A couple of newly crowned, first-team All-Pro defensive backs were bantering with a reporter at Winter Park about Sunday’s potentially epic playoff collision between Hall of Fame-bound quarterback Drew Brees and a top-ranked Vikings defense that seemingly has everything except postseason W’s and a nickname for the ages.
“We got a nickname, right?” said cornerback Xavier Rhodes, nodding to safety Harrison Smith. “They call us the ‘Grim Reapers,’ right?”
Not exactly, said Smith.
“It’s ‘Zim Reapers,’” Smith said of a nickname that is gaining momentum via social media and the Mike Zimmer Foundation’s sale of trademark shirts to raise money for Minnesota’s underprivileged youth.