Vikings' Mike Zimmer jokingly tells reporters to convince Aaron Rodgers to retire
It’s either Mike Zimmer or Aaron Rodgers. The division isn’t big enough for both of them in Zimmer’s eyes.
Zimmer’s Minnesota Vikings and Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers will meet on “Monday Night Football” with the NFC North on the line in week 16. The Packers won most of the division’s titles this decade, while the Vikings have won it in 2015 and 2017. (The 2018 victor Chicago Bears were eliminated last week with a loss to the Packers.)
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And the Vikings’ head coach had jokes about the foes on a conference call with Green Bay media. Via Packers.com:
“Either me or him have to get out of this division at some point,” Zimmer said in a conference call with Green Bay media. “It’s too hard to go against him. He’s too damn good.
“You guys should try to talk him into retiring.”
Rodgers’ reply?
“Tell him to retire.”
Zimmer also faced the veteran quarterback when he was the Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive coordinator. The Bengals beat the Packers in 2009 and 2013. Overall, they pair are 5-5-1 against each other, per Packers.com, excluding the 2017 game in which Rodgers broke his collarbone in the first quarter.
It’s only the second time in the history of the series, which the Packers lead 61-54-3, that they’ve met in December while each having a double-digit win record. The one other time it happened, in 2015, both had clinched the playoffs and were only battling for the higher seed.
On Monday, the NFC North is at stake as well as far more. The Packers, already guaranteed a playoff spot, can clinch the division with a win and are trying for the conference’s No. 2 seed that comes with a bye. The Vikings need another win to clinch the playoffs and could still realistically take the division.
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