EAGAN, Minn. — If football doesn’t work out for Justin Jefferson, he might want to give acting a try.
The Minnesota Vikings wide receiver was the star of a 30-minute edition of Eli Manning’s “The Undercovers,” airing on Amazon Prime Video, that was released this week. Amazon posted a three-minute excerpt Thursday, featuring Jefferson — disguised as a veteran photographer — pranking Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Jefferson introduced himself as “Darius Frost,” using a high-pitched voice. He wore a fishing hat that covered his signature braids and asked a series of Minnesota trivia questions to string along Adofo-Mensah for an extended photo shoot.
Jefferson told local reporters Thursday that he was surprised Adofo-Mensah didn’t recognize him until the end of the shoot, which was filmed this summer.
In the video, Jefferson intentionally mispronounced “Kwesi” and asked him for a $140 million contract — the same value as the deal Jefferson signed in 2024.
“Shout out to Kwesi,” Jefferson said Thursday. “Just going along with it. I mean, he definitely didn’t know who I was or what was going on during the time, so we got him definitely good. I appreciate him for being a part of it.”
In the full show, the Vikings also gathered three assistant coaches — offensive coordinator Wes Phillips, receivers coach Keenan McCardell and assistant receivers coach Tony Sorrentino — for a photo shoot. After Jefferson asked them to make “silly” faces and move closer together, Sorrentino recognized him.
Later in the episode, Jefferson traveled to a flag football tournament in St. Paul to shoot photos from the sideline. He asked several confused onlookers if they knew that the Minnesota state bird is the “common loon,” and approached others to take “portraits.”
Finally, he asked a group of organizers if he could play. While still in character, Jefferson ran routes and made catches that few people in the world could emulate. Eventually, the players realized whom they were up against.
Jefferson thanked them for allowing him to feel “normal” for a bit.
“Just with this job comes … a lot of things that I’m not really able to do anymore,” he said Thursday. “So, it was good to be in the mix of everything and people not noticing who I am, asking for pictures and autographs and just really just letting me be. I definitely didn’t feel like that in a very long time. So it was cool being a part of that.”
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