LA GRANGE PARK, Ill. — The football field at Nazareth Academy is tucked away in a charming neighborhood on the outskirts of Chicago’s first-ring suburbs.

An undated photo of Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy with longtime quarterback coach Greg Holcolmb as a high schooler at Nazareth Academy in La Grange, Ill. (Courtesy of Greg Holcomb)

Its residential location makes it easily accessible by bike.

That’s an important detail Nazareth Academy head coach Tim Racki made sure to point out on a picturesque afternoon in late August as his players were busy warming up in the distance.

In the midst of getting Nazareth Academy prepared for its opener against Kankakee, Racki gave himself permission to take a trip down memory lane for a few minutes, reminiscing about how a young J.J. McCarthy used to show up to practice before he could even palm the football.

After initially asking his parents, Jim and Megan, to drop him off, McCarthy soon took it upon himself to get there. He’d set his alarm, hop on his bike, and pedal the couple of miles from his childhood home to be close to the sport he loved.

“I thought he’d show up maybe once or twice,” Racki said while standing on the turf at Valenta Stadium, where McCarthy later reached legendary status when he attended Nazareth Academy. “That kid was here every single week at 6 a.m.”

It’s appropriate, then, that more than a decade later, McCarthy will make his NFL debut roughly 30 minutes away when the Vikings play the Chicago Bears on Monday night at Soldier Field. It will be the culmination of a journey for McCarthy that began when he was about 10 years old while growing up in La Grange Park, Ill.

“I would say fifth grade is really when I started editing my life to get to this point,” McCarthy said last year after the Vikings selected him with the No. 10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. “I’ve always been striving to be a better version of myself.”

Whether he was riding his bike to practice during elementary school, working out in middle school or studying film like a professional in high school, McCarthy has long dedicated himself to doing everything in his power to reach football’s highest level.

“He was driven to do this from a very, very early age,” Racki said. “He had a whiteboard in his bedroom as a teenager. He drew the NFL emblem on it. That’s why when people ask me if I’m surprised, I tell them I’m not.”

An undated photo of Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy rolling out to pass as a high schooler at Nazareth Academy in La Grange, Ill. (Courtesy of Tim Racki)

As he got more and more serious about his goals, McCarthy started training with longtime quarterback coach Greg Holcomb at Doerhoefer Park in suburban Downers Grove. The first throwing session came when McCarthy was about 12 years old, and it only took a few seconds for Holcomb to realize he could be special.

“It was something else,” Holcomb said while sipping on an iced pumpkin spice latte in a Starbucks less than a mile from where they used to train. “I had never seen a kid throw a football the way that he did.”

After about a year of weekly training with Holcomb, McCarthy attended a football camp at North Central College in Naperville, Ill. There, he caught the attention of some assistant coaches from Iowa State, who invited him to their football camp so head coach Matt Campbell could watch him in person.

“I got a text from Jim telling me what was going on,” Holcomb said. “I was like, ‘You know, if he throws well there’s a good chance he’ll get a scholarship offer, right?’ He was like, ‘C’mon. He hasn’t even played a snap at the high school level.’ I was like, ‘I know. He’s that good. Just trust me.’ ”

Sure enough, after throwing in front of Campbell the next week, McCarthy garnered his first scholarship offer.

“He had all this attention before he even came to us,” Racki said. “I knew I had to protect him.”

It helped that McCarthy also had a support system that helped keep him grounded, including parents Jim and Megan, his sisters Caitlin and Morgan, and his childhood sweetheart turned fiancée Katya Kuropas.

After learning the ropes at Nazareth Academy as a freshman, McCarthy took center stage as a sophomore, stepping in as the starting quarterback on a team with state championship aspirations. The bleachers at Valenta Stadium were completely full for his first start; so was every inch of the fence line surrounding the field.

“It’s never been so crowded,” Racki said. “The first play we ran the ball, and the second play we let him rip it.”

As he recalled the specific play, Racki started to reenact it, rolling to his right and planting his back foot into the ground.

“He throws a laser about 35 yards between a pair of defenders right into the receiver’s hands,” Racki said. “The headsets went silent for a few seconds and I said, ‘Alright I think he’s ready for it.’ ”

It wasn’t long before McCarthy became something of a local celebrity at home games.

“He would literally have kids waiting from the 50-yard line or beyond into the end zone,” Racki said. “I told him that I could get him out of there if he wanted. He told me he was going to sign for every kid that was waiting. I patted his head like, ‘That doesn’t surprise me.’ ”

The hype surrounding McCarthy also made him a target for trash talk at road games.

“These student sections were absolutely brutal trying to get under his skin,” Racki said. “We would finish up and then all of sudden, these kids were his biggest fans, wanting to take selfies with him. I was like, ‘You heard what they were chanting right?’ He was like, ‘It’s all good.’ ”

As his star continued to rise, McCarthy cemented his legendary status as a sophomore by leading Nazareth Academy to a state championship over St. Charles North, dominating despite playing through a broken thumb in his throwing hand.

He nearly led a repeat as junior before coming up short when Nazareth Academy lost the state championship to Mount Carmel. After struggling in poor weather conditions, McCarthy stayed up all night, covering the whiteboard in his bedroom with motivational quotes.

The pandemic struck a few months later, shutting down sports in the area, and ultimately forcing McCarthy to make the difficult decision to leave home as a senior and attend IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

“He only went there because we weren’t going to have football here,” Holcomb said. “He’s the most loyal kid, and his friends are such a core knit of his fabric. There’s no way he would’ve left them, not unless he had to do it.”

Never mind that McCarthy finished up high school IMG Academy, then went to college at the University of Michigan. He’s still revered in his hometown because of the way he made people feel when he was there.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) is unsuited during warmups before the start of a NFL preseason football game against the New England Patriots at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“You still hear people talk about him all the time,” Nazareth Academy offensive coordinator Casey Moran said. “There are kids who looked up to him when they were younger walking the hallways now.”

Some of those kids include Nazareth Academy football players with vivid memories of interacting with McCarthy.

“He helped coach the youth football camp,” senior quarterback Eddie Austin said. “He was standing at the 50-yard line and took a couple of steps and hit the crossbar twice in a row. The ball came off his hand so fast. I was so amazed by that when I was a kid.”

As talented as McCarthy was on the field, he also had a way of making everybody feel important off the field.

“He was the coolest guy ever,” senior receiver Nick Racki said. “I would run over the huddle after the game and pretend like I was doing a fake interview and he would give genuine answers and treat it like it was a real interview.”

Those anecdotes make it easy to see why La Grange Park still proudly claims McCarthy any chance it gets. That pride was on display in the lead up to the 2024 NFL Draft as banners of McCarthy lined light poles of his hometown.

A recent drive down East 31st Street in La Grange Park reveals a rather small community, featuring a hardware store, a couple of auto repair shops and a cafe, among a handful of other businesses.

A picture of East 31st Street in La Grange Park, Ill. on Aug. 23, 2025. This is where Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy grew up. (Dane Mizutani/Pioneer Press)

Not too far away from all of that sits Hop District Brewing, whose owner, Jim Koblish, is neighbors with the McCarthys. He remembers regularly seeing a father and son tossing the football around at dusk.

“You wouldn’t have thought that kid would go on to play in the NFL,” Koblish said. “It’s pretty cool he’s from here.”

That same sentiment was shared by Racki as he tried to sum up how much McCarthy still means to his hometown.

“We love him,” Racki said. “He’s left quite a legacy here.”

That was evident last year shortly after Nazareth Academy captured its latest state championship. As he celebrated with his players during the parade, Racki looked out at the crowd and spotted a bunch of kids wearing No. 9 jerseys.

Maybe those kids will soon be riding their bikes to practice like the hometown hero before them.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) directs the offense in the first quarter of a NFL preseason football game against the Houston Texans at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ruled against the Trump administration from ending temporary legal protections that have granted more than 1 million people from Haiti and Venezuela the right to live and work in the United States.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of San Francisco for the plaintiffs means 600,000 Venezuelans whose temporary protections expired in April or whose protections were about to expire Sept. 10 have status to stay and work in the United States.

Chen said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s actions in terminating and vacating three extensions granted by the previous administration exceeded her statutory authority and were arbitrary and capricious.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Temporary Protected Status is a designation that can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary to people in the United States, if conditions in their homelands are deemed unsafe for return due to a natural disaster, political instability or other dangerous conditions.

Designations are granted for terms of six, twelve or 18 months, and extensions can be granted so long as conditions remain dire. The status prevents holders from being deported and allows them to work.

Soon after taking office, Noem reversed three extensions granted by the previous administration to immigrants from Venezuela and Haiti, prompting the lawsuit. Noem said that conditions in both Haiti and Venezuela had improved and that it was not in the national interest to allow migrants from the countries to stay on for what is a temporary program.

Millions of Venezuelans have fled political unrest, mass unemployment and hunger. The country is mired in a prolonged crisis brought on by years of hyperinflation, political corruption, economic mismanagement and an ineffectual government.

Haiti was first designated for TPS in 2010 after a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of people, and left more than 1 million homeless. Haitians face widespread hunger and gang violence.

When the Tommies make their first trip to Idaho on Saturday to play the University of Idaho Vandals, they will be led by a Boise, Idaho, native, who traveled halfway across the country to fulfill his dream of playing Division I football.

St. Thomas quarterback Andy Peters, circa Aug. 2025. (courtesy of the University of St. Thomas)

Had things worked out just a little bit differently, however, graduate transfer Andy Peters would be lining up against the Tommies on Saturday, instead of for them.

One of Peters’ former teammates and good friends at his previous school, the College of Idaho, works in the equipment room for the Vandals. They had a conversation in the offseason about Peters’ football plans, with Peters making it clear that he hoped to sign on with the Division-I team.

“He said he’d talk to some people (in the Vandals program) about it,” Peters said. “He came back a couple weeks later and told me the situation. They were looking at (Joshua Wood), a transfer from Fresno State. If they couldn’t get him, they wanted me.

“A couple days later he called and said, ‘Sorry, buddy, the guy committed.’”

As happy as he is to have landed in St. Paul, Peters acknowledges that it would have been special to play for the Vandals.

“It would have been awesome to stay home,” he said, “and family and friends would have loved it.”

Instead, Peters estimates that 15 family members and friends will make the five-hour trip north to attend the game. One person who won’t be there is Peters’ fiancé, Ilah, who has a relatively unique reason for missing the game.

“She’s a game warden, and that’s the opening day for archery,” Peters said. “She’s the only game warden for 6,500 square miles, so she has to be there.”

Peters had a strong debut last week in the Tommies’ 35-13 victory over Lindenwood. He threw for 172 yards and two touchdowns, but just as importantly emerged as a much-needed stabilizing force for the Tommies’ offense.

“The more hearty and stable that position is, it allows you to do different things with the other positions,” Tommies head coach Glenn Caruso said. “He’s playing with a belief in his ability and his brothers that makes everyone around him feel comfortable.”

Peters will be looking to build on what he was able to do in his debut.

“I felt like I left a little bit on the table,” he said. “But it’s just going to come with time. That’s what I’m excited for this week and the next how many weeks it is; just continue to learn and grow.”

Peters, who said he always gets nervous before games, acknowledges that things will be ramped up on Saturday.

“I want to feel the emotion of the situation,” he said, “but not let it overtake me. You just can’t let the emotions get too high or too low. It’s been since July that I’ve been back to Idaho, so it will be nice to go back.”

Peters and his teammates figure to have their hands full with the Vandals, No. 11 in the FCS Coaches Poll. The Vandals (0-1), who play in the Big Sky Conference, nearly pulled off a major upset in their opener, losing at Washington State on a late field goal.

The Vandals will be the toughest opponent the Tommies will have faced since 2021, when they lost 44-3 at Northern Iowa. Caruso likened the Vandals to North Dakota State and South Dakota State, two of the perennial powers in the FCS.

For what it’s worth, the Tommies can enter the game feeling good about themselves after last week’s success.

“Coming off a nice win should give us a pretty good platform for which to build,” Caruso said, “but this team is a whole different beast. They play in an environment that is electric. The Kibbie Dome is know to be intense and raucous. “They’ll put 15,340 people in there, and it’s going to be gold and black from corner to corner.”

Caruso entered the non-conference portion of the schedule wary of the physical toll it could take on his team, and, indeed, the Tommies took a hit in that department in Week 1.

“We went into the game as healthy as we’ve ever gone into Week 1,” Caruso said. ‘We came out of it a little more banged up than I wanted us to be. Now, we’re going have to have some young guys, some freshmen, to step up.”

A St. Paul man faces state and federal charges in a Thursday morning carjacking and high-speed chase in Minneapolis that ended when he crashed into a sedan, killing two 25-year-old women and seriously injuring a 6-year-old boy.

Troy Mike Payton, 45, carried out a violent crime spree before running a red light at Penn Avenue and Olson Memorial Highway while pursued by Minneapolis police and t-boning a Ford Fusion driven by Marisa Ardys Casebolt of Minneapolis, according to authorities. Casebolt and her front-seat passenger, Liberty Borg, also of Minneapolis, died at the scene.

The boy, who is the son of one of the women, is being treated at Hennepin County Medical Center with injuries that include a traumatic brain injury and two broken legs, authorities said.

Payton is charged in Hennepin County District Court with two counts of fleeing a police officer resulting in death and one count of fleeing a police officer resulting in great bodily harm. More charges are expected as the investigation plays out, according to prosecutors.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Minnesota on Friday charged Payton, who also goes by the name Edward Tiki Arrington, with carjacking and firing a gun during a crime of violence. A statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Minnesota said carjacking “resulting in death is a death penalty-eligible crime” upon conviction.

Payton is hospitalized with injuries from the crash and has a court appearance on the state charges Monday. An attorney for him is not listed in either court case.

Court records show Payton has an extensive criminal history that includes state convictions for assaults with firearms, illegal possession of a firearm and two convictions for fleeing police in a motor vehicle in 2000 and 2006. He has a 2009 federal conviction for possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

“Two young women should be alive today,” Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Joseph Thompson said in a Friday statement. “Instead, their lives were cut short by a senseless crime committed by a career criminal.”

According to the charges, Payton’s crime spree before the double-fatal crash was caught on surveillance video. Around 8 a.m., he drove a Ford Explorer SUV recklessly toward Lake Street — speeding, swerving into oncoming traffic and driving on the sidewalk. He drove through a red light at the Lake Street and Fourth Avenue intersection, crashing into a sedan.

Payton got out of his SUV, ran toward an Infiniti SUV stopped at the red light and allegedly pointed a gun at the driver. He tried to open the door, but the driver sped away.

Payton then ran toward a Volkswagen Passat and pointed the gun at the driver, the charges allege. He ordered the driver out of her car at gunpoint, got inside and drove the car against traffic to his SUV, where he retrieved his two dogs that were inside. As a woman driving a Jeep SUV approached the intersection, Payton pointed the gun at her. She ducked and sped away.

Payton then ran up to a woman walking on Lake Street and allegedly pointed the gun at her before getting back into the Passat. As he drove away, he fired a shot out of the car toward a work van.

About 8:15 a.m., Minneapolis police sent out a citywide alert on the Volkswagen. Officers saw Payton driving the Passat in north Minneapolis. They tried to pull him over, but he fled and drove toward downtown Minneapolis. “Recognizing that (Payton) was an immediate threat to public safety and to human life, officers followed,” the federal criminal complaint says.

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Surveillance cameras showed Payton speeding through the intersection of Penn Avenue and Olson Memorial Boulevard, running a red light without stopping and crashing into Casebolt’s Ford Focus.

The pursuit by officers lasted approximately three minutes, according to Minneapolis police.

“This is an outcome we never want — a devastating incident with very heartbreaking and permanent consequences,” Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in a Thursday statement.

Violent carjackings have “permeated Minneapolis for far too long,” FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Alvin Winston Sr. said Friday in the statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He said the federal charges show the commitment by the FBI, its law enforcement partners and the attorney’s office to reduce violent crime in Minnesota.

“The FBI will bring every resource available to ensure a safe community where its residents can thrive,” he continued. “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.”

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