Everson Griffen Feels Disrespected By Mike Zimmer Calling Him a "Good Player"
Longtime Vikings great Everson Griffen was always going to be fired up to face his former team, but he found an extra source of motivation this week. Griffen, now with the Lions after a brief stint in Dallas, took offense to something his old coach told reporters ahead of Sunday's game.
"Everson was a good player for us," Mike Zimmer said on Wednesday when asked about the defensive end's return to Minneapolis. "I wish him well, just not this week.”
While that may seem like a harmless comment, Griffen perceived it as disrespectful. He feels that because of everything he accomplished during his ten years with the Vikings, he deserved to be called a "great" player, not just a good one. He made that very clear during a videoconference with reporters on Thursday.
"This is the best I've felt in a long time," Griffen said. "I got a little frustrated when I read that comment what Zimmer said, 'Oh, Everson was a good player.' Like, Coach Zimmer just wasn't a good coach, he was a great coach to me, so for him to call me a good player, that kind of hurts my feelings. On Sunday, I'm really looking forward to playing the Vikings and showing them that I am a great player."
Griffen will make his Lions debut against the team that drafted him in the fourth round back in 2010. He blossomed into one of the NFL's best pass rushers over the past decade, recording 74.5 sacks with the Vikings and playing in four Pro Bowls. After being released for cap reasons this spring, he elected not to return to Minnesota in free agency. Griffen signed with the Cowboys, where he was off to a fairly slow start in 2020 before being traded to the Lions.
He had to sit out last weekend's loss to the Colts while passing the COVID-19 protocols, but Griffen is all kinds of excited to get going and to help the 3-4 Lions push for the playoffs, starting with a big game against his old team on Sunday.
"I'm just ready to go play ball, and I'm going to go play hard every play," Griffen said. "So when Zimmer said that–I'm a good player–alright, we're going to see who's a good player on Sunday. He’s going to see Sunday what he got coming for him.
"They’re going to put some respect on my name," he added. "He's going to put respect on my name, that’s all I’m saying. Like he just wasn’t a good coach to me, he was a great coach. He helped me improve, helped me grow. I don’t ever talk bad about people, so for him to call me a good player, alright, I got something for him on Sunday.”
Throughout the 10-minute press conference, his first as a member of the Lions, Griffen repeatedly brought up the "good player" comment from Zimmer, usually without even being asked about it. It's clear that Griffen, who has always been known as a fiery, energetic player, is using it for motivation.
"I’m here to win," he said. "I’m not here to play no games. I’m not here to talk no mess about nobody. I’m not here to call nobody no good players. I’m here to win and execute my assignment and that’s what they’re going to get for 60 minutes. You know, we're going to see who’s going to be a good player at the end and who’s going to be a great player at the end."
"It’s going to be fun on Sunday. I’m going to come out and be a great player, and I’m going to come out and dominate and do that. Because I’m just a good player? Alright."
Griffen should step into a large role in the Lions defense right away on Sunday. Romeo Okwara has had a strong season, but Detroit has been lacking production from the other side of the line. With Trey Flowers on injured reserve, Griffen has little competition for snaps at the other defensive end stop alongside Okwara. He'll have plenty of opportunities to go against Vikings tackles Riley Reiff and Brian O'Neill and try to bring Kirk Cousins to the ground. Only Danielle Hunter has more sacks in the five-year history of U.S. Bank Stadium than Griffen.
It's worth noting that Zimmer doesn't often heap praise on former or opposing players, and it seems likely that there was no intent behind the wording of his comment. The Vikings coach will undoubtedly downplay it if he's asked about it on Friday. But Griffen is allowed to find motivation wherever he wants, and this will only add to the intensity and energy of this Sunday's divisional matchup.
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