My sincerest condolences go out to Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer whose wife Vikki passed away suddenly on Thursday.  The cause of her death has not been released.  Vikki and Mike had been married for 27 years and they have three children together.

Vikki had become known as the team mom.  She would bake cookies for the team every week.

“Mike is part of our Bengals family, and we’ll support him in every way we can,” said head coach Marvin Lewis in a statement. “We will dearly miss Vikki. She was a friend to all of us, and a big supporter of Mike’s players. Her thoughtfulness to them in so many ways will also be greatly missed.”

Many other coaches sent out their condolences to Mike and his family, including Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones, whom Mike coached for 7 years as a defensive coordinator.

Mike is a good coach and a great guy.  My heartfelt sympathy goes out to him and his family in this trying time.