Are Vikings' Reasons For Playing Peterson Pure?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman said Monday that the decision to play Peterson has nothing to do with him as a football player.
But there are plenty of examples with the Vikings and other teams when a 2nd- or 3rd-string player is gone off a roster for an off-the-field issue long before due process is completed.
The Vikings have invested heavily in Adrian Peterson, beyond his huge contract.
His face is plastered everywhere, from Sunday's game ticket to the fencing surrounding the construction site of their new billion dollar stadium.
He still also happens to be the best running back in the NFL.
His deactivation for yesterday's home opener cast a tangible pall over the atmosphere at TCF Stadium. Had Adrian been out with an injury, it would have been accepted. but this was different.
Fans I spoke with, were trying to come to terms with how they explain to their kids why their sports hero would hit his 4-year-old son over and over with a "switch."
Monday at Winter Park, head coach, Mike Zimmer, who spoke extensively with Peterson over the weekend, had to answer that old refrain about "distractions."
"I can't let the so-called distraction or the things like this we're dealing with today affect my focus and my trying to get this football team better," Zimmer said. "I worked an awful long time to try to get to this position where I have the opportunity to do the things that we have the opportunity to do."
There's rarely been this much media at Winter Park since that August day in 2009 when Brett Favre arrived. Because of Adrian Peterson, the top story on Sunday in the NFL will be Peterson playing in New Orleans.
So Mike Zimmer, those "distractions" aren't going anywhere for awhile.