Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has openly discussed the eight surgeries he had in his right eye to correct a detached retina, but he recently revealed that he has actually had to undergo procedures on both eyes.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network asked Zimmer about his surgeries when he sat down with the coach for a feature, and Zimmer confirmed that he has had eight in his right eye. He also said he had two in his left, which was information he had not previously shared.
“It’s a cataract. It’s not a big deal,” Zimmer said of the left eye. “They went in first and zapped the retina to make sure it stayed in place so I didn’t have the same issue as the other one.”
Zimmer said he has 20-15 vision in his left eye but only 20-50 in his right eye, which is why he has switched to doing many things left-handed. He said two years ago that he wears a contact lens in his right eye and would barely be able to see anything without it, but he has continuously downplayed how much the issue has impacted his life.
Zimmer has even cracked jokes about his eye problems, and the fact that he never spoke about the procedures in his left eye before reaffirms that he does not want to sound like he is complaining about it. No matter what he says, that can’t be easy. You have to admire the way he handles it.
