Jim Kleinsasser life and biography

Jim Kleinsasser is an American football player who currently plays fullback and tight end for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League.

• Named to USA Today’s All-Joe Team in 2007 and 2008, honoring hard-working and under-recognized players.
• Ranks 2nd in team history for starts by a TE with 112 and 4th in Vikings history for catches by a TE with 174.
• Has paved the way for 6 of the 7 top single-season rushing marks in Vikings history, including Adrian Peterson’s team-record and NFL-leading 1,760 yards in 2008.
• Is the longest-tenured pro athlete with their team in the Twin Cities as he enters his 12th season with the Vikings.

OFF THE FIELD
Has worked extensively with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, serving with his wife to host the annual fundraising ball in the Twin Cities...Participates annually in the Epilepsy Foundation Clothing Drive...Participates at the North Dakota Special Olympics Games...Took part in the 2008 Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener, spreading the message to young people about getting involved in the outdoors...Financial management major at UND...He and wife, Christa, have 2 sons, Carter and Cayden...Couple has a beagle, Vince...Avid icefisherman...Inducted to North Dakota High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2008...Grew up on a beef and crop farm his family still runs...Sister, Sheri, was a 2-time All-America basketball player at North Dakota.

HONORS 2007, 2008 USA Today All-Joe Team.

PRO
Is the longest-tenured Vikings player, playing his 12th season with the club in 2010...Has played in 7 career playoff games and a pair of NFC Championship games with the Vikings…Has earned a spot on the USA Today All-Joe Team in 2007 and 2008, honoring the NFL’s overlooked and under-appreciated...Dominant blocker who was key to the Vikings ranking #1 in the NFL in rushing in 2007...Has been part of the NFL’s #1-ranked rush offense 2 times during his career- 2002 and 2007...Helped Adrian Peterson earn NFL Rookie of the Year honors in 2007 and set the NFL single-game rushing record with 296 yards vs. San Diego (11/4/07)...Only Steve Jordan (149) has started more games at TE than Kleinsasser’s 112 for the Vikings…Key element in the Vikings ranking #1 in the NFL in offense for the 1st time in franchise history in 2003 and leading the NFL in rushing for the 1st time in 2002…Set career highs in 2003 with 46 catches, 401 yards and 4 TDs…Ranked 3rd on team in catches in 2002 and 2003…Key element in leading Robert Smith to 1,000-yard seasons in 1999 and 2000, Michael Bennett in 2002, Chester Taylor in 2006 and Peterson from 2007-09…Has blocked for a 1,000-yard runner in 7 of his NFL seasons...Has paved the way for 6 of the top 7 single-season rushing performances in Vikings history, Peterson’s 1,760 yards in 2008, Smith’s 1,521 yards in 2000, Peterson’s 1,383 in 2009, Peterson’s 1,341 in 2007, Bennett’s 1,296 in 2002 and Taylor’s 1,216 in 2006...Made his 1st start in the NFL vs. Oakland (9/19/99) at FB…Drafted in the 2nd round (44th overall) of the 1999 NFL draft…Vikings traded picks 59, 73, and 163 to the Steelers to acquire Kleinsasser with the 44th pick.

2009
Played in all 16 regular season games for the 5th straight season...Helped Peterson run for 1,383 yards, the 3rd-best single-season mark in team history...Hauled in 10 passes, his highest reception total since 2005 despite breaking a bone in his hand in the preseason...Caught season-long 21-yard pass at Chicago (12/28) on Monday Night Football...Helped Peterson break the 100-yard mark in 3 games...Caught 2 passes each in the final 3 games of the regular season and had a catch in each playoff game...In the final 5 games of the season, including playoffs, he caught 8 passes for 81 yards...Moved past Joe Senser into 4th place in Vikings history for catches by a TE.

2008
Helped Peterson become the 1st Vikings RB to lead the NFL in rushing with a team-record 1,760 yards and 10 games over the 100-yard mark…Led team to 1st NFC North title, the 1st time since 2000 winning a Divisional crown…Played in all 16 games for the 4th straight season…Caught 2 passes, 17 yards each, vs. Philadelphia (1/4/09) in Wild Card playoffs…Had season-long 34-yard catch vs. Detroit (10/12)…Earned spot on the USA Today All-Joe Team for the 2nd straight season.

2007
Powered the Vikings rushing attack that ranked #1 in the NFL and cleared the way for Rookie of the Year Adrian Peterson to lead the NFC in rushing and post the 2nd-best rushing season in team history with 1,341 yards...Named to USA Today’s All-Joe Team for the 1st time in his career...Caught 26-yard pass vs. Chicago (12/17) on Monday Night Football, the 2nd-longest pass of his career...Helped Peterson set new NFL record with 296 rushing yards vs. San Diego (11/4) and the 2nd-highest total in team history with 224 yards at Chicago (10/14)...Opened path for Viking rushing game to set team record with 2,634 yards, an average of 164.6 yards per game...Paved the way for Peterson to break the 100-yard rushing mark 6 times on the season and Taylor to achieve the feat 2 times, tying the Vikings record of 8 games with a 100-yard rusher during the season...Peterson (1,341) and Taylor (844) combined to set a team record for rushing yards by a tandem with 2,185...Caught TD pass from Tarvaris Jackson vs. Washington (12/23) on NBC Sunday Night Football.

2006
Played in all 16 games and started 12…Opened holes for Chester Taylor to rush for 1,214 yards, the 4th-best single-season performance in team history…Helped Vikings RBs hit the century mark 5 times on the season with Taylor breaking the 100-yard mark in 4 games and backup Artose Pinner running for 100+ yards once during the season…Blocked as Pinner tied a Vikings record with 3 rushing TDs in his lone start of the season at Detroit (12/10) and ran for 125 yards for his 1st career 100-yard game…Caught season-best 2 passes vs. Detroit (10/8).

2005
Battled back from knee surgery in 2004 to start all 16 games in 2005...Helped pave the way for Michael Bennett (1) and Mewelde Moore (2) to each break the 100-yard rushing mark on the season...Blocked lone career punt and 1st punt by a Viking since 2003 in regular-season finale vs. Chicago (1/1/06)...Notched season-high 42 yards receiving vs. Tampa Bay (9/11)...Had season-long 15-yard catch vs. Chicago (1/1/06)...Caught season-high 4 passes vs. Tampa Bay (9/11) and at Detroit (12/4)...Started all 16 games.

2004
Suffered season-ending knee injury in opener vs. Dallas (9/12)…Started game vs. Dallas (9/12), his 55th career start and caught a pair of passes for 24 yards with a long of 18…Placed on injured reserve on 9/22/04.

2003
Had career-best 46 catches, 401 yards and 4 TDs on the season...Key part in the Vikings ranking #1 in the NFL in total offense for the 1st time in team history…Started all 16 games for 1st time in his career…Helped pave the way for 3 different Vikings RBs to break the 100-yard mark in a game, Michael Bennett, Onterrio Smith and Moe Williams…Helped pave the way for 4 different Vikings to rush for 400+ yards on the season for the 1st time in team history, Williams (745), Smith (579), Bennett (447) and Daunte Culpepper (422)…Notched career-high 10 catches at St. Louis (11/30), the 2nd-highest total by a Vikings TE trailing Joe Senser’s 11 vs. Green Bay (11/29/81)…Had career-best 79 receiving yards at St. Louis (11/30) and had a season-long 19-yard catch at San Diego (11/9)…Tied for 2nd in the NFC among TEs with 4 TDs and tied for 4th in the NFL…Ranked 3rd on team in catches, yards and tied for 3rd in TD catches…Caught career-high 2 TDs vs. Chicago (9/14) on ESPN’s Sunday Night Football, catching 3-yard and 11-yard scoring tosses from Culpepper…His 2-TD day vs. Chicago tied a Vikings record for TDs by a TE and is the 1st since Andrew Glover in 1998…Caught a 4-yard TD pass vs. Green Bay (11/2) and a 4-yarder vs. Kansas City (12/20), both from Culpepper.

2002
Was 3rd on the team with 393 receiving yards and tied for 3rd with 37 catches…Caught 1st career TD vs. Detroit (10/13) on a 1-yard pass from Daunte Culpepper in leading Vikings to 1st win of the season…Ran 6 times for 17 yards on the season…Helped Vikings lead the NFL in rushing for the 1st time in the 42-year history of the team…Team averaged 5.3 yards per carry, a Vikings record...Team ran for a team-record 26 TDs…Team set record with 2,507 rushing yards and broke old team record with 350 first downs…Had season-high 6 catches vs. Buffalo (9/15) and career-high 64 yards with career- long 39-yarder at Tampa Bay (11/3)…Caught a pass in every game he played…Set career high with 12 starts and tied career high with 14 games played.

2001
Scored 1st career TD on a 2-yard run vs. Green Bay (10/21)…Started all 11 games he played…Battled ankle injury that kept him out of 5 of the final 7 games of the season…Posted career-high 5 rushes for 20 yards vs. Green Bay (10/21), including a career-long 11-yard run…Hauled in 8 catches for 51 yards vs. Tampa Bay (9/30)…Came back from 4-game absence with ankle injury to start vs. Jacksonville (12/23)…Started at Green Bay (12/30) where he had a pair of carries for 10 yards before leaving the game with aggravated ankle injury…Inactive for season finale at Baltimore (1/7/02) with ankle injury.

2000
Helped open holes for Robert Smith to set the then-team record for single season rushing at 1,521 yards and run for a career-high 7 TDs…Played in 14 and started 8 games…Posted 1st NFL carry in season-opener vs. Chicago (9/3), finishing the day with 5 yards on 2 carries and 32 yards on 2 receptions with a 21-yarder…Inactive for games at Dallas (11/23) and vs. Carolina (11/19) with hamstring injury…Notched 1st career special teams tackle vs. Tampa Bay (10/9) on Monday Night Football.

COLLEGE

Ranks 9th on UND’s career-record list with 1,314 yards receiving and 10th with 10 TDs…Is 1 of 3 players drafted by the Vikings from UND, joining Dave Osborn, 13th round, in 1965 and Ron Green, 9th round, in 1966…Senior year honors include being named consensus All-American and unanimous All-NCC 1st-team pick, Daktronics 1st-team All-America, Football Gazette 1st-team All-America, Gannett News Service 1st-team All-America (the only Division II player to be named)…Starter in the 1999 Senior Bowl…Team captain as a senior…Became the 1st Fighting Sioux player to start as a true freshman in the 1990s.


A 2-time All-Region, All-State and Gatorade Circle of Champions North Dakota Player of the Year at rural Carrington High School…Participated in North Dakota Shrine and Montana-North Dakota All-Star games…All-Region and 2-time All-District in basketball…Won the state shot put title as a junior and senior and the AAU national shot put title…Won the state discus championship as a sophomore and senior.

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