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Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell believes NFL fans and newcomers to the sport in Ireland will be seeing the best wide receiver "on the planet" in Justin Jefferson when his side play in Dublin in September.
On Tuesday, the Vikings were confirmed as the Pittsburgh Steelers' opponents for the first ever regular-season game in Ireland.
As part of a record seven international matches to be played in 2025, the sides will meet at Croke Park on 28 September with the Vikings then going on to face the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium the following week.
In four-time All-Pro selection Justin Jefferson, the Vikings will have one of the game's genuine superstars in their ranks.
"Justin Jefferson, if fans don't know about him yet, they certainly will very soon," O'Connell said.
"Getting the opportunity to see the best wide receiver on the planet in my opinion is a great start to getting to know the Minnesota Vikings, as well as a whole lot of great players on our offence and our defence.
"It's a heck of a match-up with the Steelers and two great franchises battling it out to get a very important win."
The Vikings will become the first NFL franchise to play in three different countries during one season with the trip to Dublin holding special resonance for O'Connell, who has Irish ancestry.
"My family is very excited about getting an opportunity to visit Ireland. I've never been before and it's been something that I've very much been looking forward to getting an opportunity to do," he said.
"I didn't know it would come with bringing my football team over as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, but it's definitely something that I'll be diving into and continuing to learn more about in the days and weeks leading up to our trip, for sure."
O'Connell said it would be "short-sighted" not to delve into the history of Dublin, as well as the venue where his side will play, during their trip.
"I've already learned in a short space of time many aspects of what makes Croke Park so special and an amazing venue to have the opportunity to play at and I know our players will feel the same way," he added.
"It'll be a short time comparatively speaking but we're going to try and make the most of it and look forward to building relationships and hopefully acquiring some new Minnesota Vikings fans along the way."
The Vikings were led to a 14-3 record by quarterback Sam Darnold last season but, with the former New York Jet now in Seattle, they are expected to have 2024 first-round draft pick JJ McCarthy under centre for this campaign.
Like his head coach, McCarthy has Irish connections with the quarterback, who missed his entire rookie season through injury, now slated to make two of his first five career NFL starts in international games.
"It's not hard to figure out that both McCarthy and O'Connell may have some Irish heritage to our names and family backgrounds," O'Connell said.
"I'm sure we'll dive a heck of a lot more into that as the days and weeks come, as well as getting our football team ready to go which will include getting JJ McCarthy prepared, not only for the full season, but hopefully an opportunity to play in front of the great fans in Dublin."
