‘Breath of fresh air’: Panthers’ Adam Thielen starts over with new team, new QB

Adam Thielen grew up in Minnesota, played college football there and then spent 10 years with the Vikings after they signed him as undrafted free agent in 2013.

He is a Minnesotan through and through, right down to the accent (though nowhere near as strong as those from the movie “Fargo”). Moving anywhere would have produced some level of culture shock for Thielen after three-plus decades in his native state.

But Thielen is adjusting well to Charlotte after signing a three-year, $25 million deal with the Panthers in March. The veteran wide receiver and his wife bought a house, found schools for their kids and have tried some Southern fried chicken. Next up, maybe: grits, washed down with some sweet tea.

Thielen also is connecting with the Panthers’ staff and players, including rookie quarterback and No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young. But Thielen, who turns 33 in August, is having a little tougher time with the idea that he’s now considered old by NFL standards.

During a phone interview Monday with The Athletic, Thielen discussed what steps he’s taken to combat the aging process, his interaction with Young before he knew he’d be playing with the Alabama quarterback and what it’s like to move to a new team and region after such a long time in one place.

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While some answers have been edited for brevity and clarity, here’s Thielen on …

Leaving the Vikings

It’s like going to college again or starting all over as a rookie again. You’re learning all new teammates, coaches, everyone throughout the organization and then the city as well. A lot of change, obviously. But for us and for where I’m at in my career, it’s kind of been a breath of fresh air, a fresh start. And for my family, couldn’t ask for a better place to land if we weren’t going to be in Minnesota. A great family place. You could feel that from the minute we got here, looking at schools and looking at areas to live. We’re really excited as a family to be here.

Being labeled as old

It is weird for me because it happened so fast. I feel like I just came into the league and I was just trying to make it for one day. And now all of a sudden, boom, people are saying you’re too old and too slow. And I’m like, wait a second, I just got here. How am I too old and too slow? At the end of the day, people don’t actually watch the tape. They just look at stats and look at what people are saying about someone, and they don’t actually look and see what you’re doing. Sometimes it can be frustrating as a player. But at the same time, it gives you a little chip on your shoulder. When I’m training in the offseason, that’s in the back of my head. I better work my butt off to show I can still run and be explosive and still look like I’m young, even though to most people — especially in this league — I’m old.

Scott Fitterer saying Thielen’s route running and technique make him effective even if he loses a step

I don’t want to fall away from what got me here. That was a big focus this offseason, making sure I’m light and fast and explosive. In this league, you have to be able to put speed on people and you have to have that quickness at the top of your route to explode and get in and out of breaks. And you can’t fake that stuff. I want to be able to prove that I can still run and be explosive. But the greats at this position not only use speed to win, they win route running and top-of-the-route (technique) and change of direction and angles, and how you come out of your breaks. There’s definitely a time where things are gonna slow down a little bit and you have to rely even more on that stuff. But I don’t think I’m at that point yet. Actually I know that I’m not. But I have to go out there and prove that.

Meeting Bryce Young at the Super Bowl

You see all the highlight plays and you hear about how smart he is and his processing ability. But when you meet him as a person, you understand how mature he is for his age and how respectful he is and his knowledge of the game. It really impresses you. And now getting to know him a little bit through the process and his top-30 visit, just really excited now to get on the field with him.

The specifics of that meeting

I was with my wife at the Adidas suite, hanging out there for a little bit. Super Bowl week, there’s a lot going on. People everywhere, seeing guys you know and have relationships with, and doing a lot of interviews and media stuff. He kind of just came up to me and said how much respect he had and he loves my game and things like that. It just kind of shocked me. He didn’t have to do that. For him to go out of his way to say those things just showed how mature and respectful he is as a person, which is really cool.

Panthers rookie QB Bryce Young (Jim Dedmon / USA Today)

The importance of getting a three-year deal from the Panthers

For me and my family, we weren’t looking at anything from a financial perspective. We were looking at it from a proving what they were saying. If a team called and said, “Hey, we want you to be a part of building something special and trying to build a championship-caliber team,” well, you can easily prove that. That’s what was so cool about this organization. What they were saying behind closed doors, they proved it by (the) contract. And just showing they wanted me here for not just a fill-in, show up and fill a gap for a year and then see ya later. I thought that was really cool — when they say one thing and then they back it up. If this was your vision as an organization, as a team, as a coaching staff, I wanted to be a part of that vision. To do that, it required being here a few years.

Preparing his body after playing through injuries in ‘22

Going into last season and for most of the season, it was probably the best I’ve ever felt in my career. Just physically, felt explosive, fast, really confident. So I’m excited to be able to continue off that, being able to come out of the season healthy and being able to start training right away. The older you get, the more you have to do to maintain and feel good on a weekly basis. But I’m really excited about how I feel, especially going into Year 11. As you go through your career and you learn different things, you go into an offseason (and) create a plan. You put good people around you to help create a plan to gain ground. Not just to get back to square one after a long season, (but) gain ground as well.

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His offseason routine

The season before I had ankle surgery. So last offseason wasn’t as efficient or essentially didn’t have as much time as I did this offseason to really gain ground. It was mostly trying to get back to square one and get healthy. So I think the big thing was just locking it back in, dialing in what has helped me feel my best throughout my career. It really comes down to having time and getting people around you as far as nutrition and training and recovery as well. Trying new tactics. I’ve really kind of fell in love with the infra-red sauna and red-light therapy and being really consistent with it.

Adam Thielen caught 70 passes for 716 yards and six TDs last season. (Jeff Hanisch / USA Today)

How Southern cuisine jibes with his nutrition plan

I definitely have to watch what I put in my body, especially where I’m at in my career. I want to make sure that I’m not just inching through the end of my career. I really feel good and explosive and fast and healthy. Part of that is watching what you eat. But I make sure every once in a while I have a cheat meal and usually it comes on the weekend, one day on the weekend where I can step out and have a little bit more fried food. There’s some fantastic food here in Charlotte and a lot of healthy options. But definitely have had to try a little Southern cooking.

His sponsorship deal with an Indiana-based, deli meat company

That goes back to taking care of your body and nutrition. It’s good to have options that are quick and easy, just like Land O’ Frost premium meats. You can get turkey breast, ham, chicken breast and know what you’re getting. And it’s quick and easy, especially when you have a young family. My wife likes to make sandwiches for when they’re at school.

Facing the Vikings in Charlotte this season

I’ve already gotten my mind around having to purchase a lot of tickets for that game. Really cool that we get to play against them. I have so much respect and gratitude for that organization, those owners, the staff there. Everyone that was really a part of giving me an opportunity to play in this league. So there’s no bad blood there whatsoever. But when you’re a competitor, you want to win, right? And it makes it a little bit extra. It’s almost like a rivalry game where you get just a little bit extra excited about that matchup, especially me growing up being a Vikings fan my entire life and then playing for that team for 10 years. It’ll be a really special game.

(Top photo of Adam Thielen: David Berding / Getty Images)