By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush made waves Tuesday when he spoke with WFAN about the situation of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who has been indicted on a felony count of reckless or negligent injury to a child. Peterson reportedly disciplined his 4-year-old with a switch and left injuries that so alarmed doctors that they notified police.
Bush's remarks to WFAN included saying Peterson should be allowed to play as well as answering affirmatively a question on whether he would ever consider using a switch to discipline his daughter.
Since then, Bush has stated that while he believes in spanking a child - if merited - he disagrees with beating a child, and Bush said he would obviously not spank his daughter now, as she is only a year old.
"I clarified it on my Twitter," Bush said in the locker room Wednesday. "It's pretty simple. Obviously it's an unfortunate situation that's happening with AP and everybody else. I think the way I discipline my children, my daughter, is private, and I should have kept it private, and I think obviously some of the words got taken out of context, and that's fine. That happens all the time."
Bush had indeed taken to social media to clear up any confusion resulting from the interview. The running back issued his own messages as well as retweeting posts of others who supported him.
With Stoney and Bill of 97.1 The Ticket, Bush talked about the type of punishment he experienced as a child.
"We called them whoopins. We didn't call them spankings," Bush said with a chuckle. "My mom was a police officer, so she had the thick belts ... but you know what, I deserved it every time I got it. I never - obviously I was mad and embarrassed, but I deserved it every time."
One such indiscretion that merited punishment, Bush recalled, involved getting in a fight at school and spitting on a kid. Needless to say, those actions did not fly with Bush's mother. Interestingly, however, Bush noted an apparently far more effective form of punishment that came later.
"When I was in like elementary. I got into a lot of trouble, and the teachers thought I needed to be prescribed ADD medicine or ADHD, whatever it is, and my mom, being the mom she is, she didn't believe that, and she didn't believe in it, and she put me in sports," Bush said. "She knew I was very active, very fast, and I loved playing outside. Once she put me in sports, it was like everything just made sense, and I found a way to use that energy toward something positive, and I stopped getting in trouble as much, and all they had to do was threaten me with, 'Well, if you don't do this, we're not going to let you play football,' and I snapped into shape like that.
"That's all it took," Bush continued. "Obviously I think times have changed, and there are better ways to discipline your kids. I do believe in spanking your kid if needed. I don't believe in beating them, and I think there's a difference. Some people don't know the difference; some people think it's the same thing, and it's not the same thing."
Between the situation with Peterson and the domestic violence cases of Ray Rice, Greg Hardy and Ray McDonald, the NFL has garnered attention for all the wrong reasons over the past couple of weeks, but just as Lions head coach Jim Caldwell mentioned Monday, those incidents are the exception rather than the rule.
"It's not everybody," Bush said. "It's not the whole league. It's not the majority. Obviously it's the minority. And every year it happens. There's something every year where some guy does something and we've got to deal with it ... Ultimately we need to learn from the mistakes of other people ... I'm a strong believer in you can learn from other people's mistakes, and that's what we should be doing.
"We don't just represent ourselves," Bush added. "We represent a lot of people. That one split-second of losing your temper can affect the whole NFL, as you're seeing right now."
Bush Revisits Comments On Child Discipline, Says Original Remarks Taken Out Of Context
/ CBS Detroit
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush made waves Tuesday when he spoke with WFAN about the situation of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who has been indicted on a felony count of reckless or negligent injury to a child. Peterson reportedly disciplined his 4-year-old with a switch and left injuries that so alarmed doctors that they notified police.
Bush's remarks to WFAN included saying Peterson should be allowed to play as well as answering affirmatively a question on whether he would ever consider using a switch to discipline his daughter.
Since then, Bush has stated that while he believes in spanking a child - if merited - he disagrees with beating a child, and Bush said he would obviously not spank his daughter now, as she is only a year old.
"I clarified it on my Twitter," Bush said in the locker room Wednesday. "It's pretty simple. Obviously it's an unfortunate situation that's happening with AP and everybody else. I think the way I discipline my children, my daughter, is private, and I should have kept it private, and I think obviously some of the words got taken out of context, and that's fine. That happens all the time."
Bush had indeed taken to social media to clear up any confusion resulting from the interview. The running back issued his own messages as well as retweeting posts of others who supported him.
With Stoney and Bill of 97.1 The Ticket, Bush talked about the type of punishment he experienced as a child.
"We called them whoopins. We didn't call them spankings," Bush said with a chuckle. "My mom was a police officer, so she had the thick belts ... but you know what, I deserved it every time I got it. I never - obviously I was mad and embarrassed, but I deserved it every time."
One such indiscretion that merited punishment, Bush recalled, involved getting in a fight at school and spitting on a kid. Needless to say, those actions did not fly with Bush's mother. Interestingly, however, Bush noted an apparently far more effective form of punishment that came later.
"When I was in like elementary. I got into a lot of trouble, and the teachers thought I needed to be prescribed ADD medicine or ADHD, whatever it is, and my mom, being the mom she is, she didn't believe that, and she didn't believe in it, and she put me in sports," Bush said. "She knew I was very active, very fast, and I loved playing outside. Once she put me in sports, it was like everything just made sense, and I found a way to use that energy toward something positive, and I stopped getting in trouble as much, and all they had to do was threaten me with, 'Well, if you don't do this, we're not going to let you play football,' and I snapped into shape like that.
"That's all it took," Bush continued. "Obviously I think times have changed, and there are better ways to discipline your kids. I do believe in spanking your kid if needed. I don't believe in beating them, and I think there's a difference. Some people don't know the difference; some people think it's the same thing, and it's not the same thing."
Between the situation with Peterson and the domestic violence cases of Ray Rice, Greg Hardy and Ray McDonald, the NFL has garnered attention for all the wrong reasons over the past couple of weeks, but just as Lions head coach Jim Caldwell mentioned Monday, those incidents are the exception rather than the rule.
"It's not everybody," Bush said. "It's not the whole league. It's not the majority. Obviously it's the minority. And every year it happens. There's something every year where some guy does something and we've got to deal with it ... Ultimately we need to learn from the mistakes of other people ... I'm a strong believer in you can learn from other people's mistakes, and that's what we should be doing.
"We don't just represent ourselves," Bush added. "We represent a lot of people. That one split-second of losing your temper can affect the whole NFL, as you're seeing right now."
In:- Detroit Lions
- Reggie Bush
- Adrian Peterson
- NFL
- Domestic Violence
- Child Abuse
Featured Local Savings
More from CBS News
Detroit Lions haven't taken any opponent lightly on way to 9-1 record
Hockey legend Pavel Datsyuk honored by Detroit Red Wings
Upper Peninsula man sentenced to 15 years for child exploitation
It's unanimous! Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal wins AL Cy Young Award