More stories continue to emerge about how remarkably antagonistic the relationship was between Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and ex-coach Mike Zimmer.
The latest comes from Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen, who claimed Zimmer outright wanted to fight Cousins when the two jostled following a game-winning field goal during a game against the Detroit Lions last season. After Greg Joseph converted a 54-yard field goal to beat Detroit, cameras caught Cousins and Zimmer shoving on the sideline before going to celebrate. Both downplayed the incident, with Zimmer saying it was simply Cousins being a leader and showing emotion.
That apparently was not the case behind the scenes. According to Allen, Zimmer was furious over the interaction and actually wanted to go after his quarterback.
“Back to like the middle of the season. Home game and it’s a victory. Yeah, Zim snapped when Cousins pushed him,” Allen said Monday on KFAN, via Ethan Thomas of Zone Coverage. “And looking back at it, the former head coach got that side-eye and rage steaming from his nostrils. And he wanted to go. But then he didn’t want to go. Kirk sensed a free shot during the working relationship and he got one in.”
Even if nobody was buying the excuses about the interaction, it’s still pretty wild to hear about a coach wanting to fight his quarterback. Then again, in light of some of what has been said about their relationship, it can hardly be considered a surprise. Zimmer himself did a bad job hiding it at times.
Zimmer was fired at the end of the 2021 season. His replacement, Kevin O’Connell, has been publicly enthusiastic about working with Cousins.
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