Openly using alcoholic beverages or tobacco products on the sidelines of an NFL game as a coach, player or staff of a team is against the league's rules. So Vikings coach Mike Zimmer had to get a little creative Sunday night in order to not get caught with chewing tobacco.
Unfortunately for him, cameras were right on him as he took a big chunk of chewing tobacco out during the third quarter. The cameras also caught him attempting to hide the product in a bag of sunflower seeds.
Zim hiding the dip in the seeds bag? 😂 pic.twitter.com/NLelAvsFdf
— Paid man gets bored (@cjzero) August 19, 2019
NFL 2019 PREDICTIONS:
AFC East | AFC West | AFC North | AFC South
NFC East | NFC West | NFC North | NFC South
The interesting thing about this, however, is Zimmer was caught doing the same thing back in 2015.
While he didn't use the sunflower seeds bag back then, he was caught on camera putting chewing tobacco in his mouth.
The NFL released the following statement in 2015 after Zimmer's first incident:
NFL players, coaches, and other employees must not endorse or appear in advertisements for alcoholic beverages (including beer) or tobacco products. While fully recognizing that the use of alcohol and tobacco is legal, the NFL nevertheless has long been of the view that participation in ads for such substances by its employees may have a detrimental effect on the great number of young fans who follow our game. In particular, endorsements or other close identification of NFL players with alcohol or tobacco could convey the erroneous impression that the use of such products is conducive to the development of athletic prowess, has contributed to their success, or at least has not hindered them in their performance.
For the above reasons, players and other club and League employees (including game officials) must not use alcohol or tobacco products while in the playing field area or while being interviewed on television. Further, NFL policy prohibits the use or presence of alcoholic beverages, including beer, in club locker rooms at any time during the preseason, regular season, or postseason, including during the practice week and on game day.
It's unclear if Zimmer faced any punishment in 2015. Most likely he received some sort of fine. The same will probably happen in 2019 as well. It's clearly against the rules, and Zimmer was clearly caught using it.
As for his chewing tobacco habit, Zimmer said he wanted to quit back in 2009 when he still a member of the Bengals' coaching staff as a defensive coordinator.
