Weighing retirement, Vikings fullback C.J. Ham plans to enjoy a ‘special’ season finale

If the Jan. 4 game is fullback C.J. Ham’s last as a Viking, he’s not going to miss the opportunity to absorb every moment.

What a fitting end it could be: a home game against the rival Green Bay Packers with more relatives and friends — about 30 — expected at U.S. Bank Stadium than the Duluth native typically hosts.

They will be there to see Ham’s 141st Vikings game, the third most in franchise history for a fullback behind only Jim Kleinsasser and Bill Brown.

It’s also currently his last game under contract.

Weighing retirement, Ham said he has carried an even greater appreciation throughout a trying 10th Vikings season that has thrown him losses, injuries and the notion that any play could be his last. On Sunday, it really could be, should he decide to walk away this offseason.

“To sit back and think that this is potentially the last time I’m in purple,” Ham told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “It’s a crazy thought. It’s been a heck of a journey.”

Before kickoff, Ham will go through his pregame routine that includes seeing his wife, Stephanie, and their three children, Skylar, Stella and Cortez, on the sideline. From the locker room before every game, he texts Stephanie that he loves her.

“It will be special,” Ham said. “Just because of the unknown. I can’t even put it into words what it’ll mean, but it’ll be a special day having my family there, my friends there, all the people that supported me. Remembering all the people who were a part of that journey. No matter what, this is the last time this Vikings team will be together. That in and of itself makes this moment special.”

Like always, he will think of his mother, Tina, who died in 2020 from pancreatic cancer.

“I hope that she would be proud,” Ham said. “She is the reason I am the way that I am. The way I work and the way I do things. The way I raise my kids, the way I love on others. It all comes from her.”

In many ways, the 32-year-old Ham is still the same 22-year-old tryout player who was guaranteed nothing but some team workout apparel when he went undrafted in 2016 out of Augustana University in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Ham converted from running back to fullback by 2017’s training camp, when safety Harrison Smith recalled Ham repeatedly clashing with linebacker Anthony Barr during an often-called run play that slammed those two into each other.

After making his first 53-man roster for the 2017 team that made the NFC title game, Ham recalled former coach Mike Zimmer telling the Vikings players that they no longer had to watch Ham and Barr “clash heads every single day.”

Ham and Barr came to their own understanding, too.

“A gentlemen’s agreement not to take each other’s heads off,” Ham said.

Years later, Ham has pushed through the first two surgeries of his career — repairing an ankle injury last offseason and a broken hand in October — to still pack a punch as a lead blocker and core special teamer.

Ham’s career has had an ironman element to it; he played in 136 of 138 possible games, including the playoffs, before this season. But this season, he has missed six games because of knee and hand injuries.

“He does everything right,” said right tackle Brian O’Neill, a fellow team captain. “No job too small. Just a great example and role model for younger players of how to go about your business, how to take it seriously but not too seriously. How to carry yourself in a true professional manner. And he’s still freaking good. The plays we’ve had out of 21 [two-back personnel] the last couple weeks have all hit.”

Even advanced analysis loves when coach Kevin O’Connell goes old school. The Vikings offense has the NFL’s third-best EPA (expected points added) per attempt when running from two-back personnel over the past seven games, according to Sports Info Solutions.

That’s a fancy way of saying Ham and his teammates are still hitting people really hard when he’s on the field.

If Ham wants to play an 11th Vikings season, coaches sound as if they would have him. Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips singled out Ham’s pass protection in his vital role on third downs.

“Over the years here, he’s been very valuable,” Phillips said. “We wouldn’t have gotten some of these balls off without him cleaning up” in pass protection.

For Ham, some of his favorite highlights have been off the field. Like when his three children join him in community events.

Or when his 9-year-old daughter, Skylar, recorded a funny video with the team announcing his second Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination in December.

Or when his 4-year-old son, Cortez, sat through an entire game during the Dec. 25 win over Detroit.

“Just to see him start to love the game, appreciate it and know what I do,” Ham said. “That’s pretty special. And having my family, my girls, to be around with all the stuff we do in the community. That’s been the highlight. To have them know that no matter who you are or what your profession is, you can be a blessing to anyone.”