The Vikings, for the first time since 2001 with Randy Moss and Cris Carter, will likely feature a pair of receivers with over 800 yards. Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs have currently combined for 1619 receiving yards, and are on pace to finish with 932 yards and 1096 yards, respectively—which would also make Diggs the first 1000-yard receiver Minnesota has had since Sidney Rice, seven years ago.
With all of that receiving success in mind, Stefon Diggs has found ways to keep grounded—devoting time today to Pillsbury United Communities, a non-profit dedicated to reaching out to underserved communities around Minneapolis, providing resources for education, employment and health.
The initiative Diggs is focusing on today, and one he’s donating a significant amount of technology to, will specifically work on creating STEM education opportunities for children in the inner cities. I had the opportunity to talk to Diggs over the phone today about his work with the organization, and he was extremely enthusiastic about what he could do for children in disaffected communities.
“I kind of took it as a father figure role. I handled it the best way I knew how. Just like people who have their first child—you don’t know everything to do but you try do everything you can.” – Stefon Diggs
“I want to impact kids in any way, shape or form that I can,” he said. “They focus on inner city neighborhoods and I’m all about impacting kids.”
Diggs had a rough upbringing in Maryland that saw him taking on quite a bit more responsibility as a young man before heading off to college. At age 14, Stefon Diggs had to deal with the death of his father, and that saw him taking on a parenting role for his younger siblings, a responsibility he didn’t take lightly.
“I had to take on a lot at a young age,” he told me. “Being a man, especially being a man when you’re younger, you have to set an example for some younger siblings of yours and I kind of took it as a father figure role. I handled it the best way I knew how. Just like people who have their first child—you don’t know everything to do but you try do everything you can. Now my little brothers are doing really well. They’re both in school and they’re both playing football and I’m just proud of them.”
One of Diggs’ brothers, Trevon Diggs, is making waves as a true freshman at Alabama, and capped off his season with 90 yards of punt return yardage against Florida in the SEC Championship game.
That football success isn’t as important to the eldest Diggs brother, however. “It’s not only football—how they’re growing as young men is more important to me. Football is always exciting and it will always be my first love as far as sports but as far as them growing up as individuals, that’s more important.”
That brings Diggs back to the Pillsbury United Communities work, where he’ll be donating software, iPad minis, printers and other technologies towards the community center. Along with donations from CenturyLink—including a professional caliber recording studio—the community center will be able to provide children with technologies they’ll use to further their STEM education.
The young Maryland native was attracted to the program’s mission, and believes that STEM-specific education has a tough time otherwise reaching children in the inner city. “The community center focuses on STEM initiatives. Helping them grow in those ways is the main focus—when you give kids a platform to step on,” he said, “it just elevates them and puts them in the right direction. It gives them more access to different things.
Pillsbury United Communities is located at 1701 Oak Park Avenue North in North Minneapolis and has provided services to its community since 1937. Find out more at their website.
As far as his football work is concerned, Diggs is just as enthusiastic about the Vikings’ chances to win out and make the playoffs. He’s aware there’s been more pressure put on the offense as the season goes on, and what role he plays in making sure that the offense executes.
To him, the demands of winning out aren’t a burden. “I don’t take it as a lot of pressure,” he argued. “As far as being a professional, sometimes things don’t go your way, sometimes you have to dig yourself out of a hole, so in order to put us in the best position possible, we’ve got to win out, that’s all.”
He repeated head coach Mike Zimmer’s mantra of taking things one game at a time and focusing on opponents and he knows there are eyes pointed squarely at the offense. “I have 100% faith in my guys,” he said of the offensive unit. “We can do anything we put our mind to when we execute. The games that we lost came down to a couple of plays. It’s not like we were ever getting blown out or things of that nature. We just have to execute at a high level to do things that we need to.”
His role has been critical to that necessary offensive success and attributes it to his coaching. He’s been an advanced technical route runner, earning praise from teammates that worked against him in practice, and credits coaches like his two position coaches at Maryland: Lee Hull, who now works with an extremely talented Indianapolis Colts receiving corps, and Pro Bowl receiver Keenan McCardell.
He also reserves no small amount of praise for the current Vikings receiver coach, George Stewart.
“Those guys got me prepared for where I am now,” he told me. “I continued to sharpen my blade each and every day, each and every week. When I got into the league last year, Coach Stewart, he does a great job on fundamentals and details and that’s where I got to where I am today. Just some great guys and a lot of effort, a lot of practice and a lot of time put in.”
When asked what the best piece of advice he could take away from their coaching was, he struggled to find just one nugget, but settled on precision. “McCardell, he told me a lot. He didn’t say one key thing, but you need to be precise,” he emphasized. “You need to be at your depth when you’re supposed to be there. You’ve got to do it all the time. It’s not about doing it the one time or doing it twice. You’ve got do it every time. …. attention to detail.
“With Coach Stew—you need to have a mindset, you need to play at a high level all the time, you need to do things the right way. You need to be paying attention to the fundamentals and details, and things will happen the way they’re supposed to.”
That precision and focus on route depths has been one reason he and Sam Bradford have hit it off despite having no offseason work together. “[I’m] just trying to do everything I can for the man. He’s a great guy, he prepares the right way; he’s a professional. I’m just trying to do my part and be where I’m supposed to be when I’m supposed to be there and catch the ball.”
The drive that Diggs has is one big reason that he was able to surpass his expectations as a fifth-round pick and make a near-immediate impact with the team—it’s also the same drive that raised his brothers and now attempts to secure opportunities for dozens of other children in and around Minneapolis.
It should be no surprise that Stefon Diggs pays more attention to the long-term prospects of his team, his family and the community around him. Diggs has always looked forward, and that’s one reason this project appealed to him.
“I just saw it as an opportunity being presented to me and I tried to jump all over it. Kids are our future.”
