'Something's got to change': How the Vikings are pushing for social justice

“More minds are greater than just one, and that’s the attitude we’re taking, and we’re all putting our heads together and trying to really create change,” Kendricks said.

When Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson came up with the idea of a teamwide social justice committee, they received immediate support from ownership.

The Wilf family, which owns the Vikings, donated $250,000 to the committee in 2018 and again in 2019. That money was allocated to scholarships and school supplies for low-income students, legal aid, youth services and programs that aim to improve the relations between law enforcement and the community.

In the aftermath of Floyd’s death, Vikings ownership announced a $5 million donation to social justice causes across the nation. The social justice committee also created an endowed George Floyd Legacy Scholarship to benefit Black high school seniors in Minneapolis-St. Paul who are pursuing post-secondary education.

Chief operating officer Andrew Miller called the Vikings’ opportunity to make an impact “both a privilege and an obligation.” Players on the committee, including Harris, Kendricks and running backs Ameer Abdullah and Alexander Mattison, are ready to lead the charge.

It comes after another African American was killed by police. This time, however, the circumstances feel different.

“Through time, the Black community has been telling the world that this has been going on,” Patterson said. “And a lot of people didn’t want to believe that it was going on, that the person had to do something wrong to either get choked to death, or shot, or whatever.

“But this is the reason why this one’s different: Because the whole world got to see life leave that man’s body. … Not only did they get to see him lose his life — they got to see it from start to finish.”

Almost 30 years ago, Patterson learned progress can be made when you foster communication and understanding. Like many of his African American players at Washington State, where he coached from 1992-93, Patterson often was followed home by police or stopped without reason.

He went to then-head coach Mike Price and asked to be a liaison between the team and police department with the goal of bridging a gap. Patterson met with the police chief regularly. He arranged for players to take part in ride-along programs with officers and held joint softball games and barbecues. Building trust was crucial.

“One of the things that I ended up finding out was the police thought that all of the players we were bringing in from California were Southern California gangbangers,” Patterson said, noting the racial tensions at the time after Rodney King’s assault by the Los Angeles police.

“They were already on alert because they heard all the stories about what was going on in L.A. and the gangbangers and how violent they were. That’s how they viewed our players, and because of us being able to spend time around them … it changed, and they started to treat our guys differently. Our guys started to treat them differently.”

He shared that experience during the Vikings’ social justice committee’s first meeting in 2018, and players saw an opportunity to make a similar impact. That winter, members of the social justice committee teamed with police in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to read books to children. They did it again in 2019.

Charles Adams III, Minneapolis police officer and high school football coach

And he asked for Vikings players to help.

“I just told them, straightforward, that we need your guys’ support as an organization in letting people know that you support us, but you identify the problems and are willing to continue to provide to the community to make change,” Adams said. “Publicly, people need to understand that this is an isolated incident that has put a huge black eye on our department, but this is not the characteristic of every single person in this department.

“It’s easy for organizations to be like ‘What do you guys need?’ And I never ask for anything monetary, because I know people can give me thousands of dollars and I can never see them again. I always tell people that it’s more important to have the time and showing your face. I think kids and people appreciate that more. The fellowship and the outreach in the community is a big thing.”

The Vikings’ social justice committee wants to be a part of the solution. They want to take action. The big question is how. For many, it starts with the most basic element when seeking change: starting a dialogue.

“How can I get individuals who aren’t affected [by issues of racism and other forms of systemic injustice] to be more aware, and somehow draw them into the issue and the topics that are going on?” Harris asked. “… How can I draw the person who is unaffected, who hasn’t experienced that? How can I draw them closer to this situation?

“Those are the people who I’m trying to reach, to create more of a dialogue and brainstorm, and really just draw behind the rally of acting in the best interests of the country and standing behind what’s right and what this country is supposed to represent and look like.”