Despite Evidence To The Contrary, Adam Thielen Insists His Touchdown Dance Is Cool

Samer Kalaf|published: Mon 15th October, 12:34 2018

The dance isn’t the Bernie. Even though it very much looks like the Bernie, and there’s no significant difference between it and the Bernie, Adam Thielen’s touchdown dance is not the Bernie. The Vikings receiver wants to get that straight.

After catching a 13-yard touchdown pass to extend the Vikings’ lead over the Cardinals in the third quarter Sunday, Thielen frantically gestured to his teammates to gather in the end zone so they could sway back and forth like sugared-up 6-year-olds at a birthday party. Receiver Stefon Diggs was the most enthusiastic guy to fulfill this task. Rookie tight end Tyler Conklin (No. 83) was just trying not to ruin it.

Roughly four minutes later, Vikings QB Kirk Cousins ran the ball in for a TD. He did the same thing, and added a shimmy at the end:

After the game, Thielen set the record straight: His celebration was called “the Dead Arm Dance,” and it originated from his college days at Minnesota State, Mankato. “Everybody’s doing it,” he said. “It’s the cool thing.”

The Dead Arm Dance came about when the players were talking about their signature dances. That was Thielen’s, and the shimmy was Diggs’s. When Cousins scored, he did both, which is a smart way to keep your receivers happy.

“He was trying to get in on the party, which was fun,” Thielen said.

Cousins, who might be the corniest starting quarterback in the NFL, felt comfortable with the DAD. It reminded him of his culture:

It looked pretty familar, because I’ve been at some parties where some people who can’t dance do that as well. I like to embrace my limitations as a dancer, I guess. I’m honest about it. So I said, “Well, that’s a dance that I can get behind.”

I was asking Diggsy about his dance from Week 1 and didn’t really know what he was trying to do, so I tried to do both of them after the rushing touchdown. We had fun with it.

Thielen might think his dance is cool, but if Kirk Cousins can do it, it is by rule not possible for it to be cool.