Adam Zimmer, the son of former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and the team’s co-defensive coordinator, passed away as a result of prolonged drinking.
The 38-year-old was found dead at his Twin Cities home on October 31, 2022, and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed his cause of death in documents made available to the public on Friday.
Adam Zimmer’s Cause of Death
Zimmer’s cause of death was officially listed by the medical examiner as “complications of chronic ethanol use disorder.”
The CDC estimates that excessive alcohol use causes roughly 140,000 fatalities annually in the United States, making it the primary factor in deaths that could have been avoided.
Zimmer was discovered dead at his house in the 2500 block of Condon Court in Mendota Heights, according to the Mendota Heights Police Department, after officers were asked to check on him at 1:13 p.m. on Monday, October 31.
“There are no signs of foul play,” according to the agency, and there were no unusual circumstances in his death. According to the medical examiner’s report, his demise was “natural.”
When Mike Zimmer was appointed head coach in 2014, Zimmer joined the Vikings. Through the 2019 season, he served as a linebackers coach before being named co-defensive coordinator in 2020.
Zimmer, who resided in Minnesota, was the subject of a welfare check by the Mendota Heights Police Department, according to police chief Wayne Wegener Jr.
When officers arrived at Zimmer’s house, he had already passed away. At the time, Wegener declared that the Hennepin County medical examiner will determine and publicize Wegener’s cause of death and that officials were “not investigating this as a suspicious death.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune stated that a week after Zimmer’s body was discovered, police had submitted a search warrant affidavit stating that they had been notified about a guy who seemed to be drunk to the point of unconsciousness. According to the publication, when they got there, they found Zimmer deceased on a couch.
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Police said that Zimmer had also sustained an eye injury in the affidavit they submitted to Dakota County District Court.
According to police reports, Zimmer “appeared to have bruising or blood pooling around his eye.” Police stated that there is no evidence of wrongdoing in their filing, according to the Star Tribune.
This season, Zimmer, whose father is seasoned NFL coach Mike Zimmer, started working with the Bengals. Prior to that, he was a coach for the Minnesota Vikings following his father’s 2014 appointment as head coach. According to ESPN, he and his father both had their employment terminated last year.
As an assistant linebackers coach for the New Orleans Saints in 2006, Adam held his first coaching role in the NFL. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins commented on social media that he was “deeply saddened” by the news and praised Adam Zimmer as a “tremendous coach & person.”
Deeply saddened by the news of Adam Zimmer…tremendous coach & person. Had the privilege of sitting next to him flying back from games. Learned so much. Praying for the Zimmer family.
— Kirk Cousins (@KirkCousins8) November 1, 2022
