Adam Zimmer obituary: 'He wanted to follow in his father's footsteps'
The obituary for former Minnesota Vikings assistant coach Adam Zimmer says he was a kind, "sports obsessed" man who "put others ahead of himself."
Zimmer, 38, was found dead at his home in Mendota Heights on Monday, Oct. 31. He was found by police who were called to conduct a welfare check, with the tragic discovery made around 1:13 p.m.. His cause of death has not been revealed.
Zimmer joined the Vikings coaching staff after his father, Mike Zimmer, was named head coach in 2014. They coached together in Minnesota until the Vikings replaced the coaching staff following the 2021 season.
"By the age of 10, Zimmer knew that he wanted to follow in his father's and grandfather's footsteps and become a football coach," the obituary reads, noting that Mike Zimmer was coaching with the Dallas Cowboys when Adam was a child.
The obituary is posted online by Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home in Zimmer's hometown of Colleyville, Texas. It says the Zimmer family "poured its heart and soul into the Vikings" while making an "immeasurable" impact on the community.
It also cites hard times in Adam's life, including the death of his mother when she was 50 years old, and the Jovan Belcher murder-suicide on Dec. 1, 2012. Belcher murdered his girlfriend and then drove to the Kansas Chiefs training facility and fatally shot himself in the parking lot.
Zimmer was the assistant linebackers coach with the Chiefs from 2010 to 2012.
Adam coached Vikings linebackers from 2014 to 2019 before being named co-defensive coordinator in 2020. He was reportedly working remotely as an offensive analyst for the Cincinnati Bengals this season. The Bengals played on Monday night, just hours after Zimmer was found dead.
Instead of flowers, the family is requesting donations to ex-Vikings and current Cowboys linebacker Anthony Barr's "Raise the Barr" foundation.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.