On Tuesday afternoon, fans of the Minnesota Vikings got an announcement that we all pretty much knew was coming, but is going to hit everyone right in the feels all the same.
Courtesy of the agency that represents him, Team IFA, we got word that fullback C.J. Ham is officially retiring from the National Football League.
Ham, a native of Duluth, played his college football at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (which was Augustana College until Ham’s senior year), and was a Second Team All-NSIC performer as a senior in 2015. After going undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft, he went to the Vikings’ rookie tryout camp and was signed to the 90-man roster shortly thereafter. He led the Vikings in rushing during the 2016 preseason, but was waived as part of the team’s final cuts. The Vikings brought him back to the practice squad, and he spent most of the 2016 season there.
Before the 2017 season, Ham shifted from running back to fullback and made the 53-man roster. After that, he was a fixture at the fullback position for the Vikings, even as fewer and fewer teams around the league continued to make use of the position. Over the course of his career, he appeared in 141 games for the Vikings. He carried the ball 42 times for 119 yards and 6 touchdowns, and also caught 84 passes for 681 yards and two more scores.
Ham was also the Vikings’ nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in each of the past two seasons. The award honors a player’s commitment to philanthropy and community impact as well as their play on the field.
C.J. Ham also scored the final touchdown of the 2025 season for our favorite football team, as he took a handoff from J.J. McCarthy and went into the end zone from 1 yard out in the team’s season-ending victory over the Green Bay Packers just a month ago.
Congratulations to C.J. Ham on an outstanding career, all of which was spent in Minnesota with the Vikings. Here’s hoping he has an equally successful post-football life with his family in whatever endeavors he chooses to pursue.
See More:
