Minnesota Vikings player C.J. Ham visits Sioux Falls restaurant to try his namesake pizza

Jan. 15, 2021

When you name a pizza after a NFL player, you can only dream that he’ll stop by someday to try it.

That happened last week at Sunny’s Pizzeria with the CJ Hammer pizza and C.J. Ham, a fullback for the Minnesota Vikings.

When Jon Oppold and his wife, Katy, started the neighborhood pizza shop a little over a year ago, they created a couple of specialty pizzas named in honor of football greats from the nearby universities. Ham played for the Augustana Vikings and “picking him was an easy choice,” Oppold said.

“It’s a spicy Hawaiian-style pizza. It’s got ham, bacon, jalapeno, pineapple and sriracha drizzle, with alfredo sauce as the base.”

Over the past year, whenever Oppold posted a photograph of the CJ Hammer on social media, he’d tag Ham, who in turn shared most of the posts. “I have said, ‘Next time you’re in town, stop by and try it.’ ”

That happened Jan. 9. He’s not sure why Ham was in Sioux Falls, but the fullback stopped by the restaurant at 26th Street and Walts Avenue next to the University of Sioux Falls and ordered one to go.

“He posted that it was delicious,” Oppold said. “That was good.”

Oppold’s only regret is that he didn’t get to the restaurant in time to take a photograph. His missed an employee’s text alert for five minutes and got back a few minutes after Ham had left. He’s hoping the Viking returns someday so he can get the shot, frame it and put it on the wall for everyone to see.

The pizzeria owner also is hoping to lure another NFL player to try his namesake pizza, but he’ll have a little farther to travel.

The Stacked Gardeck is named after Dennis Gardeck, a linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals who played at USF.

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Minnesota Vikings player C.J. Ham visits Sioux Falls restaurant to try his namesake pizza

C.J. Ham, a Minnesota Vikings fullback who played college ball at Augustana, stopped by Sunny’s Pizzeria last week to try his namesake pizza.

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