NFL teams
Ben Goessling, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Thank-you note tells Vikings' Mike Zimmer his bad-luck days are gone

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- However many well-wishers Mike Zimmer has encountered during a trying stretch as the Minnesota Vikings' first-year head coach, none moved him to share the message publicly the way Alex Loehlein did.

Loehlein, an 8-year-old boy who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy -- a fatal and incurable degenerative muscle disease -- visited the Vikings' facility on a recent Saturday to take in the team's practice, meet players and get his Vikings helmet autographed.

He sent a thank-you note to Zimmer after his visit, which the coach read to reporters before the start of his news conference on Friday. It read:

Dear Mr. Zimmer,

Thank you for letting me watch your practice last Saturday. It was fun. The players were nice to me and signed my Viking helmet. My grandpa says to expect good luck for you because you have used up all your bad luck already.

Alex

After a start in which Zimmer has lost his top offensive player, his starting quarterback, the tight end and right guard the team just signed to contract extensions -- and saw the Vikings give up a touchdown with a second left on the clock in a game he coached with kidney stones -- it's tough to argue with that logic.

 

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