Why do some Minnesota Vikings fans wear chains? What is the origin of the Kirk Cousins’ chains trend?
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins became an internet sensation and a fashion icon at U.S. Bank Stadium after rocking a big chain shirtless last year.
When you think about trend setters and icons in the NFL you don’t tend to think about Kirk Cousins. Our minds bring us to Joe “Cool” Burrow daring sense of fashion, or Odell Beckham Jr. classically modern threads, or Cousins’ teammate Justin Jefferson with his gold grill and “gritty” touchdown celebrations. But last year, right around this time, Kirk Cousins’ went from the quiet, and truth-be-told bland dresser, to somewhat of a fashion icon in Minnesota.
You like that?
Before last year, we knew Kirk Cousins as a mild mannered quarterback, who fought his way from a back up role to a starting quarterback in Washington before moving to the Minnesota Vikings in 2018. He is a pin point accurate QB who has thrown for 4,000 yards in all of his seasons as a starter aside from one in 2019. He has gone through his journey in plaid button down shirts, and the occasional socks with sandals feau pa.
Other than his one outburst in Washington when he was a member of the then Redskins team that came back from 24 points down to the Carolina Panthers to win and he maniacally questioned at any one that would listen “You like that?” Cousins is a guy who shows up to work, and goes about his business quietly.
Last year, Cousins and the Vikings took a trip across the pond to take on the New Orleans Saints in London for a Week 4 showdown, and came back home with a victory. On the plane ride back to Minnesota, he and the rest of the Vikings were celebrating the win on international grounds and the cameras started to roll. I don’t know if it was the altitude that got him or if he was gone off of too many pints of Guiness in the postgame celebrations, but Cousins was seen shirtless rocking an iced out chain dancing to rap and while the drinks continued to flow at 50,000 feet.
Chain was “very empowering”
The Chain wasn’t Cousins’. In fact it was put on him by his left tackle Christian Darrisaw, which you could tell by the diamond encrusted CD medallion that spun like wheels on a car that gone through a show of Pimp My Ride. Other members of the Vikings continued to pile on the chains, and soon enough the gunslinger had had enough weight around his neck to capsize a donkey, and enough diamonds to open a jewelry shop on Hatton Garden (London’s famous diamond and jewelry quarter).
“I borrowed [Darrisaw’s] chain on the flight, I don’t know if you guys saw that. Kris Boyd put that on me,” Kirk told the press. “I had never actually put a chain on, so that was my first experience of what that feels like. Honestly, it was very empowering. It felt pretty good to have that chain on.”
This moment didn’t just go viral, but it marked a turning point in the Vikings season. They were 2-1 heading into the game in London, and after that video made headlines, Minnesota rattled off five straight wins and seven of their next eight.
Fans quickly picked up on the trend and started rocking their biggest and brightest chains to Vikings home games. It became a fad, a tradition and a superstition. If the Vikings lost last year, many fans were quick to ask if Cousins had adorned an icy chain before the game.