In 2012, his 14th and final NFL season, Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield showed that he still had more than enough left in the tank. At age 35, per Pro Football Focus, Winfield allowed 67 receptions on 97 targets for 660 yards, 277 after the catch, no touchdowns, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 75.1. He was released by the Vikings in March of 2013 in a cost-cutting move, signed with the Seahawks in April, 2013, and abruptly retired in August. Winfield finished his career (five seasons in Buffalo, and nine more with Minnesota) with 27 interceptions, over 1,000 total tackles, and three Pro Bowl berths. He didn’t allow a touchdown in coverage in any of his final three seasons.
That would have been enough to keep the Winfield name solid in NFL history, but we’re about to get another dose of it. Minnesota safety Antoine Winfield Jr., fresh off a seven-interception campaign for the Golden Gophers, decided to make himself available for the 2020 draft after a season in which he put all prior injury issues to rest (he had played just eight combined games in 2017 and 2018). It’s an ideal time for him to do so, as the value of safeties with legitimate deep-third athleticism and preternatural field-reading skills has never been higher.
As Winfield, Jr. recently told me, he had a head start on the football knowledge from his father, and that started early on. The result is a player whose understanding of offensive intentions provides a serious advantage as he transitions to the NFL level.
“Man… pretty much everything,” he said, when I asked him what his father taught him about the game. “He started me off young, so at a young age, I was out there doing footwork drills with him, watching film, and pretty much everything, football-wise. I learned a lot from him.”
Which seems pretty standard until you watch Winfield, Jr. on the field and you see him intuit things at a different level.
“Yeah, it comes from him, and from film study. Him teaching me how to watch film. When he was in the pros, we’d sit in the bedroom, and he’d be looking at film, and I’d be watching him breaking it down. Showing me what the receivers do, and the route concepts, and everything.”
As for the prior injury stuff, he says, not to worry.
“Yeah, I’m feeling just fine.”
And with that, on to the plays.