Vikings S Andrew Sendejo on Friday wore a "Make Football Violent Again" hat in response to the NFL's new safety rules, and the Vikings "took a crack at pretending it never happened by omitting all references from the daily media roundup they sent out Saturday morning," according to John Shipley of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. Sendejo "left no room for misinterpretation" about his feelings with the hat. Before afternoon practice began Friday, Sendejo had "doubled down by tweeting a photo of himself wearing a helmet with a facemask on the crown of his helmet." The stunt shows "how badly the NFL wants to change the accepted narrative about how it treats its players" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 8/7). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Andrew Beaton writes the backlash from players regarding the new safety rules "presents a peculiar reality for the NFL." The league has been "assailed for years over safety issues, particularly pertaining to head injuries" and those issues "have cost the league big bucks." But "not everybody wants football to go soft" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/7).
