‘Little Bulldog’ Brandon Powell is a big Vikings X-factor as WR embraces Midwest, 2024 Super Bowl hopes

EAGAN, Minn. — Justin Jefferson is the face of the Minnesota Vikings, and the headliner of one of the most talented wide receiver groups in the NFL. He’s noticed wherever he goes. Not just for the luster of defeat provided by one of the richest contracts in league history, but for the spunky personality that has thrust a franchise still bereft of Super Bowl shine into the national spotlight.

He is a superstar in every sense of the word.

It’s the opposite for Brandon Powell, who lives in the same wide receiver room. At 5-foot-8, he’s literally one of the smallest players at his position at this level. Not drafted back in 2018, he was spurned by all 32 NFL teams despite playing for the Florida Gators. He’s with the Vikings now, entering his second season with Minnesota, after only five other teams cut him or let him go. Cameras rarely follow him. Defenders tower over him. Expert voices ignore him.

But not Justin Jefferson. Not the NFL’s best playmaker.

“Oh, Brandon Powell,” Jefferson says after the Vikings’ final training camp practice of the summer. “He reminds me of that little bulldog from back home. He’s a little fiery. That’s just BP. … I love him. I love his work ethic, coming to practice every single day. … You have to know.”

Now, you will.

Like father like son

Vikings fans know firsthand the pitfalls of tough leadership. The team’s current regime, led by ever-optimistic coach Kevin O’Connell, came about in part because Mike Zimmer’s disciplinarian approach failed to nurture star egos beyond postseason wins.

Powell, on the other hand, fancies himself a tough teacher. When asked how he got to this point, overcoming obstacles as an underdog prospect entering his seventh NFL season, he first pointed to former Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia, who was widely criticized for a polarizing, short-lived stint in Motown.

“He used to be really tough on us and it reminded me of my dad,” Powell says. “So, playing for him as a freshman, I learned what the league was like, right from the beginning. … Anybody who’s played for their dad knows what it’s like. It’s tougher than anything. So, the tough coaching didn’t matter to me.”

The stoic upbringing has given Powell even more courage as he has worked mostly in the background for a half-dozen NFL teams, bouncing between practice squads and offseason contests with the Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. His activities have increased in recent years, most notably as a return specialist for the Los Angeles Rams during their 2021 Super Bowl run, and as a regular slot receiver for the Vikings in 2023. For Powell, however, the size of the role has never been the main motivation.

“My dad, my grandmother, my mom. These are the people who would take care of my family,” Powell says.

Born and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida, Powell says his grandmother “had never really been anywhere,” until he took them to California during his tenure with the Rams. His brother “had never been out of the state of Florida.” His ultimate goal as an NFL player is not to set records or make headlines for his own underdog story, but to “use this game … to help them see the world like I see it.”

So when Vikings fans see his No. 4 jersey strutting around in formation, outrunning defenders on punt returns or sprinting alongside Jefferson, they’ll see a reflection of these family values, whether they realize it or not. It turns out that the No. 4, which Powell also wore in high school and college, is a tribute to Brian Powell, who sported the number heavily during his playing days at Memphis.

“I like being like my dad.”

Secret Ingredients

Powell’s improbable ascension to the NFL is also a testament to his God-given ability. Despite being short in stature, he’s as chiseled as any player on the Vikings roster, and his compact build doesn’t hinder his explosiveness, making him a sort of mini wrecking ball in the slot. His feel for the game is perhaps his most underrated attribute, considering he’s learned from so many All-Star talents during his roller-coaster NFL journey.

“I’ve played with Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Odell Beckham, Cooper Kupp, Golden Tate, Marvin Jones,” he says, “but these guys play hard. They’re young guys that are hungry. We’ve got the best receiver in the NFL in Justin Jefferson. I love Jordan [Addison]I love both of them. They’re always competing in the meeting room, ‘Hey man, you should have caught that, gained more yards.’ It motivates you.”

Maybe, just maybe, Powell is the invisible glue of all these special wide receiver rooms? His demeanor suggests he won’t go that far, but he’s willing to bet on his speed to make it into Minnesota’s elite crop, too.

“No, I’m definitely the fastest,” he said.

(When told his speed rating in the latest “Madden NFL” game was “88,” Powell returned to his characteristic modesty, and actually expressed pleasant surprise, saying: “Oh really? Damn it! That’s good for me. I’ll take it.”)

A combination of strength, speed and learned instincts promises the biggest offensive role of Powell’s NFL career this season. The Vikings already have a highly respected system under O’Connell: “The concepts we run,” he says, “no matter what defense you play, the concepts always work.” But with Addison facing a rookie-year suspension and star tight end T.J. Hockenson still recovering from injury, it’s likely the 28-year-old Powell will be one of Minnesota’s primary pass outlets besides Jefferson.

,[I want to] He says, “I want to bring the first Super Bowl to Minnesota. Whatever I can do, that’s what I’m here for.”

But is that a feasible goal for a franchise that often fears a mediocre finale rather than celebrating a spectacular winter? A team that lost perhaps its most promising new talent, first-round quarterback J.J. McCarthy, to a knee injury before the start of his rookie campaign? A team that is betting on Sam Darnold, the former New York Jets castoff, to rejuvenate his own career in purple?

“He’s a very hard worker,” Powell said of Darnold. “One day, he might miss this throw, [and] He comes back the next day and it’s on the money. Sam’s just a hard-working guy. He can throw the ball. You better get his head around, because the ball is coming.”

Quarterback questions or not, Powell believes the Vikings have the infrastructure to support an unexpected run. And he knows a little bit about impossible trips and Super Bowl victories.

“Everybody would write us off,” he says. “Every team I’ve been on has written us off. When I was in LA, we won the Super Bowl, and they thought the 49ers would win. Even when we got to the Super Bowl, the Bengals were winning. We have that much talent [here]Maybe even better than L.A. We got a great coach in Brian Flores on defense, we have young players that are hungry to win. … As long as we do what we need to do on Sunday, our ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl, we can achieve it.”

committed to the midwest

After signing his first NFL contract, Powell didn’t return home to Deerfield Beach for nearly three years, putting all of his effort into getting “settled” in a league where the average length of a player’s career is roughly that long — three years. Call it a necessary sacrifice to help his loved ones at home.

“But I went back home,” Powell says, “and, hearing young kids talk about how they play with you in ‘Madden,’ they see you on TV, they want your jersey, they want your autograph … like, man, I want to help them, give them confidence, give them an encouragement so they can one day get to where I am. You’re inspiring kids and you don’t even know it.”

When the receiver took it a step further in recent years, forming the Powell Legacy Foundation to fund back-to-school shopping, free holiday meals and summer football camps for at-risk youth, he adopted the Justin Jefferson status as his own home. But home is no longer confined to the coast. The “Jets” may hog the spotlight as regional football celebrities, but Powell has extended his behind-the-scenes influence in Minnesota beyond the gridiron, making the region his own in the process.

“I like the Midwest because it’s quiet,” he says. “It’s a lot different than South Florida, where you hear horns honking all day, police sirens. Here, you don’t really hear anything. [There’s] In the cold weather, you can hear some birds chirping. There’s a lot of nature here, and that’s what I like. … I don’t leave the house anyway, so living here is perfect for me. … Like I said, my dad was my coach, so it was always ‘go home, study, do your homework, go home and work out,’ and that’s kind of what I do now.”

Not exactly your brash and loud NFL star, right? It’s the only way he knows how. And that’s a perfect fit for Minnesota, where Powell has a few more goals for 2024. One of them is to “get back in the backfield, get handoffs” like he did in high school, especially if that means sharing duties with former Green Bay Packers star Aaron Jones. Another? Getting more involved with Vikings Country — and the work-first, talk-second grounds of the Midwest — in the form of his first trip to the Minnesota State Fair.

“Fried Oreos,” he says confidently, stating his goal. “I heard that’s it.”