Artist, photographer and former NFL quarterback Kellen Mond shared a lesson in leadership with his LinkedIn followers by attacking former Minnesota Vikings coach, Mike Zimmer.
Now 26, the Texas A&M product recalled his draft experience with Minnesota in 2021, when he became a third-round pick only to get completely snubbed by Zimmer.
‘When I was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, my head coach walked out of the draft room,’ Mond wrote on the business networking website. ‘We never spoke. Not once.’
As explained by Mond in the choppy, fragmented post, the problem wasn’t between himself and Zimmer, but rather the head coach and then-Vikings general manager, Rick Spielman.
‘It all started years before between the General Manager and him,’ Mond wrote without referring to either by name. ‘The GM wanted Kirk Cousins at quarterback. The head coach didn’t.
‘Kirk signed anyway, and the relationship went sour.’
Kellen Mond was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft
Mike Zimmer was fired at the end of the 2021 season, which he blamed on his players. When asked why he didn’t address the team on his way out, Zimmer said: ‘They got me fired’
Cousins signed a three-year, $84 million deal with the Vikings in 2018 and remained with the club until 2023.
But the Vikings apparently wanted a young arm to develop behind the veteran starter, so they drafted Mond, who’d gone 9-1 over an impressive 2020 season with the Aggies.
‘When the GM and Offensive Coordinator [Klint Kubiak] wanted to draft me, the head coach was against it.. again,’ Mond continued. ‘I got the call. He walked out.’
To Mond, that would set the tone for his brief tenure in Minnesota.
‘While I played for the Vikings, I never saw the General Manager and Head Coach speak,’ he wrote. ‘Imagine the two most important people in any organization never talking.
‘What happens to that business? It crumbles.
‘And that’s exactly what happened.’
Now a photographer and artist, Kellen Mond shared the story on his LinkedIn page
Mond specifically recalled the end of that 8-9 season, which proved to be Zimmer’s last in Minnesota.
‘The morning after our last game, we were told both the GM and head coach were fired,’ Mond wrote. ‘They cleaned house.
‘The GM addressed the team and thanked us for our hard work, effort and dedication.
‘The head coach was nowhere to be found.’
Zimmer’s reasoning, which was reported at the time, was that he blamed his players for his dismissal.
‘They got me fired,’ he told Mark Craig of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The lesson wasn’t lost on Mond, who wrote on LinkedIn: ‘That response told me everything I needed to know.’
‘Every time you show up to work, you control the energy in the building,’ Mond wrote. ‘The way you act.
‘The way you speak.
‘Your body language.
‘If you forget that enough times, don’t be surprised when you have a disconnect with others in your organization.’
Zimmer (left) and Spielman (right) are pictured together at the onset of the 2021 season
Mond concluded, writing: ‘Leadership is an atmosphere you create, not a title you hold.’
Zimmer would go on to become the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator and is now out of the NFL, while Spielman has a front-office position with the New York Jets.
The Daily Mail has sought comment from both Zimmer and Spielman.
Zimmer famously took a swipe at Mond at the end of the 2021 season. When asked if he wanted to see the rookie quarterback play in the season finale, Zimmer replied ‘not particularly.’
‘I see him every day,’ Zimmer added.
Zimmer’s view of Mond’s playing ability was apparently shared by the rest of the NFL. Mond would get waived in Minnesota and sign in Cleveland before ultimately finding his way to the United Football League’s San Antonio Brahmas in 2024.
