Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr’s hit on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers might have been a lot of things (including season-changing for the league and the Packers).
But according to Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, it wasn’t “dirty.”
“We’re playing football,” Zimmer said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com. “It’s unfortunate that he got hurt but I think everything was above board. We’re not a dirty football team. We’ll never be a dirty football team as long as I’m here. We’re going to play within the rules and sometimes things happen.”
The thing that happened was a broken collarbone, which will require surgery and may end the season of the former MVP. And that’s bad news for a team that hoped to contend for a title and a league which has already lost stars such as Odell Beckham Jr. and J.J. Watt for the year.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy disagreed with Zimmer’s take, saying Barr went too far by drilling Rodgers into the ground after he threw.
“He’s out of the pocket, he’s clearly expecting to get hit, but to pin him to the ground like that, I think was an illegal act,” McCarthy said. “I didn’t like the hit. It was totally unnecessary in my opinion.”
Opinions in Wisconsin and Minnesota will likely vary wildly, and come down along party lines.