Vikings quarterback

“I’ve never been the big party guy”

Vikings quarterback Ben Holmes(Bild: GEPA)

Vienna Vikings quarterback Ben Holmes is rooting for his home team Buffalo in the NFL. The Bills will host the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night (our time) at a forecast minus 15 degrees. Ben will be watching the game from the comfort of his couch. With his new family of four.

"A lot has changed. We now play direct man-to-man coverage and no more zone defense," Ben Holmes winks. The Vienna Vikings quarterback is talking about his family life. Since the birth of son Karri, he and his wife Jennifer now have two children to look after alongside their daughter Claire.

Ben and Jennifer with their children Claire and Karri.(Bild: Holmes)

Karri? Yes, that's also the first name of running back Pajarinen, Ben's Finnish teammate on the Vikings. Coincidence? "We really liked the name - and Karri is also a great guy," says Ben between changing diapers and training.

He is currently keeping fit in Texas before heading back to Vienna with his wife and children in mid-March. Very early for the coming season. "But we just want to take it easy with the kids and get them into a routine before the European League of Football kicks off for us again."

Holmes will also lead the Vikings onto the field as quarterback in 2025.(Bild: Raphael Sperl)

Before that, the Superbowl, the most important football event on the planet, is on the agenda on February 9. "I hope the Buffalo Bills make it this time," he says, rooting for the team in the shadow of whose stadium the 30-year-old grew up.

They will watch the game for the title in the billion-dollar NFL league "comfortably at home on the couch with the family. I've never been the big party type, even less so now with the kids. I don't watch a lot of football on TV either. I'll only do that when I'm no longer playing myself and later become a coach." But there's still time until then . . .