National Football League

Mike Zimmer sets the record straight on stuffed animal incident

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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A recent report that Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer staged a stuffed animal massacre in the locker room before the Eagles game has been revealed as false.

Earlier this week, The Viking Age shared a story from the Star Tribune about Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer using a somewhat disturbing motivational technique involving stuffed felines, fake blood, and slit throats that seemed to strange to believe.

It appears that it was, in fact, a situation that was blown out of proportion. ESPN released an article today where Zimmer expressed his displeasure for the media’s grasp of this story and wanted to ensure that his role in the incident was clearly defined.

Here is what Zimmer said during a talk with the media on Thursday:

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“I want to set the record straight on an erroneous report that I feel like attacked my character and my reputation,” the coach said, before reading through a stack of headlines he’d printed out about the story.

“Actually, the stuffed animals I did have here were given to charity, to Toys for Tots. It just kind of goes to show you that when one thing gets out there — and it was updated correctly, that I had nothing to do with it — but unfortunately, the headlines still keep coming out, and it bothers me.”

There was some backlash because of these stories. Zimmer’s charity received multiple messages of concern about the disturbing scene.

So, to clear things up, the incident did happen, but it was not Zimmer who mutilated the plush toys as a way to motivate or send a message to his players.

“I do a lot of crazy stuff,” Zimmer said, “but I’ll admit it when I do it.”

The Viking Age would like to apologize to head coach Mike Zimmer for any insinuation that he was responsible for the scene and encourage all charitable organizations not to worry about working with him (including the Mike Zimmer Foundation) or the Minnesota Vikings in the future.

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