The Vikings announced Monday that star running back Adrian Peterson -- deactivated for Sunday's Week 2 loss to the Patriots after being indicted on child abuse charges late Friday afternoon -- would practice fully throughout the week and "is expected to play" in Week 3 when the Vikings travel to New Orleans to play the Saints.Last year, you might recall that reserve cornerback A. J. Jefferson got in trouble with the law for domestic violence. He was gone within hours.
"Today's decision was made after significant thought, discussion and consideration. As evidenced by our decision to deactivate Adrian from yesterday's game, this is clearly a very important issue," Vikings owners Zygi Wilf and Mark Wilf said in a statement. "On Friday, we felt it was in the best interests of the organization to step back, evaluate the situation and not rush to judgment given the seriousness of this matter. At that time, we made the decision that we felt was best for the Vikings and all parties involved."
So what do we conclude from this? The Vikings are just as mercenary as everyone else in the NFL. If Matt Asiata, Peterson's backup, had done what Peterson has admitted doing, he'd have received the A. J. Jefferson treatment.
So be it. The Vikings are going to do what they please and there's no sense in pretending otherwise. There are codes of conduct for some people and not for others. And if you assumed that, since you are a taxpayer who will be supporting the Vikings by financing their new stadium, that you had any say in how they operate, you should be safely disabused of that notion. You can hyperventilate about that if you'd like; Jim Souhan does a fine job of it here. But nothing changes.
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