Free agent offensive lineman Richie Incognito launched an extraordinary attack on Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer on Twitter on Tuesday, calling him a “F—— LIAR,” before releasing screen shots of text messages he says he had with Vikings offensive line coach Tony Sparano before his death on July 22.
The online firestorm from Incognito comes after Zimmer told reporters Tuesday that the Vikings don’t have any interest in signing the guard, who recently told TMZ that he’s received calls from the Vikings and Seahawks.
“No interest and totally false. Tweet that,” said Zimmer.
https://twitter.com/68INCOGNITO/status/1026912300001710080
Incognito, 35, is a four-time Pro Bowl guard with 12 years in the NFL, four of them with the Dolphins, including the final two years of Sparano’s head coaching reign in Miami.
His first tweet shows the start of a text conversation he apparently had with Sparano in March, informing Sparano that he would likely be on his way out of Buffalo and becoming a free agent.
He then texts Sparano that he’d like to help protect new Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, saying “Zimmer is the man” and noting that he doesn’t care about money.
https://twitter.com/68INCOGNITO/status/1026912030756810752https://twitter.com/68INCOGNITO/status/1026912226408423424https://twitter.com/68INCOGNITO/status/1026912161115688960
Minnesota does have injury issues along the offensive line, with guards Nick Easton and Mike Remmers both missing the last week or so of practice, along with starting center Pat Elflein on the physically unable to perform list.
Incognito has had his issues in the NFL, having been suspended in 2013 after being accused of bullying his Dolphins teammate Jonathan Martin. Incognito didn’t play at all in 2014 but had spent the past three seasons with the Buffalo Bills.
