Moritz Boehringer: Mike Zimmer deflates hype balloon

Moritz Boehringer was far-and-away the star of Minnesota Vikings rookie minicamp, to the possible dismay of Mike Zimmer.

Mike Zimmer had a message for Vikings sixth-round draft pick Moritz Boehringer at Vikings rookie minicamp.

In short: I hope you enjoyed your time as a celebrity, but that stuff doesn’t hold any water around here, so you better be ready to get down to business.

Why did Mike Zimmer feel the need to deliver this particular message? It might have had something to do with the number of microphones being shoved into Boehringer’s face at Vikings rookie minicamp.

Yes I said “Vikings rookie minicamp.” Not OTAs. Not regular minicamp. Rookie minicamp.

If you’re a first-round pick, you can probably expect to have a lot of cameras on you from day one. If you’re a famous college quarterback picked in any round, you can expect the same.

A sixth-round wide receiver doesn’t normally have to worry about drawing a crowd of media. But Moritz Boehringer is no ordinary sixth-round wide receiver.

Boehringer is the first player ever to make the jump directly from Europe to the NFL without playing for a college football team in America. As such, he carries a certain burden as a flag-bearer for future European players who might be looking to make the same leap. The NFL certainly likes the idea of a European player being drafted.

Boehringer was touted by writers like Gil Brandt. His workout at FAU was watched by Bill Parcells. On draft day, he was “pitched to the Vikings” by NFL Network employee Mike Mayock.

Boehringer had a German TV crew following him around on draft day. After being drafted, Boehringer received a phone call from his favorite player, Adrian Peterson.

It’s enough to make an impressionable young man think he might be kind of a big deal.

Yeah, Boehringer is kind of a big deal right now. To fans and the media and the Vikings/NFL PR machine. But in actual football reality, he is no kind of deal at all.

Next: Vikings try out long snapper

In actual football reality, Boehringer has proven nothing. Right now he is just an intriguing talent who cost the Vikings a sixth-round pick. Right now he is just another guy reporting to rookie minicamp to begin the long process of becoming an actual NFL player.

That’s the reality. Anything else is just media and PR nonsense.

Mike Zimmer doesn’t care about the nonsense part.  He only cares about the on-field performance. When Zimmer and his coaching staff truly get their hands on Moritz Boehringer, away from the cameras and lights, they’ll begin imparting their real message.

And when they’re done, Moritz Boehringer will either have learned to play NFL football, or he’ll have learned a lot of English swear-words.