Among the more than 8,000 fans in attendance at Tuesday night’s Big Ten battle between Minnesota and Michigan State was Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Cousins, a Michigan State alum, sat behind the Spartans bench and was treated graciously by mascot Goldy Gopher, who gifted him a Minnesota jersey, which Cousins jokingly tried to reject.
Kirk Cousins was rejecting the beautiful #Gophers jersey @GoldytheGopher was gifting him!!!!
He finally took it and handed it off 😭. pic.twitter.com/iIhdoLgcYb
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) February 7, 2024
Cousins later witnessed his Spartans collapse in the second half as the Gophers won 59-56, holding the Cousins’ alma mater to 11 points over the final 13:16 of the game.
Kirk Cousins was at my basketball game. I love you @KirkCousins8
— Parker Fox (@Parkerfox24) February 7, 2024
Why was Cousins in Minnesota? Well because he’s the Minnesota Vikings quarterback and lives in Rosemount obviously. That said, just 10 days ago he was back in Michigan, his home state, rehabbing his surgically-repaired Achilles tendon.
It’s moving towards a crunch time for Cousins, who will become a free agent if he doesn’t re-sign with the Vikings before March 13.
Cousins has said conversations really don’t start until March, so there’s nothing much to read into his appearance at a game between his alma mater and the main college team in his current state of residence.
While he was in the coveted front row for Tuesday’s game, he was a little more accessible when joined fans along the third base line for Twins-Blue Jays this past October, watching the Twins’ first playoff win in 19 years.
