Mike Zimmer firmly denies story about his stuffed animal slaughter

Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer strongly denied the recent story that he cut the throats of stuffed animals in an attempt to motivate his team.

At a Thursday press conference, Zimmer read off some of the headlines sparked by the original report and vehemently denied that the event took place because of him.

“I want to set the record straight on an erroneous report that I feel like attacked my character and my reputation,” Zimmer said, via Ben Goessling of ESPN. “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.

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

Zimmer was motivated to issue the denial in part because his charity received negative feedback because of the story.

The original report was pretty wild and out there. The organization has disputed it, and Zimmer now has as well.