Longtime Minnesota Vikings trainer Eric Sugarman’s tenure with the team ended on Monday.
First reported by the Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, Sugarman confirmed his departure in a statement in which he said he is “proud” of his training staff’s “efforts to keep players healthy and at their peak performance” during his 16 years with the Vikings.
A statement from Eric Sugarman, whose run as the Vikings' head athletic trainer is ending after 16 years. pic.twitter.com/uyZTI29iTp
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) March 7, 2022
The reason for Sugarman’s exit hasn’t been announced by the team, nor Sugarman, but Goessling reports that he simply wasn’t part of the plan that new GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell are putting together for the “future of the team.”
As soon as news of Sugarman’s exit went public, some harsh criticism was posted on social media by former Vikings defensive lineman Ifeadi Odenigbo.
Odenigbo tweeted and then deleted: “Eric Sugarman was not a good man so [whatever] narrative you guys think of him it’s been fabricated.”
Matthew Coller of Purple Insider, replying to Odenigbo’s tweet, wrote: “trust me, it isn’t madness.”
That tweet got a “like” from former Vikings linebacker Ben Gedeon, though Gedeon has since retracted his decision to favorite the tweet.
Whatever the case, the Vikings are in the market for a new head athletic trainer.
