Mike Zimmer makes light of eye situation with solar eclipse joke

With all the talk about the solar eclipse potentially damaging the eyes of those who dared to look directly into the sun on Monday, Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was not about to take any risks.

Zimmer, who has had eight surgeries on his eye since suffering a detached retina last season, decided it would be best to move practice indoors with the eclipse taking place. Why? He can’t afford to lose his only good eye.

The Vikings did indeed move practice inside because of the eclipse. Mike Zimmer: "I've only got one good retina. I can't lose two."

— Ben Goessling (@GoesslingStrib) August 21, 2017

Zimmer’s attitude about his eye problems has been fantastic, at least publicly. Going through eight procedures in less than a year has to be difficult, but the coach has continuously tried to downplay the health issues. As someone who can hardly see out of his right eye without a contact lens, Zimmer’s eclipse joke holds a lot more weight than the one we saw an NBA team make.

Fortunately, Zimmer said his latest procedure fixed the problem. Here’s hoping he does not suffer any setbacks.