to show up. He had trained six weeks, and a tenth of a second could mean the launching of a career or starting over. They hit refresh again, and finally a time popped up.

It showed 4.45.

"You would have thought we won the Super Bowl when it was a 4.4," Langford said. "The biggest relief for Adam was knowing, no matter what, he did everything he could to make the National Football League."

For months, Thielen had eaten nothing but healthy food. To celebrate, the trio went out in Chicago for deep dish and beers. One sprint had changed his life.

The NFL invited Thielen to a bigger combine in Texas, at AT&T Stadium. Four times a week, Thielen drove 90 minutes each way from Mankato to the Twin Cities towork out at Englebert Training Systems with trainer Ryan Englebert. In Texas, after another fast 40, scouts from the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers told him, "We're interested."

The Vikings invited him to their rookie minicamp. He played well enough to bump another wideout off the 90-man roster. In summer, the Vikings benched him for the final two preseason games, not wanting to showcase him, so he could pass waivers and end up on their practice squad.

Thielen kept working. In practice, coaches would yell, "That's an NFL route!" after watching him. He played almost exclusively on special teams in 2015, but he told Herzog he would be the best receiver on the team. In 2016, he caught 69 passes. In 2017, he caught 98 for more than 1,200