Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson is usually unflappable under pressure on the field. However, at the annual NFL Honors Awards Ceremony on Thursday, he faced unexpected difficulties when the teleprompter failed during his speech about his predecessor, Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss, who recently announced his cancer diagnosis.
Jefferson’s speech encountered a hiccup when he accidentally bumped the microphone, causing the teleprompter to malfunction. Stopping mid-speech, he said, “What’s up! Playing in the NFL as a wide receiver is a dream job. But playing the position in Minnesota means something a little extra. Oh, I’m sorry. Because of this tradition of excellence we’ve got going on there… I’m sorry guys, the prompter…” Moments later, as the teleprompter was reset, he decided to start his speech anew: “Alright, that’s good right there. We’re gonna start it over.”
After accidentally smacking the microphone, Justin Jefferson had issues with the teleprompter. pic.twitter.com/0cugrdNCp5
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 7, 2025
Despite the rocky start, Jefferson regained his composure and successfully delivered the heartfelt speech about Moss during his second attempt. He expressed, “Playing wide receiver in the NFL is a dream job. But playing this position in Minnesota means something a little extra. Because of the tradition of excellence, we’ve got going on there, the last has plenty of stars on it. There is no name bigger, no icon more legendary than Randy Moss. I don’t need to tell this room or this audience how amazing Randy Moss was on the field. You saw it right there in the highlights, and it’s all over the record books. But I also know I don’t need to tell you about the fight Randy is in right now battling cancer. So let’s let him know how much we are praying for him right now. Let’s hear it.”
The receiver tradition is strong here in Minnesota.
A lot of love for our guy @RandyMoss from @JJettas2.
📺: #NFLHonors on @NFLNetwork | @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/SvsggvO7Zn
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) February 7, 2025
However, this incident was just a small part of a broader series of issues during the broadcast, which included players being misidentified due to incorrect graphics and camera crew mistakes.
Sterling Sharpe gets his long-awaited call to the Hall of Fame and the camera focused on…the next inductee, Eric Allen. pic.twitter.com/GC8b3KqFCz
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 7, 2025
