Mike Zimmer assigned homework Monday. Chances are his players took it seriously, even though there was nothing tangible for them to actually turn in.
By now, 26 games into Zimmer's stint as Vikings head coach, players know that there's more to "Zim" than old-school toughness wrapped in an unshaven, tobacco-dipping, between-the-eyes straight shooter. There's also the cerebral side that, players say, demands as much attention mentally as the gruff side does physically.
This is cornerback Terence Newman's seventh season of working for Zimmer. It's also his third team, stretching from Dallas through Cincinnati.
One of the reasons players such as Newman still can start and play effectively on a 7-3 team at age 37 is physical talent. He was, after all, the fifth overall draft pick in 2003.
But there are other reasons for their long-term success. Reasons that have to do with football's underappreciated intellectual side. Reasons that have to do with classroom work ethic, something Paul Brown introduced to the game decades ago when the Browns — yes, the Browns — were the league's model franchise.
"I've never been a guy who falls asleep in meetings," Newman said with a smile.
The 13-year veteran was talking about his longevity a couple of weeks ago. He was asked what would chase him from the game first. The physical aches and pains from the field or the mental monotony and boredom from the classroom.
He said he won't know until that day arrives, either by his choosing or by 32 NFL general managers choosing it for him. But then he went on to describe how the mental side isn't always monotonous and how Zimmer helped him establish a sound base for the kind of film study and classroom attentiveness that would help him on the field.