It’s been 43 years since Paul Krause retired from the NFL and 24 years since he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Have any coaches reached out to him asking how he set the NFL record for interceptions?
“No coach has ever asked me how I did it. Not one football coach,” Krause said Tuesday, speaking with Dan Cole on KFAN radio at a Vikings charity golf event. Among the coaches who apparently didn’t bother asking Krause for advice is ex-Vikings head coach and defensive backs guru Mike Zimmer.
“Basically, the last couple years the Vikings defense got beat deep. And quite a few times. I told Zimmer, I says, ‘you got the best strong safety in football (Harrison Smith), leave him there and let him play strong safety and then find somebody that can’t get beat deep.'”
Related: The truth and lies of pinning Vikings’ past failures on Mike Zimmer
Krause said Hall of Fame Vikings coach Bud Grant had one piece of advice for him when he joined the Vikings in 1968: “Don’t get beat deep,” Krause recalled Grant telling him.
“I would say something else but I better not, about the ex coach that was here. But, you know, him being a defensive guru does not do anything for me,” Krause said of Zimmer. “I’d like to talk to him because I”ll tell you something, I was out there doing it and none of these guys have not done it.”
Krause, 80, still holds the NFL record for interceptions with 81
