The Vikings’ German Rookie Wide Receiver Is Your New Favorite Football Player

Moritz Böhringer was a sixth-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings this year at the position of wide receiver, which in the sense of the league makes him a relatively anonymous player, just grinding for a spot on the Vikings’ 53-man roster for the season. Outside of the gridiron, though, he’s entirely unique to the NFL. You see, Böhringer is German and never played in the NCAA, the first time a foreign player has ever been drafted without playing in college. Böhringer could also become the first German to ever play a skill position in the NFL.

As you can see in the video above, Moritz is charming as a fish out of water who’s a little confused by the mass commercialism of the United States and who walks to the Vikings facility every day because he doesn’t have a car. On the field, however, he’s not as much of a sore thumb — he stands 6’4 and ran a 4.43 40-yard dash at his pre-draft workout. He still is quite raw from an experience perspective, having only played three years in German League football (he did win GFL Rookie of the Year in 2015, for what it’s worth), but he’s not a stunt hire.

Heartwarmingly, the Vikings have been Böhringer’s favorite team since he learned about football by watching Adrian Peterson highlights on YouTube. And now he gets to suit up in purple right alongside Peterson. Try not to root for this guy when you see him out there with the umlaut on his jersey.

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