Given the NFL’s concerted efforts on insisting upon a squeaky clean organization multiplied by the strange set of ironies and coincidences regarding the NFL’s players here of late + other ironies surrounding it all; the National Football League’s acronym is slowly starting to look as if it simply means Not FlawLess—despite the leagues efforts.
Life: happens, right?
It was just about a year ago that the world of social media was passing around this adorable pic on football player Adrian Peterson mid/pre-game, bending down to kiss his son who at the time (before fact-checking), the world thought was the son that, according to the news reports, had just been killed by this man (Joseph Patterson, 27).
It turned out that this particular the child of Adrian Peterson was alive and well, and the other child who was killed by the hands of Patterson was a son of Adrian Peterson’s (and the woman in the black dress in the photo)–both whom he wasn’t very close to/in their lives at that time.
T
he man convicted of killing the boy was a boyfriend of the child’s mother who was babysitting the boy beat him to death. Reports surfaced that that man even had a child of his own around the same age as Patterson’s son [that he killed].
[Whether the Bobby Ruffin social media post was true or no], is neither here nor there-the fact of the matter is, a child was killed by an abusive boyfriend and that child was a.k.a Adrian Peterson’s son. Now, Patterson is accused of abusing his very own son: alive and kicking (still).
A social media outpour of condolences and support for Adrian Peterson went viral. He thanked everyone for it. Now here we are almost one year later to the month, and Adrian Peterson, himself, is in the news for having abused his very own four year-old child.
According to reports surfacing, the beating included cuts and bruises (which doctor’s referred to as “open wounds” and the cuts “extensive”). These cuts and open wounds were located on the boy’s back, buttocks, ankles, legs, scrotum, and as well, he had defensive wounds on his hands.
Reports state that this incident actually took place in May of this year. Earlier this summer, a grand jury decided not to charge Peterson, however, a second grand jury indicted him on Thursday, 9-11 (2014).
In one report, it is alleged that after the beating, Peterson texted the child’s mother to inform her that one wound on his leg in particular would make her mad and [quote] “I got kinda good with the tail end of the switch.” [unquote]
Other sources say that disciplining proud dad’s text went something like: “You will be mad at me about his leg. He got about five more pops than normal. He didn’t drop one tear! … He’s tough as nails.”
He allegedly continued: “Never do I go overboard! But all my kids will know, ‘hey daddy has the biggie heart but don’t play no games when it comes to acting right.’ ”
The child was staying with Adrian at his Houston home. The whipping took place as a result of the four year old boy pushing another one of Adrian’s boys off of a motorbike video game.
Shortly after the incident allegedly, a Skype session had taken place with the child and the mother (along with Adrian) where the boy told his mother he had something he wanted to tell her—Adrian told the boy to “go ahead and tell her and show her what happened. “
Although the incident happened in May and the first grand jury didn’t indict Peterson, the second grand jury indicted him for reckless or negligent injury to a child and issued a warrant for his arrest this past Thursday.
As a result of this, the Minnesota Vikings has deactivated Peterson and as well, he will not be playing Sunday’s game against New England.
For the record, a deactivation is different from a suspension because with a deactivation, players still get paid. The running back who, firmly stands by his actions will be traveling back to Texas to post bond as soon as this is all made.
Peterson’s attorney (Rusty Hardin) issued this early this afternoon (Friday):
“This indictment follows Adrian’s full cooperation with authorities who have been looking into this matter. Adrian is a loving father who used his judgment as a parent to discipline his son. He used the same kind of discipline with his child that he experienced growing up in east Texas. Adrian has never hidden from what happened. He has cooperated fully with authorities and voluntarily testified before the grand jury for several hours. Adrian will address the charges with the same respect and responsiveness he has brought to this inquiry from its beginning. It is important to remember that Adrian never intended to harm his son and deeply regrets the unintentional injury.”
Peterson posted bail on today (September 13, 2014) and has been in full cooperation with authorities. Although this ordeal has created a social media hailstorm, let the records show that Peterson has never hidden from the ordeal-so much so that he stands by his actions stating: “To be honest with you, I feel very confident with my actions because I know my intent.”
During the investigative interview, when asked if he would reconsider using switches in the future, he said he would never eliminate whooping his kids … [quote] because I know how being spanked has helped me in my life” [unquote]
The blurred line and burning question in this case is the relative question about what is abuse versus a spanking used for discipline.
As you may, or may not know, the NFL implemented a domestic violence policy which includes a six-game suspension for the first offense and stiffer penalties for domestic issues involving children.
This NFL season seems like there’s going to be more than just running the ball.
This, like the Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Rice’s wrangle (for punching-in the face-his soon to be wife on an Atlantic City elevator) was swept under the run yet, made public in a big way…………………….the week that the Ravens were scheduled to play. Having said that, although this incident involving the Peterson took place in May this year, now is just a good a time as any-for this big reveal. The Minnesota Vikings are set to play New England this coming Sunday.
From the looks of things (considering how these domestic woes are making its way to the public in succession); one can’t help but wonder “who’s next………………………next week?”
