I am a lifetime fan of the Green Bay Packers. I support my team win, lose or draw. I am emphatic in my distaste for division rivals. Adrian Peterson has always been a great football player but he is also a Minnesota Viking. I don’t have much love for the Vikings. The Packers have to play them twice a year and Peterson seems to be unstoppable by our defense. The thought of this man never wearing purple and gold again should elate me…
It doesn’t though.
I have a 4-year-old little girl. She is a firm fixture in the “reason’s I exist” category. She can make me smile by doing something she shouldn’t. I am a loving father and although I discipline her physically every once in a great while, it is usually better to take another course for us, as this is how I was raised and I am proud of who I have become. I would gladly take any harm to myself to avoid it being reflected upon my daughter in any way. The images from the Peterson case make my blood run hot when I envision the injuries causing pain to my own child. Anyone with a child of similar age that I have discussed this with seems to automatically think of this in relevance to those horrible injuries upon their own child. I should be enraged by his actions beyond any forgiveness…
But I’m not.
There shouldn’t be many people, who aren’t personally related to this case, that are in a position to be more biased than I. Yet…
I am a man. I am a son. I am a father. I am in a very applicable position to see this from a close perspective. Though I feel I am forced to look at this as a human being before any of those things. This means that I think Adrian Peterson was out of line when he disciplined his son that day, and any other day it might have happened like that. This means I think he needs some guidance in what is a more productive manner of providing his son with direction. This absolutely does not mean I think Adrian Peterson should be severely punished by the law. It, in no way, makes me think he should be suspended from the league (or should have been for that matter) for any amount of time. As a human being I can’t help but think this was a mistake a man made. A mistake that was blown out of proportion due to the incredible pressure and scrutiny that the league (namely Roger Goodell) was under after the Ray Rice debacle.
I don’t have the time or even the writing prowess that it would take to write an article that truly put Peterson’s life into a story you could relate to. Tragedies suffered in our lives that are so crushing to our morale can seem so infinitesimally small when you remove yourself from the situation and TRULY step into the shoes of another. I want to spend a little time, a blink if you will, giving you a little history on Adrian Peterson as a human being.
Adrian was raised in Texas. He is from a family of great athletes in most regards. He was raised as many boys in Texas were raised. When discipline was asked for by the actions of his or his brothers choices, they were hit with a switch until (it was thought) their lesson was learned. When Peterson was 7 years old he watched his brother get killed by a drunk driver while they were riding bikes.
He was very successful at his childhood endeavors, but he was a gifted athlete above all else. Football became a serious focal point for Peterson after his brother’s tragedy. He was a star as soon as he touched the ball. He was also a hugely talented high school track star. Adrian’s father is credited with giving him the nickname AD, because (as most fans know) he can go all day. Peterson’s father was sent to prison when Adrian was 13 for money laundering and involvement in crack cocaine. Peterson went on to show his amazing talents through high school and college. His father watched him play his first college game when released from prison during Adrian’s junior year with the University of Oklahoma.
Adrian Peterson was selected to the Minnesota Vikings with the 7th overall pick in the 2007 draft. His accomplishments on the field are incredible since that time. His rare combination of running aggression and graceful balance are truly mesmerizing to watch. His accolades, his philanthropy, his awards, are just part of what people have come to know of Adrian Peterson. You may not know that in 2013 he lost his two year old son in what seemed to be an assault by the boyfriend of the child’s mother. Adrian Peterson missed some practice time but managed to find a way to play that week. This man has dealt with some magnificent losses while at the same time over achieving at every part of his life’s work.
There are many legal parts to this I will not touch on. There are many opinions on how Adrian Peterson should be reprimanded, by the law or by the league. I am not going to wade through the options of that, as I have no say in the matter. Peterson was raised this way. Firm physical discipline was the course his father chose to shape Adrian into the man he is today. This is also irrelevant to what I want to say. What Adrian Peterson did was wrong.
When looking at this whole thing from the outside it is easy to get lost in the small details of what the media throws this way and that. The relentless drivel on sports networks, grasping to break any little detail that could tear down a man’s life. It is sad.
His professional career is now (again) left in the hands of Roger Goodell. Is this not a man who makes mistakes? More than one acknowledged mistake in the handling of discipline to a player. Yet, here he is aloud to go to work everyday at the job he loves.
When a man takes the job as an NFL football player he also takes on the responsibility of a role-model. He makes an agreement to conduct himself in a manner becoming of someone who is looked up to by children. Adrian Peterson broke that contract by taking the actions he did that day with his son. He made a terrible mistake and has now had his day in court. He has accepted full responsibility for his actions. He is working through counseling and doing community service. It is now only up to Goodell.
As I conclude I want you to reflect on those days when you had true life heroes, men who moved mountains in accomplishing the feats that made you proud. Aside from my father, those men have always been football players. I know that as we grow, we stop looking for heroes. As we get taller it seems we quit looking up to people. Looking forward in our own lives is hard enough. Becoming a man often means becoming someone else’s hero. I try to look up still from time to time. Try to keep a few heroes just for perspective. Adrian Peterson has been a hero of mine since his days in Oklahoma. His presence since in the NFL is already, in 8 years, seemingly worthy of a gold jacket. I believe Adrian Peterson made a mistake. This mistake costing his career would probably be a great thing for my favorite team. I should be asking for his head on a platter… Yet, I refuse to get behind the destruction of an icon. I will not cast a man I have looked up to aside because he made a mistake. A mistake he has now taken responsibility for, and is doing the things that were told, would help him make better decisions in the future. I in no way condone the actions of this man. He is a person though, and people make mistakes. I hope Goodell lets this man return to his job. I am for the betterment of Adrian Peterson.
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