In suspending the Minnesota Vikings star running back for at least the remainder of this season, the National Football League on Tuesday seemed to be using the case to set strict new guidelines for players, and at the same time try to rebuild its tarnished image.
The NFL has been under fire from sponsors and fans for the perception that it has treated player transgressions lightly, and Commissioner Roger Goodell has vowed to form policies that will strongly address those complaints. His penalties on Peterson, who two seasons ago was the league’s most valuable player, are likely evidence of the league’s change in policy.
Some attorneys said that arguing whether Peterson’s punishment for beating his child was more severe than what other NFL players had received for more serious crimes was no longer the point.
This case had the NFL in a box, largely of its own making. You can't be running things like this public service announcement during your broadcasts:
and then let Adrian Peterson back on the field as if nothing really happened.
It's a tough blow to the Vikings to lose the guy who has been the public face of their team for the better part of a decade. Having said that, Peterson's days as a Viking were numbered anyway. It's a tough time to be a running back in the NFL generally, since most runners are considered disposable. It's far more common for most teams in the NFL to have a new featured back every two years or so than to have a guy like Peterson; the only other back in the NFC North with any longevity on his team is Matt Forte of the Bears. Every year a new crop of running backs appear and the Vikings will find a suitable replacement soon enough.
For his part, Peterson seems far less nimble off the field than he is on the field. His admission that he was smoking marijuana while his case was being adjudicated certainly didn't help matters, and the league's ostentatiously pious pronouncements about his lack of remorse were particularly striking:
“In the absence of speaking to you to understand your current disposition toward child discipline,” Goodell wrote, “we cannot be sure that this conduct will not be repeated. Moreover, we are unaware of any effort on your part to acknowledge the seriousness of your conduct and your responsibility to demonstrate a genuine commitment to change.”
About that "absence of speaking to you" part. . . Peterson blew off a scheduled hearing last Friday, no doubt at the advice of his attorneys and the NFLPA. That was a mistake and it's emblematic of a larger problem for the players, i.e., the fecklessness of their union. The NFLPA is not like the baseball union; most NFL contracts are still pretty one-sided and players often get a lot less money than the reported figures indicate. If you doubt that the NFLPA is feckless, consider this weak sauce:
The NFLPA disagreed. Perhaps drawing the lines for a coming legal battle with Peterson caught in the middle, the union said Tuesday the league’s decision “is another example of the credibility gap that exists between the agreements they make and the actions they take.” The NFLPA added that an unnamed NFL executive had earlier told Peterson that his time on the commissioner’s exempt list — the running back was placed on it with pay shortly after his indictment in September — “would be considered as time served.”
Emphasis mine. If this were true, you'd expect the NFLPA to name the executive in question. There will be grievances filed and posturing galore, but we should all be surprised if anything really changes.
7 comments:
Viking fans could boycott. That would strike the nfl where they live.
The moralizing ads are even worse than the Cialis ones. Nothing makes me move quicker than trying to change the channel so I don't have to be infected by the stink of it.
Let me get this right; leaving six women and six children in lifelong misery by having children out of wedlock is, per the NFL, A-OK. However, if you happen to spank one of them and leave bruises that hurt the child for a few days, then you've crossed a line.
Sick society we live in, really, and I'm not making excuses for the beating. I'm just saying that his cruelty to his ex-girlfriends and other children far exceeds this case.
Interestingly enough, earlier this week there were those who thought he might play against the Packers based on the grievance hearing he had with an arbitrator on Monday. As soon as I heard the name of the arbitrator, I knew AP was done. I'm surprised no one has brought up Shyam Das, the arbitrator. He was the one who cast the deciding vote to overturn Ryan Braun's suspension in 2012, which led to his firing by MLB. As soon as I knew he was the arbitrator, I figured he would rule in favor of the league, lest he get fired by yet another major sports league. This is not to say he was incorrect in ruling against AP, but I thought Das was an interesting choice.
I think Jim Souhan and others got it right when they said AP got what he deserved, but for the wrong reason.
As soon as I heard the name of the arbitrator, I knew AP was done. I'm surprised no one has brought up Shyam Das, the arbitrator. He was the one who cast the deciding vote to overturn Ryan Braun's suspension in 2012, which led to his firing by MLB. As soon as I knew he was the arbitrator, I figured he would rule in favor of the league, lest he get fired by yet another major sports league. This is not to say he was incorrect in ruling against AP, but I thought Das was an interesting choice.
Good catch, Mike. That makes a lot of sense.
OK, so why on earth would you give the job to this guy, seeing that ruling in favor of Braun was pretty egregiously dumb? Weren't Braun's blood tests off the charts--we're talking Ben Johnson, Tony Mandarich, and Lyle Alzado territory here, no?
No idea, BB.
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