Mike Zimmer declines postgame interview with Fox

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.