The Vikings are Doing the Right Thing
Understandably, a large portion of yesterday’s press conference with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell was spent discussing the passing of Khyree Jackson. Both of the Vikings’ leaders spent quite a bit of time discussing him as a player and person.
Afterwards, the news started to come out about some of the ways that the organization is looking to offer their support. Minnesota has a great ownership group and the manner in which they’re handling the situation speaks to that basic reality.
The Vikings are Doing the Right Thing
First, a word about the ownership. Take a look at what Minnesota’s GM had to say:
In terms of concrete action, consider what the owners are doing. Credit to Ben Goessling of The Star Tribune for offering a lot of the details.
Per Goessling, Minnesota will be paying out a significant amount of money: “The #Vikings plan to pay out the remainder of Khyree Jackson’s signing bonus to his estate.” Furthermore, they’ll be honoring their teammate: “Players will wear helmet decals, and coaches will wear pins, with the initials ‘KJ’ throughout the season. Jackson’s number 31 will go unused.”
Goessling goes on to explain how the organization is going to help take care of some of the immediate needs: “The #Vikings will cover a ‘significant portion’ of the funeral expenses for Khyree Jackson’s funeral, which is scheduled for this Friday. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Kevin O’Connell, Brian Flores, Matt Daniels and Daronte Jones will be among those in attendance.”
Moreover: “To add some detail here: The team will cover more than $20,000 of expenses for Jackson’s funeral. The funeral is a joint service with Isaiah Hazel, one of Jackson’s high school teammates who was also killed in the July 6 crash.”
Good on the Vikings for stepping up and looking to do the right thing.
Both Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell shared some of their memories and thoughts about Khyree Jackson; clips can be found here and here.
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.
