As the Vikings and Green Bay Packers played football in an empty stadium during a pandemic on Sunday, artificial crowd noise droned, sometimes drowning out the voices of players and coaches on the field. It sounded something like locusts.
In the strangest, saddest edition of their rivalry, the Packers won 43-34 as the Vikings defense observed social distancing norms, frequently staying at least 6 feet away from Aaron Rodgers and his receivers.
What you noticed most, sitting in a massive press box and staring at acres of empty purple seats, was the silence of the horns.
One of the signatures of the gameday experience at U.S. Bank Stadium is the massive Gjallarhorn that juts out of the concourse to the east of the massive scoreboard in front of the windows that reveal downtown Minneapolis.
Before every other Vikings game at the newish stadium, a former player or Minnesota celebrity has pretended to blow into the horn, which then blared. On Sunday, the family of George Floyd stood behind the horn before the game but did not produce a sound.
A Vikings news release said that the moment of silence called attention "to these silenced voices and collectively work toward a better, more just society."
On the white line at the back of one end zone, the words "End racism" were stenciled. The back of the other end zone read: "It takes all of us."
About a half-hour before kickoff, the scoreboard featured Alicia Keys performing "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the song known as the Black national anthem, as Vikings players, coaches and staff stood at the far goal line, many with arms linked.
