One of several potential new NFL logos found at korkedbats.com
The hits just keep on coming (pun intended). The latest NFLer to face charges is Adrian Peterson.
According to the news released today, Peterson has been indicted for child abuse in Texas. The indictment is a result of Peterson allegedly disciplining a child using a switch.
From ESPN:
Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson has been indicted by a Montgomery County, Texas, grand jury on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. The team deactivated him for Sunday’s home game against the Patriots.
Adrian Peterson’s attorney said Friday that Peterson used the same kind of discipline with his child that he experienced growing up in east Texas.
Peterson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, issued a statement Friday saying his client’s conduct “involves using a switch to spank his son.” According to a report by Sports Radio 610 in Houston, Peterson removed the leaves of a tree branch, which he referred to in a police report as “a switch,” to strike the child.
Peterson is no stranger to trouble as he had previously faced charges of resisting arrest in Houston after a nightclub incident before the charges were eventually dropped. Peterson also had a son that died from child abuse at the hands of the mother’s boyfriend only weeks after Peterson found out about the existence of that child.
This is another in the ongoing black eyes being inflicted upon the NFL, hence the title I chose for this post. This indictment comes after the Ray Rice fiasco. There’s also been other players arrested recently on domestic abuse charges since the Rice arrest.
Going back a bit further, you have Aaron Hernandez, Plaxico Burress, Mike Vick, and many others who have been arrested for everything from alcohol related charges to murder. USA Today maintains a database of NFL arrests, and there are currently 730 arrest records from January 2000 until Peterson’s arrest today. Doing the math, that averages out to around 49 arrests per year (if there are no more this year), which may or may not be different from any other organization with that many employees. The New York Times analyzed the data from USA Today, and ironically enough, the Minnesota Vikings leads the NFL with the number of arrests.
Boston.com posted a story this morning titled How Can the Patriots Shut Down Adrian Peterson, and I think that question has definitely been answered. He pretty much stopped himself. There’s no need to analyze game film or study formations anymore. This also means that statistical analysis and compilation will change with the new reality. I guess YAC, formerly known as Yards After Catch/Contact, can now stand for Years After Conviction. Yardage will now be measured by how much time a person gets out in the yard. Sacks will now be replaced by days in solitary. Kick returns will now be the number of actual kicks the person returns during a fight. And so on…
The continued arrests don’t help the image of the NFL or what’s left of that image. I guess that Michael Sam playing was the least of their worries, but it did make for a great, but temporary, diversion from their real issues. I’ll continue to watch football on Friday and Saturday, but now, I’ll focus on trying to spot the NFLers out of the groups instead of the potential superstars.
The Mind of Brosephus 