Gary Zimmerman
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Position: | 1984 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3 | ||||||
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Gary Wayne Zimmerman (born December 13, 1961) is an American former football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL).[1] Zimmerman played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1986 to 1992 and for the Denver Broncos from 1993 to 1997.[2] He won Super Bowl XXXII with the Broncos against the Green Bay Packers. He was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times and was an All-Pro selection eight times. He played college football for the Oregon Ducks whereby he was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008.[3]
Professional career
Los Angeles Express
In 1984, Zimmerman was drafted in the second round (36th overall) by the
Minnesota Vikings
After the
During his time in the NFL, Zimmerman was famous for his refusal to interact with the media. This disdain for the sports press came about due to an early incident in his NFL career, after comments made by Zimmerman condemning the Vikings offensive players for a loss were made public by the media. Zimmerman claimed that his teammates ostracized him for speaking ill of his teammates' performance; this led Zimmerman to decide to boycott the sports media as a result, refusing to do interviews or engage in any sort of interaction with them for the rest of his career.[8]
Denver Broncos
Zimmerman ultimately left the Vikings for the Broncos in 1993, and stayed with the team from 1993 to 1997.[9] He would be part of the team's first Super Bowl-winning squad, winning the game in 1997 and was "in spirit" for the 1998 season. Arriving as the veteran player in 1993 to an offense that was made up of mostly rookies,[citation needed] Zimmerman became the de facto leader of the Broncos offensive line on and off the field. Zimmerman started the Denver offensive line tradition of not speaking to the media. It became a long running tradition that would continue on a full decade after his retirement in 1997. In 2007 the NFL created “The Broncos O-line rule" in response, requiring all players to talk to the media.[10]
He played in 184 NFL games, starting 169 of them.[11]
On February 2, 2008, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[12]
Zimmerman joins
References
- ^ "Gary Zimmerman Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- NFL.com.
- ^ "Oregon Sports Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on May 13, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
- ^ "USFL.info". Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
- ^ "USFL.info - Los Angeles Express". Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
- ^ "1984 Supplemental Draft | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site".
- ^ "1984 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
- ^ http://www.profootballhof.com/assets/media/Zimmerman_Gary.pdf[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Gary Zimmerman Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ "Denver post". July 28, 2007.
- NFL.com.
- ^ "Gary Zimmerman | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site".
- ^ "Pro Football Hall of Fame | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site".