Adrian Peterson Suspended For Season Without Pay!?!

It’s official, Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson Suspended For Season Without Pay after he was charged with felony child abuse.

On Tuesday, Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson got the news that the NFL has suspended without pay for the rest of the 2014 season.

The news of Peterson’s suspension was revealed in a statement released by the NFL, via CNN.

He will not be reinstated before April 15 because he violated the league’s personal conduct policy “in an incident of abusive discipline that he inflicted on his four-year-old son last May,” the league said.

Peterson has been on the exempt/commissioner’s permission list — which kept him off the field, with pay — since September after allegations he disciplined his 4-year-old son too harshly with a “switch” or thin stick. Initially charged with felony child abuse, Peterson pleaded no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault this month.

“The timing of your potential reinstatement will be based on the results of the counseling and treatment program set forth in this decision,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a letter to Peterson. “Under this two-step approach, the precise length of the suspension will depend on your actions. We are prepared to put in place a program that can help you to succeed, but no program can succeed without your genuine and continuing engagement.”

His reinstatement also hinges on his rehabilitation, how he cares for his children and whether he commits further violations of the law or league policy, the letter stated.

Peterson will appeal the decision, the NFL Players Association said. The NFLPA further said the discipline imposed on Peterson is “inconsistent” and it will “demand that a neutral arbitrator oversee the appeal.”
The NFL’s decision demonstrates that a “credibility gap … exists between the agreements they make and the actions they take,” the NFLPA said, and since Peterson’s case was adjudicated, the league has ignored its obligations and tried to impose an arbitrary form of discipline on the running back.

“The facts are that Adrian has asked for a meeting with Roger Goodell, the discipline imposed is inconsistent and an NFL executive told Adrian that his time on the Commissioner’s list would be considered as time served,” the NFLPA statement said.

Peterson has not played since September 7 when the Vikings took on the St. Louis Rams in week one of the season. As of Sunday, when the Vikings lost to division rival the Chicago Bears, Peterson had missed nine games.

A hearing will now be scheduled and Peterson — with the counsel of a lawyer and the NFL Players Association — can present evidence in support of his appeal. He will remain on the commissioner’s exempt list until the appeal has run its course.