Ben Goessling, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Michael Johnson considered Vikings, but Zimmer happy with Everson Griffen

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Shortly after they were allowed to begin contacting free agents last March, the Minnesota Vikings placed a call to the agent for former Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson, to explore the possibility of reuniting him with coach Mike Zimmer in Minnesota.

Johnson wound up agreeing to a five-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers an hour after players were able to sign with new teams; Zimmer said in a radio interview in March that Johnson "wanted to be with me," but ultimately wanted to be closer to his hometown of Selma, Alabama. And in a conference call with Twin Cities reporters on Wednesday, Johnson said he thought about following Zimmer to Minnesota after five years with him in Cincinnati.

"Of course,” Johnson said. “I came into the league under Coach Zimmer. I learned a lot under him. He’s a great coach and a great, great guy. It was a pleasure playing under him."

The Vikings, meanwhile, had agreed to a new five-year deal with Everson Griffen before the start of free agency, keeping the player that Zimmer said in March was their first choice at defensive end. It seemed difficult to imagine a scenario where the Vikings could have paid both Griffen and Johnson, and it might be a moot point now, but seven months later, the Vikings seem to have no regrets about their decision.

Griffen has seven sacks this season, which has him tied for the second-most in the league, and he matched his career high with three on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. Zimmer doesn't place much value on individual sack totals; they're easy to come by, he said on Wednesday, and repeated his mantra about being more concerned with team's overall number of sacks than who gets them. But in the time he's had Griffen, Zimmer said, he's seen a player who was eager to embrace the defensive philosophy the coach brought to Minnesota.

"Since the day we walked in, he's kind of been excited about this regime defensively, how he can go from just being an athlete to being a football player," Zimmer said. "That's how I always got the impression with him. He's been very, very diligent about buying into what we're preaching. It's not just about running up the field and sacking the quarterback. It's about doing your job so other people can have success, too."

That's a philosophy Johnson knew well, and it probably took some projection on the Vikings' part to see that Griffen could work as an every-down right end in the scheme after playing in three different defensive line spots under former head coach Leslie Frazier. Johnson, of course, is playing for Frazier in Tampa, and has two sacks in four games for a 1-5 team. He's looked back on some of the advice he got from Zimmer, whom he called a "father figure," to help get him through the tough start.

"He’d say, 'Tough times don’t last, tough people do,'" Johnson said. "That was his mentality. These first six games here have been tough times down here. So tough times don’t last but tough people do. I’ve taken that with me from Cincinnati. I try to apply that not only in football but life as well.”

It's clear Zimmer and Johnson still hold each other in high regard, but the Vikings made their investment in Griffen last March. So far, Zimmer seems happy with the choice.

"It's not only the pass-rush things," Zimmer said. "It's buying into playing the run, too. I think that allows him to have success."

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