Dantzler
GettyCameron Dantzler said Mike Zimmer pushed him to the side after he suffered an unreported injury in training camp.
In an exclusive interview with Go Long TD’s Tyler Dunne, Dantzler detailed how the team under Kevin O’Connell is succeeding by playing more freely.
Dantzler back in his starting role has 34 tackles, four pass breakups and a clutch fumble recovery against the Chicago Bears. He’s posted the highest PFF coverage grade (70.6) of his career, simply by being himself after a year where he felt like a “robot.”
“I got my swagger back. They have faith in me with what I can do and they make me play freely and be me,” Dantzler told Dunne before describing last season. “Nobody knows the inside story. There was more to it with me and Coach last year. Outside looking in, you really don’t know as much. There was a lot going on last year. It was a roller-coaster for me.”
In the 2021 offseason, Dantzler “popped his quad,” suffering a Grade 2 tear and tried to play through it during OTAs in June, Dunne said. The Zimmer regime was notorious for mismanaging injuries while jobs were on the line, and Dantzler didn’t want to lose his place. But after his quad popped again, the Vikings signed Breeland just two days later.
Breeland was coming off back-to-back Super Bowl appearances with the Kansas City Chiefs and was an enticing veteran addition that soon spoiled. Breeland was PFF’s worst-graded cornerback for most of the season before he got in a fight at practice in December and was released.
“They brought Breeland in and I feel like they just threw me to the side,” Dantzler said. “I was like, ‘Damn. Am I good enough?’ I was questioning myself. Young guy. Second year. Just coming off a… I wouldn’t say ‘great’ rookie year. But toward the end, I improved a lot. I had that confidence and swagger into Year 2. And then when I got hurt, it was, ‘OK, we don’t need him anymore. Let’s throw him to the side.’ I felt abandoned.
“Everybody tried to make it seem like I was out-battled. Breeland is a great player. But I don’t feel I was out-battled. My spot was given away before it was even fought for. It was like, ‘OK. He’s going to be the starter. He’s going to be our guy.’ They just threw me to the side.”
Working with Zimmer every day at the head coach’s preferred position group, Dantzler felt a coldness come over his former head coach.
From Dunne:
He can remember straight-up asking Zimmer, “Coach, you don’t mess with me anymore because I’m injured.”
The head coach’s response? Per Dantzler? “I don’t talk to guys who are hurt.”
“I’m like, ‘Whoa. OK.’ Those words came out of his mouth,” Dantzler says. “I’m an outgoing person. People like my personality. I bring joy to the room. I don’t know. He’s an old school type of guy. He wasn’t feeling it.”
GettyCameron Dantzler says he’s playing more freely under first-year coach Kevin O’Connell.
Speaking on his time playing under Zimmer, Dantzler admitted he was afraid to make any mistake, stepping on eggshells at a position that is entirely instinctual.
He’s finding that instinct again under O’Connell.
“Because you know yourself,” he told Dunne. “You know how you play. Just go out there and show it. I feel like I don’t have to be a robot anymore. My first two years? I had butterflies a lot. I felt like, ‘If I mess up, I might get taken out.’ I was a robot. Now, I’m free. ‘KO’ let me be free. I can go out there with confidence and swagger like, ‘Hey, ain’t nobody catching anything on me today.’ That’s how I feel.”
I guess at this point (for me) this is all just confirming...
Too bad it got that bad out there, hope what KOC has started means we're at the beginning of a fun, new era.
Time will tell, it's all good when your 5/1, how do they handle adversity will be the real question.
Where there was smoke there was fire...the rumors about Zimmer just being an over-the-top jerk started a few years into his hiring.
Probably the biggest reason he was overlooked so long for HC positions before our job, and I really doubt he will ever be an NFL HC again.
I advocated, with a few others, of moving on from him 3 years prior to when we did. I had seen enough smoke and then overall poor management and wanted to cut bait.
Oh well, KOC is still on a honeymoon for the most part, but he is certainly polar opposite to the grim defensive guru who lost his touch.
I think a decent player culture existed for Zimmer and that was left behind for KOC, but now the HC and staff relate so much better to the team. Wins are providing buy in for him as well. This team really enjoys each other and are close, you can see it.
The more we find out about Zimmer the worse he sounds. The situational football was bad enough. Add a poison culture, players who hate him and it's not hard to figure out why this team couldn't rise up at crunch time and close out close games.
@"MaroonBells" said: The more we find out about Zimmer the worse he sounds. The situational football was bad enough. Add a poison culture, players who hate him and it's not hard to figure out why this team couldn't rise up at crunch time and close out close games.Agreed. Zimmer sounds like more of an ass every time another player opens up about their experiences with him.
We all knew Zimmer had an old school attitude towards injuries, but if his interactions change cuz a guy is hurt... That's a bunch of crap. Glad we got Kevin O'Connell. The more that comes out, the better this move looks.
It makes me wonder about Spielman and if he really deserved to go, if this is the way Zimmer communicated could you blame Spielman for not talking to him and how much was he to blame for the culture of the team. The initial rumors were that Zimmer would go, but Spielman would stay.
@"JR44" said: It makes me wonder about Spielman and if he really deserved to go, if this is the way Zimmer communicated could you blame Spielman for not talking to him and how much was he to blame for the culture of the team. The initial rumors were that Zimmer would go, but Spielman would stay.It was Spielmans job to never let it get that far. If he was worthy of the top job he would have shut that shit down 3 years ago.
@"JimmyinSD" said:Unless the clueless Wilfs bought into the Tuna's BS that Zimmer wasn't the problem, until he clearly was.@"JR44" said: It makes me wonder about Spielman and if he really deserved to go, if this is the way Zimmer communicated could you blame Spielman for not talking to him and how much was he to blame for the culture of the team. The initial rumors were that Zimmer would go, but Spielman would stay. It was Spielmans job to never let it get that far. If he was worthy of the top job he would have shut that shit down 3 years ago.
@"mgobluevikes" said:I think that was the main problem for Rick. Zim was always real smug about his job security when the subject came up in the media. He was Parcells' boy and Parcells had the Wilfs in his back pocket.. until he didn't.@"JimmyinSD" said:Unless the clueless Wilfs bought into the Tuna's BS that Zimmer wasn't the problem, until he clearly was.@"JR44" said: It makes me wonder about Spielman and if he really deserved to go, if this is the way Zimmer communicated could you blame Spielman for not talking to him and how much was he to blame for the culture of the team. The initial rumors were that Zimmer would go, but Spielman would stay. It was Spielmans job to never let it get that far. If he was worthy of the top job he would have shut that shit down 3 years ago.Rick opted for save-my-job over taking a stand with ownership over Zim's crap behavior. He got fired in part due to the deterioration of the relationship with Zimmer. He should have been blunt and let the chips fall but he did what he loved best-b.s. ownership and play politics, and in the end he lost the job anyway.
@"comet52" said:@"mgobluevikes" said:I think that was the main problem for Rick. Zim was always real smug about his job security when the subject came up in the media. He was Parcells' boy and Parcells had the Wilfs in his back pocket.. until he didn't.@"JimmyinSD" said:Unless the clueless Wilfs bought into the Tuna's BS that Zimmer wasn't the problem, until he clearly was.@"JR44" said: It makes me wonder about Spielman and if he really deserved to go, if this is the way Zimmer communicated could you blame Spielman for not talking to him and how much was he to blame for the culture of the team. The initial rumors were that Zimmer would go, but Spielman would stay. It was Spielmans job to never let it get that far. If he was worthy of the top job he would have shut that shit down 3 years ago.Rick opted for save-my-job over taking a stand with ownership over Zim's crap behavior. He got fired in part due to the deterioration of the relationship with Zimmer. He should have been blunt and let the chips fall but he did what he loved best-b.s. ownership and play politics, and in the end he lost the job anyway.
Thats how I would have played it, by staying silent and putting on a good face he ends up looking like a pussy that was afraid to rock the boat.
@"Wetlander" said: We all knew Zimmer had an old school attitude towards injuries, but if his interactions change cuz a guy is hurt... That's a bunch of crap. Glad we got Kevin O'Connell. The more that comes out, the better this move looks.Yes, I am slowly coming around on that. Seems odd because he had a rep as a guy players loved to play for. But perhaps the HC gig wasn't good for him.
I will say, this is one side of the story and we have seen some lax attitude from Dantzler that PP called him out for. So perhaps it had something with too much swagger and not enough preparation. But more and more, it shows a really bad side of Zim.
@"greediron" said:@"Wetlander" said: We all knew Zimmer had an old school attitude towards injuries, but if his interactions change cuz a guy is hurt... That's a bunch of crap. Glad we got Kevin O'Connell. The more that comes out, the better this move looks. Yes, I am slowly coming around on that. Seems odd because he had a rep as a guy players loved to play for. But perhaps the HC gig wasn't good for him.I will say, this is one side of the story and we have seen some lax attitude from Dantzler that PP called him out for. So perhaps it had something with too much swagger and not enough preparation. But more and more, it shows a really bad side of Zim.
If this was the first and last we had heard about this I would agree with you. But Dantzler isnt the first to go public and he probably wont be the last.
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