The Minnesota Vikings had to make a change at captain this season after OT Brian O’Neill went on the IR. Former Michigan standout Josh Metellus took O’Neill’s place and described what the feeling was like.

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell allowed the team to vote in a new captain and at no point did Metellus think about potentially being named one.

“Coach asked the leadership group how they’d feel appointing a captain or voting for a captain, and they chose to vote like we did during training camp,” Metellus explained. “Not at any point did I think I was going to be the name called.”

O’Connell began talking about the new captain and Metellus’ heart started racing. He couldn’t believe that is was actually happening as Metellus had dreamed about it for quite some time.

But K.O. was speaking, and my heart was starting to pound a little bit, just intuition, my instincts kicking in. I’m like, ‘There’s no way. Could this actually be [happening]?’. It’s something I’ve dreamt about ever since starting football, is being a leader on any team – that was always the goal. When he said ‘Josh Metellus will be our new captain,’ I wanted to cry right then and there.

Metelllus was selected in the 6th round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Vikings. Metellus has played in 17 games for Minnesota this season with 43 total tackles, 1 interception, and 1 tackle for loss.