Paul Allen's response to Mike Zimmer drama: 'I'm out here catching strays'

"How dare you tell the truth?" said Mike Florio.

Aug 21, 2021; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer looks on during the second quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images / Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images

It didn't get much attention when it happened, but Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen did have a response to Mike Zimmer's scathing remarks in a recent newspaper interview.

Zimmer admitted he holds grudges and has one against Allen after the KFAN host made a comment about him snapping back at Kirk Cousins when the former Vikings head coach and quarterback infamously clashed during a win over the Lions in October 2021. Allen's precise words during a radio segment on his KFAN show from Sept. 6, 2022, went as follows:

"Yeah, Zim snapped when Cousins pushed him," Allen said. "And looking back at it, the former head coach got that side-eye and rage steaming from his nostrils. And he wanted to go. But then he didn’t want to go. Kirk sensed a free shot during the working relationship and he got one in."

In the wide-eyed interviewed with the Star Tribune, Zimmer addressed his relationship with Allen, which went from being friendly enough to co-own a racehorse together — Allen is the longtime track announcer at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn. — to Zimmer buying out Allen's share of the horse and holding a grudge.

“Hey, I pushed Kirk back pretty hard, too,” Zimmer said. “But I just didn’t like what PA said. We’re supposed to be friends. Why you got to talk about me? Unfortunately, I hold grudges. That’s just how I am.”

The issue came up briefly when Allen was chatting with Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio on his 9-to-Noon KFAN show on Sept. 4.

"How about that stray I caught over the weekend from Mike Zimmer in the Star Tribune story?" Allen said. "I was trying to get through a holiday weekend, call some races and I'm out here catching strays out of nowhere."

Florio thought Zimmer's airing of dirty laundry in the public was out of line.

"How dare you tell the truth when Mike Zimer snapped during that weird shoving match with Kirk Cousins after the win over the Lions. How dare you say what your eyes were telling your brain? How dare you," Florio, with plenty of sarcasm, responded. "I thought you were his friend, I thought you would lie for a friend, create a false impression, I thought that you would come up with something better than the truth.

"Here's the truth: Zimmer didn't do himself any favors saying the stuff he said. It'd be better to just shut your mouth, go to work, do well and stick it to people that way. When you try to settle scores publicly like that, people aren't going to feel bad for, people aren't going to be rooting for you. If anything, they're going to be rooting for you to fail."

🗣️ READ IT LIKE A BOOK

📻: @PAOnTheMic | @KFAN1003 pic.twitter.com/iyldWQebcG

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 10, 2024

While Zimmer doesn't seem to enjoy Allen's company any longer, there's a very large group of people who adore the Vikings play-by-play guy. One of them is Gregg Rosenthal, who on his No. 1-rated NFL podcast, NFL Daily, commented about the horse situation Monday after playing a touchdown highlight featuring Allen.

"That's Paul Allen of KFAN," Rosenthal said after the highlight. "The great Paul Allen, who once owned a horse with Mike Zimmer, we found out last week. And Mike Zimmer's feelings were so hurt when Paul Allen dared to mention that he pushed Kirk Cousins that Mike Zimmer then made Paul Allen sell his share of the horse. He kept the horse. What a story, and they haven't spoken since. I mean, why hold so many grudges, Mike Zimmer? Who doesn't love Paul Allen?"