The Minnesota Vikings have decided to place running back Adrian Peterson on the exempt/commissioner’s permission list, essentially suspending him from all team activities indefinitely until after a child injury case is resolved.
The announcement came in a statement early on Wednesday, about a week after Peterson was indicted in Texas on a child injury charge.
“After giving the situation additional thought, we have decided this is the appropriate course of action for the organization and for Adrian,” a statement from Minnesota Vikings owners Mark and Zygi Wilf said according to ABC News.
A few days ago the Vikings said Peterson would keep practicing and playing with the team. The new announcement is a complete reversal from a few days earlier when the Vikings said Peterson would continue to play with the team.
On Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) called the Vikings’ decision to reinstate the running back “a public embarrassment to the Vikings organization and the State of Minnesota.”
Yeah, after some “additional thought” and a lot of embarrassment because of their original decision, they decided to do the “right” thing.
Gee, who could have seen this coming after the Vikings handled the Chris Kluwe thing so well?
The NFL and Vikings deserve no credit whatsoever for doing the right thing. Once again, their belated action is pure damage control, into which they had to be shamed.
It is sad testimony that an individual’s employer must impose sanctions that our criminal justice system will not do or cannot do promptly enough. Because the reality is, for every Adrian Peterson, there’s a thousand or more Bible-wielding zealots mercilessly beating their kids who go unpunished.
All I can say is that the NFL better get its shit together…and quick. I heard an interview this morning on MPR with a player’s union rep. who’s talking about bringing action against the NFL for the arbitrariness of their decisions. Also heard that sponsors are getting antsy and threatening to pull out as well.
The Vikings have already lost a major sponsor over this, haven’t they?
edit:
Here it is. Radisson Hotels:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-16/radisson-hotels-drops-vikings-sponsorship-after-peterson-charged.html