Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) on the sidelines during the second half of a preseason NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis)

EAGAN, Minn. — Nearly 18 years ago, as J.J. McCarthy strolled out of Soldier Field after attending his first Chicago Bears game, his father stopped to buy them a program for a keepsake to mark their time together that far outweighed the home team’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

The next visit to the old stadium for the McCarthy family will warrant more than a few more souvenirs.

With dozens of relatives and friends in the seats, putting aside their allegiance to the Bears, McCarthy will play in his first NFL game tonight for the visitors who just so happened to be the opponent he saw on that first live look at professional football as a 4-year-old kid.

He’s not just suiting up, either. The 10th overall pick in the 2024 draft, whose debut was delayed by surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, will start at quarterback for a team with a Super Bowl aspiration stacked with Pro Bowl players at nearly every other position after winning 14 games in his absence last season.

“I just try to be completely present,” said McCarthy, who grew up in La Grange Park, a suburb less than 20 miles west of Soldier Field. “There’s going to be anxiousness, excitement and a whole lot of adrenaline, but at the end of the day that’s completely normal. It’s accepting those emotions, able to let go of them a lot quicker rather than try to deflect them and avoid them.”

It was hardly a lost season, though. The Vikings were particularly intentional about immersing McCarthy into every aspect of playing quarterback for this team, whether it was sending him to defensive meetings for exposure to game plans on that side of the ball, sitting him down with the virtual reality video of Darnold’s reps in practice or one-on-one time with the head coach and resident expert on the position. Quarterbacks coach Josh McCown served as another invaluable resource.

Whenever he wasn’t in the training room rehabilitating his knee, McCarthy asked questions of anyone he could get an audience with, endearing himself to the players and staff and building the foundation for the leadership role he’s now fully immersed in.