WATCH: Charles Barkley Defends Adrian Peterson In Child Abuse Case
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was indicted on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child on Friday.
His abuse allegedly "involve(d) using a switch to spank his son," Peterson's lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said in a statement.
On Sunday, Charles Barkley was a guest on CBS' "The NFL Today," and the former basketball player-turned-NBA analyst offered his thoughts on the scandals involving both Peterson and former Ravens running back Ray Rice.
Barkley said that under no circumstances can you hit a woman, and argued that Rice made a tragic mistake that he hopes will raise domestic-violence awareness.
Barkley did, however, sympathize with Peterson and defend the former MVP's behavior.
"I'm from the south," Barkley told Jim Rome. "I understand Boomer's (Esiason) rage and anger. He's a white guy and I'm a black guy. I don't know where he's from. I'm from the south. Whipping -- we do that all the time. Every black parent in the south is going to be in jail under those circumstances ... We spank kids in the south.
"I think the question about did Adrian Peterson go overboard ... Listen, Jim, we all grow up in different environments. Every black parent in my neighborhood in the south would be in trouble or in jail under those circumstances ... We called it 'spanking' or 'whipping' our kids."
The NBA Hall of Famer did acknowledge that times have changed, and maybe it's time to take a step back and look at things differently.
"Maybe we need to rethink it," Barkley said. "But I think we have to really be careful trying to teach other parents how to discipline their kids. That's a very fine line."
The six-time Pro Bowler was deactivated by the Vikings on Friday and didn't play in Sunday's loss to the Patriots.
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