Vikings opt to practice amid widespread sports protests

The Vikings decided to practice Thursday afternoon after a two-hour meeting that took the place of their morning walk-through as players processed their emotions over the shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday.

Jacob Blake was paralyzed after a white policeman shot seven bullets, hitting him in the back four times, from point-blank range. The shooting led at least nine NFL teams, including the Packers, Bears and Lions, to cancel practice on Thursday as players took time to discuss the racial justice matters that have occupied a significant share of the nation's conscience since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis on May 25.

The Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play their playoff game with the Orlando Magic on Wednesday afternoon, setting off a wave of protests that changed schedules in the NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, MLS and professional tennis.

For the Vikings, it meant business as usual in the afternoon, but only following an emotional morning.

The Vikings' social justice committee talked with co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson on Wednesday night about how the team would respond, ultimately deciding on a Thursday morning meeting to talk about steps forward. In the end, coach Mike Zimmer said, the Vikings didn't spend much time discussing the possibility of not practicing, believing the shock value of sitting out would only draw attention to systemic racism for a day or so.

Instead, topics included some of the initiatives the Vikings' social justice committee has been working on — education, police reform, helping former inmates successfully rejoin society — and ways the team can help get voters to the polls in November.

"It's about us going out into our community — as a team or individually — and seeking out how we want to give back and what we're interested in giving back in," said linebacker Eric Kendricks, a member of the social justice committee. It's finding those nuances where we can help on a micro level. Those little micro influences create changes and create ripples that can affect a lot of lives. It's important for us not to feel discouraged.

"During this whole process, I know myself is included, I get overwhelmed like, 'What can I really do and who can I really help?' But it's important for me and my teammates that we can make a difference slowly. It's going to take time. But we will chip away and we will get these things on the docket."

Players led the meeting on Thursday morning, inviting coaches to join them once they'd had a chance to talk as a group. Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen, who was broadcasting his morning KFAN show from the team's practice facility on Thursday, said linebacker Anthony Barr emerged from the locker room to say something to the coaches, who then left with Barr to go inside.

Zimmer said the team would "emphasize getting out and voting, number one, and secondly, if we can get the right people in to vote, or the right people in offices, that can help a lot of these situations.

"We've talked about ways of doing this and ways of trying to help, and it's still in early stages, but those are kind of some of the ideas we're throwing around."

The Vikings open the season Sept. 13 against the Packers, a matchup of on-field rivals whose states have been at the center of the national reckoning over police violence this year.

"We've talked about the killing of Black people by the police time and time again. We sit here and discuss it over and over," said Kendricks, who wore a T-shirt that read, "Arrest the cops that killed Breonna Taylor" during a Thursday afternoon videoconference with reporters. "Whether people point the finger at this and that, 'She did this. He did this.' We need these cops prosecuted. We need them charged. If they're the ones that are setting the example, they're the ones that are enforcing the law and they're not getting prosecuted, how can we trust law enforcement?"

Whether the teams make an on-field statement two weeks from Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium remains to be seen; the Vikings have not had a player kneel for the national anthem to protest systemic racism. Co-owner Mark Wilf and Zimmer had said they want players to stand. The Vikings linked arms for much of the 2017 season, and have preferred to make social statements as a group, to avoid singling out any one player.

"We'll talk about that when we cut to the 53-[man roster]," Zimmer said. "We want to make sure the guys that are here or all in agreement of what we want to do. And quite honestly, we have 90 players out there today; everybody has the right to voice their opinion and give their idea on what it is. Then we'll figure out what's the best way to go."

On Friday afternoon, the Vikings will practice at U.S. Bank Stadium, stepping into the city of Minneapolis as a team for the first time in 2020. They'll enter a city that has been convulsed with angst for much of the summer, preparing to play football in the middle of a pandemic and hoping, in a way, to provide some light in the midst of it all.

"We talked together today at the team meeting about how winning football games could have a powerful effect to just create unity in our city at a time when there has been a lot of division," quarterback Kirk Cousins said. "Obviously, we want to steward our platform as football players in other ways too, like Eric just talked about — stewarding several million dollars [that Vikings ownership committed to social justice causes after Floyd's killing]. And there are other ways we want to steward our platform well.

"But we do believe, and we acknowledged in the meeting, that a part of that is winning football games. And the positive effect that could have to hopefully bring people together and create change in a positive, healthy way."