A New Fan Favorite? Who Is Andrew Van Ginkel Of The Minnesota Vikings?
Several plays and players stood out in the Minnesota Vikings’ Sunday afternoon victory over the New York Giants. The new Vikings quarterback, Sam Darnold, had a respectable performance; Harrison Smith, who just had an interception, now has the most picks of any player in the NFL; and then there’s the peculiar situation of Andrew Van Ginkel. Although Andrew Van Ginkel made some outstanding defensive plays and had an interception returned for a touchdown, who is Andrew Van Ginkel?
Andrew Van Ginkel, a native of Rock Valley, Iowa (Northwest Iowa, think close to Sioux Falls, SD), is a Midwestern person at heart, according to his official bio on ESPN.com. Initially, he attended South Dakota to play college football before transferring to Wisconsin.
Van Ginkel turned his time with the Badgers into getting picked in the 5th round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. During his 5 years with the Dolphins he “started 42 of the 73 games he played in five seasons (2019-23) with the Miami Dolphins and recorded 250 total tackles, including 31 for loss, 17.0 sacks, one interception, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries (one returned for a touchdown)” according to his official Vikings roster notes.
By the way, fun fact it was Brian Flores that drafted Van Ginkel to the Dolphins, so it only makes sense that the two reunited with the Vikings.
Off the field, Van Ginkel also seems like a stellar human as he married his high school sweetheart, Samantha, in February of 2020, and the couple has two sons – Leo Barrett, born in July of 2021, and Ripken Kai, born in February of 2023. While with the Dolphins Van Ginkel visited pediatric cancer patients at a local children’s hospital and hosted multiple fundraising events throughout the season to benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer.
He wed Samantha, his high school sweetheart, in February 2020. Together, the two have two sons: Leo Barrett, who was born in July 2021, and Ripken Kai, who was born in February 2023. Van Ginkel visited young cancer patients at a nearby children’s hospital while he was a member of the Dolphins. He also organized several fundraising activities for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer during the season.
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