Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer opened himself up to controversy on Sunday when he declined his postgame interview with Fox after his team’s 38-7 loss in the NFC championship.
Though it is customary for the losing coach to speak with the broadcast network even after a game like this, Fox said Zimmer declined the opportunity.
Mike Zimmer declined to do customary interview with Erin Andrews after losing, FOX says. #presentedwithoutcomment
— David McCoy (@DavidMcCoyWCCO) January 22, 2018
There’s some precedent for this sort of thing. Cam Newton infamously walked out of his post-Super Bowl news conference two years ago, but Newton was a player. Zimmer, as coach, is tasked with speaking on behalf of his team. You can understand why he wouldn’t really want to deal with the media after a beating like that, and it’s hardly the end of the world. He did speak with the congregated media in a postgame news conference. Still, turning down FOX is definitely poor form.
