises from his perch on some metal bleachers to demonstrate a throw.
“So, he moves like this,” Greg Holcomb says, mimicking a leftward rollout.
He twists his hips and imitates a sidearm toss.
“And we were like, ‘Wow!’” Holcomb recalls. “That was right here. When he was so young.”
“Right here” is an ordinary turf field at Doerhoefer Park, roughly 10 miles from the McCarthys’ residence. This is where, after one of their initial sessions, with the sun setting and Megan waiting in the car, Holcomb informed J.J.: “Dude, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a seventh-grader throw a football as smoothly, naturally, and effortlessly as you do.”
Time whizzed by. Jim took J.J. to a camp at North Central College in Naperville, J.J. impressed Iowa State coaches, and subsequently, their recruitment of J.J. escalated rapidly. With an offer from Iowa State and a growth spurt, things intensified. Holcomb’s coaching business thrived as local parents recognized him as J.J.’s coach. While Holcomb managed the influx of trainees, he pondered how J.J. was handling the sudden fame. Urban Meyer was making his pitch at Ohio State, Joe Burrow was advocating for LSU, and amidst it all, social media erupted with a mix of support and hate from various fan bases. The mailbox overflowed with handwritten letters, coaches called, texts needed responding.
J.J. juggled winning games for Nazareth Academy on Fridays, wooing college coaches on Saturdays, tackling homework on Sundays, and being a regular kid during the week. Jim, Megan, J.J.’s sisters, Caitlin and Morgan, and now fiancée, Katya Kuropas, endeavored to assist him in managing it all. When new Ohio State coach Ryan Day shocked the family by reneging on Meyer’s promise during an in-person meeting, Megan prompted J.J. to explore Michigan. Despite J.J.’s enduring gratitude for Iowa State’s initial belief, Jim still saying, “We still adore Matt Campbell,” there was something special about Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh’s faith in the young quarterback that captured J.J.’s heart.
J.J. realized during his freshman year in Ann Arbor that he needed his parents not in managerial roles, but as a support system.
Jim and Megan McCarthy with son J.J. after he helped lead Michigan to victory in the national championship game against Washington. (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
Jim McCarthy remains on the screened-in deck in the backyard and shows different pictures.
He uncovers a photo of J.J.’s “GOAT book,” a journal where J.J. writes inspirational messages.
“Look here: Brady, the mindset of a champion … Michael Jordan’s 10 rules of success … Kobe Bryant … This was all in high school. This is how he thinks … Muhammad Ali.”
He scrolls through more photos on his phone.
“Here’s something many don’t know about him…”
When J.J. was just a high school junior, Megan installed a large whiteboard in his room. Each week, he filled it with dry-erase marker ink, analyzing his opponents, noting down defensive strategies, and identifying vulnerabilities he could exploit.
Jim reveals the whiteboard picture ahead of the 2019 state championship game against Mount Carmel. The board was covered with notes like: On trips, that corner takes the receiver vertical … Easily their worst cover corner … Call McDaniels.
“That was a reminder for him to call Ben McDaniels, the former quarterbacks coach at Michigan, who recruited him,” Jim explains.
“So what happened in that game? We lost,” Jim continues. “The weather was terrible. So, he comes home, obviously frustrated. The next morning, he wakes up and says, ‘I need to go for a run.’ It’s 6 a.m. He heads out, and I go into his room. The entire whiteboard is different.”
Jim swipes on the phone, revealing an image resembling something out of “A Beautiful Mind.” An NFL logo is intricately drawn at the center of the whiteboard. At the top, in bold, the score of the game reads: 37-13. The board is filled with phrases and quotes.
This s— is not easy … What are you willing to do? … Dreams would not be dreams if they were easy … Overrated … Don’t bounce around in the pocket … Two hands on the ball … How bad do you want it?
Look what we found on the street posts on 31st Street in LGP. @jjmccarthy09 pic.twitter.com/Jf9BdCKi8p
— Nazareth Academy Football (@FootballNaz) April 1, 2024
The subsequent photo on Jim’s phone is another revealing image. On a sheet of loose-leaf paper, scrawled in untidy writing is the message: One goal: Be the greatest f—ing quarterback to ever come through here.
J.J. pinned that in his freshman dorm at Ann Arbor. Regarding Tom Brady?
“We always said, if your friends aren’t laughing at your goals, you’re not setting them high enough,” Jim explains.
J.J. proceeded to become one of Michigan’s most accomplished quarterbacks. He triumphed over Ohio State three times, cast aside his customary eye black so Day could see him clearly. As Michigan charged ahead toward a national championship, Jim and Megan mostly remained out of the limelight. The only responsibility Jim took on, at J.J.’s request, was delivering checks to local children’s hospitals in the city of each team Michigan played.
This all may seem advanced, beyond his years — almost a professional mindset at such a young age. How do parents instill in a child such a big-picture view? What parenting strategies inspire this level of awareness? What is it like to witness a child so dedicated to achieving their goals?
Indirectly, I posed these questions to Jim.
“His life has been on fast-forward,” Jim reflects. “He’s handled it well. But he’s still a young kid. I want him to make mistakes. There’s still so much for him to learn. He’s only a 21-year-old.”
Good times as Megan & Jim McCarthy share the morning with @tomhouse. pic.twitter.com/0k1W1Ibjj2
— Todd J. Anson (@TJA4Michigan) December 31, 2022
Years ago, before fame descended, Holcomb asked J.J. to babysit his son Sam.
J.J. readily accepted the task. He arrived with Katya, and together they handled the responsibility. J.J.’s standout moment? Crafted some grilled cheese sandwiches.
“Sam thought they were the best he’d ever had,” Holcomb laughs, “just because J.J. made them.”
Had a blast watching Sammy Holcomb and the Tiny Mite Patriots DOMINATE today 49-0! @NxtLevelAtx @QBCoachHolc pic.twitter.com/oumGSz5a8c
— J.J. McCarthy (@jjmccarthy09) October 28, 2018
Years later, Sam is now in seventh grade. Interestingly, he not only plays quarterback, but he’s considered the best in the country at his age.
About a month ago, Michigan offered him the first scholarship. Jim informed J.J. of the news, prompting J.J. to send Sam a direct message.
Holcomb displays a screenshot of it.
“Congrats, fam,” Holcomb reads J.J.’s words. “Well deserved because of all the work that you already put in. But I’m here to tell you that you’re not even getting started yet and haven’t even scratched the surface of your potential. I’ll love you for life, but please, if you can promise me one thing, continue to work your balls off until you hang the cleats up. Let me know if you ever need anything.
“Just the beginning.”
Implied in that last sentence is a message for Holcomb too. It signifies the commencement of a well-versed parenting journey.
Jim holds wisdom in Holcomb’s situation, so Holcomb has begun seeking advice. The evident theme in Jim’s guidance? Be a parent, not an overbearing coach or manager. And if the child has a genuine passion for it, there’s no limit to what they can achieve.
(Top photo: Nick Wosika / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)