Former NFL player Adam Thielen is discovering that retirement can feel less like an ending than a handoff — from NFL Sundays to family, community and a deeper walk with Jesus.
“I gave everything I had for 13 years. I truly did give every ounce of energy that I could possibly give for 13 years in the season, out of the season, mentally, physically, emotionally,” Thielen said in a Sports Spectrum interview.
The former NFL wide receiver joined Sports Spectrum hosts Matt Forte and Jason Romano shortly after retiring to talk about the strange quiet that follows a football career. Training camp had already started, he said, but he was back home, spending time at the lake, hosting a youth camp and staying busy with his children and family.
Thielen officially announced his retirement after the 2025 season, closing a 13-year career that began when the Minnesota Vikings signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State. The NFL reported that he finished with 704 receptions, 8,497 receiving yards and 64 touchdowns in 178 games. When announcing his retirement, Thielen spoke about how his faith gave him the freedom to play without letting football performance define him.
His final season did not unfold like the storybook ending he once imagined. After returning to Minnesota and later joining the Pittsburgh Steelers, Thielen said the difficult turns helped make the decision to stop playing plain.
“The Lord had different plans,” Thielen said. He had hoped to return to Minnesota, win a championship and leave the game on top, but he believes God used the disappointment to answer his prayers about when it was time to walk away.
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That same honesty shaped the most personal portion of the interview. Thielen said he spent much of his NFL career divided spiritually before difficult moments forced him to examine whether he was living as the man he claimed to be.
“I needed to confess and I needed to get that forgiveness and to get into the light,” Thielen said. He said he and his wife were baptized together roughly six or seven years ago, a moment he described as the point when he truly gave his life to Christ and began trying to live more fully as a Christian.
Thielen connected that faith decision directly to his home. He said his relationship with his wife and family could not become what he wanted it to be unless he first had a relationship with Jesus, a lesson reinforced by mentors including former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.
“A friend, a father, a relationship that I’m so thankful for,” Thielen said when asked who Jesus is to him today. He described the Holy Spirit as a guide who helps direct him toward a path he would not choose by following his own flesh.
The retired receiver also described a Friday morning Bible study he attends before playing basketball with a group of men. He said the gathering gives him room to take a deep breath, talk honestly about failure as a husband and father, and remember what matters when life moves fast.
That focus on family and younger people already has a practical outlet through the Thielen Foundation, which supports youth development, academic opportunities, sports access and behavioral-health initiatives. The foundation also hosts football camps that pair instruction with leadership, sportsmanship and character development.
Thielen’s next chapter will still include sports. He told Sports Spectrum he is developing a golf-centered podcast called DIALED, while Front Office Sports reported that he is also spending more time on ETS Performance, a youth-athlete training company he co-owns.
For Thielen, the measure of what comes next is not another statistic or award. It is whether the same daily effort he brought to football can now help him become a better husband, father, mentor and follower of Jesus.
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