Jim Kleinsasser: How two embarrassing fumbles made me a better player
Nothing like being booed by 64,000 fans to convince you to learn from your mistakes, UND Hall of Famer and NFL veteran says in Spring Commencement address
Editor’s note: University of North Dakota Hall-of-Famer Jim Kleinsasser returned to his alma mater on Saturday, May 17, to speak at UND’s Spring Commencement ceremonies.
Kleinsasser, a North Dakota native who played all 13 years of his professional football career with the Minnesota Vikings, gave the main address for both the graduate degree ceremony and the undergraduate degree ceremony at the Alerus Center.
During his career at UND, Kleinsasser was a three-time first-team All-North Central Conference pick and a two-time first-team All-American. In 2025, he was inducted into the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.
The following is the address that Kleinsasser delivered to the graduates.
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Thank you, President Armacost. Greetings graduates, family members, and friends. I am extremely honored to be here today. If you had told me back in 1999 that I would someday give the commencement speech here, I would have said you are crazy! But here we are!
My career was basically running full speed into other men, who were in turn trying to hit me as hard as they could. I am now living proof that anybody has a chance to make it up here! President Armacost is now silently regretting asking me to speak today.
I am extremely proud of this university. It has been a huge part of my family since my sister Sheri enrolled in the fall of 1991. Sheri played basketball here and was one of the best to ever play. I was able to come up to Grand Forks from our farm about two hours west of here to watch her play throughout her career. It was great to get an extended look at UND for several years, and I quickly saw how special the community of UND really was.
So when it was time for me to make my college decision, it was a no-brainer. I loved every minute I spent here. I had so many great coaches, professors, teammates and classmates. So many successful and amazing people that are still a part of my life.
UND isn’t just a university, it’s a community. It’s a community that will positively impact you throughout your life, if you let it.
Stay connected
Which brings me to my first piece of advice: stay connected.
Stay connected to your classmates and professors. They will keep you grounded in your values and be an invaluable support system. No matter where you go in this world, it will be a huge comfort to have a trusted group to share celebrations with and talk through problems that arise.
To this day, I have a large group from UND that I keep close and are invaluable to me.
Show up every day
My second piece of advice is to show up every day. Don’t give yourself excuses or outs. Develop good habits that keep you moving towards your goals.
When you don’t feel motivated to do something, you must tell yourself to just show up. You might not be the best on that day, but you’ll be better than the version of you that didn’t show up.
Showing up and being present will always give you a chance to advance towards your goals.
Let adversity strengthen you
My third piece of advice is on adversity. We do everything we possibly can to prevent adversity. We want things to go smoothly. We visualize perfect scenarios in our life, but sadly we never escape it, nor should we.
You will all face varying degrees of adversity throughout your life. Do not fear adversity. Most adversity will strengthen you in unimaginable ways and help you better handle challenges that lie ahead.
In my rookie year (with the Minnesota Vikings), I had one of these moments. In the fifth game of my NFL career, we were playing the Chicago Bears at home in the Metrodome. Now, up until this point, things are going great. I’m getting a decent amount of playing time, and I’m starting to get settled in. I’m feeling pretty good about myself.
I’m in the NFL, I’m getting opportunities, the sky’s the limit, I’m on my way!
We were in an extremely close game, and I’m told to line up at running back and run a screen play. I’m super excited at this point. They have the confidence in me to line up at running back — which I had not done before — and run a play designed to get me the ball.
I’m feeling really full of myself at this point. I’m chomping at the bit.
Now, if you don’t know what a screen pass is, it’s when you fake like you’re pass blocking as a running back, and after waiting a few seconds, you release out of the line of scrimmage to the side to catch a pass with two to three offensive linemen lead blocking for you.
Now, the key words there are “wait a few seconds.” I released after about a half of a second. I was way too quick and was way ahead of my lead blockers. As soon as I caught the ball and turned upfield, a defender put his helmet right on the ball and it popped loose.
I fumbled the ball on our own 35-yard line. Not a great feeling.
I could feel the fans’ disappointment. Later on in the game, we are driving down the field nearing the red zone. We called “tight right double Dallas,” which is a simple five-yard stick route. The ball is snapped, and I get a clean release off the ball and see wide open turf.
Now, with this route, you are supposed to read the defense; and if there is open space at five yards, sit in the open area. Well, I was a little excited and out of control, and kept drifting my route out towards the linebacker waiting in the flat. I caught the ball, and — like a complete rerun of my first fumble — as soon as I turned around, I was met with a punch to the ball.
I had just lost my second fumble of the game.
I was completely shell shocked. As I ran off the field, the boos from the crowd started to get louder with each step. Sixty-four thousand fans booing you and screaming their disgust is a horrible feeling.
That second fumble sealed our fate, and we lost 22-24.
In the days following, I was a mess. I was still in a state of shock, and the questions from the media only further drove me into the ground. I needed to do something to help myself. A self-evaluation was in order.
Never again
I watched the film over and over again, breaking down exactly why those fumbles happened.
Those two fumbles didn’t just happen because of fate. They happened because I was sloppy with my routes. I wasn’t detailed enough in my assignments. If I had been patient on the screen pass or read the stick route properly and just sat in the open space, I would have been able to catch the ball and turn upfield without any defender surprising me.
It opened my eyes to how complacent I was.
From that day on, I would attack every practice and every film session with newfound attention to detail. I vowed to myself that I would never be caught again running lazy routes or not making the right read.
I also changed the way I approached mistakes and failings. I started to speak out loud the words “forget it” to myself whenever I made a mistake, or a negative play would pop up. Those weren’t the exact words I used, but you get the point.
The simple act of telling myself to move on kept that feeling of dread and fear away. In each moment, I was able to quickly move my mind on to the next task or play.
I was also extremely lucky to have teammates at the time and past teammates and friends from UND who stood up for me and supported me. It was a huge comfort knowing that so many people had my back and were rooting for me.
Staying connected was a Godsend to me.
I played for 13 years, and I really don’t know if I would have made it so long in the NFL without experiencing that crazy game. It reshaped how I approached my preparation and led to new techniques to deal with the ups and downs.
It humbled me and reset my work ethic and drive. Adversity became my catalyst to change when change was greatly needed.
Greatness begins at UND
So in closing, congratulations for all the hard work you have completed to get the opportunity to walk across this stage and receive your diploma. From this day forward, I hope that you all show up every day, meet adversity with an attitude of growth and change, and stay connected to this university so you have a support system behind you when facing that adversity.
And always remember, you are great! You are a graduate of the University of North Dakota! Thank you.
