Two of Minnesota’s most popular athletes have recreated an iconic moment in the state’s sports history.
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards and Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson appeared on ESPN’s latest cover this week to pay tribute to Kevin Garnett and Randy Moss.
ESPN had been teasing the game for weeks and it finally came to light on Tuesday.
The cover shows the All-Star wide receiver sporting a Timberwolves jersey, while the NBA star wears the purple and gold of the Vikings.
In the footage, Edwards clutches a pigskin while standing behind a beaming Jefferson, who holds a basketball on his shoulder. Both athletes wear sunglasses and ice drops with chains around their necks and diamond earrings in their ears.
Anthony Edwards (right) and Justin Jefferson (left) recreated an iconic photo shoot in Minnesota sports history for ESPN’s latest cover this week.
The two athletes paid tribute to the pose of Kevin Garnett (back) and Randy Moss (front) on the cover of Sport magazine back in 2000.
The photo is a direct nod to the legends Moss and Garnett with a pose that imitates their Sport cover from the year 2000.
The reenactment symbolizes the rise of Jefferson and Edwards as the new faces of Minnesota sports, a generation after Moss and Garnett.
Both duos were clearly at the beginning of their careers. Garnett was 24 years old when the photograph was taken; Edwards is 23 years old, while Moss was 23 and Jefferson is 25.
The article explores Edwards and Jefferson’s similar paths to superstar status in Minnesota. They both grew up and went to college in the southern United States before being drafted by their respective Minnesota teams in 2020.
“They definitely had Minnesota locked down, so now we’re the next two,” Jefferson said.
They are the GOATS of Minnesota and we are trying to be that,” Edwards added. ‘We started in the right place and we are just trying to continue down that path. First I want to follow those steps, we have to do the same but we are going to be a little more arrogant.
“I think ours is going to be a little better,” Jefferson said of his reenactment, “especially the way we’re going to finish our races.”