Switch in Focus for NFL: Vikes’ Peterson Indicted

September 13, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

Well, the NFL found a way to diminish some of the scrutiny on the Ray Rice domestic violence saga. All it took was for Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson to be indicted by a grand jury in Texas on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child. Meaning Peterson is alleged to have beaten his 4-year-old son with a tree branch with its leaves removed so that it was a switch similar to what Peterson encountered as a child.

Video below of Lindsey Knight. That works for us.

The Vikings removed him from the active roster for Sunday’s game, and Peterson reported to jail Saturday in Montgomery County, Texas, at 1:06 a.m. Central time. He was released at 1:35 after he posted a $15.000 bond.

“This indictment follows Adrian’s full cooperation with authorities who have been looking into this matter,” Peterson’s attorney Rusty Hardin said in a statement. “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 as a child growing up in east Texas. Adrian has never hidden from what happened.”

The fact that a person’s parents may have used a belt or a hairbrush or a hand (or something else) on a child’s bare buttocks (or elsewhere) doesn’t mean you have to incorporate that behavior into your parenting. Sometimes the things we learn from our parents is what not to do.

* If there’s not video of a player actually abusing a child, does the NFL take action? Just wondering.

* I have absolutely no confidence that the NFL will do much — if anything — about Peterson. I do have confidence he won’t be winning any Father of the Year awards any time soon.

* Do I have this correct: The two teams with the fewest players arrested/indicted and/or punished by the NFL face off in the Super Bowl? Or is it the most?

* Speaking of a league championship, the Phoenix Mercury defeated the Chicago Sky 87-82 to sweeo the best-of-five series and capture the WNBA crown. Having 6-8 center Brittney Griner sit out the game for the Mercury apparently was not a big loss. Elena Delle Donne played all 40 minutes and led the Sky with 23 points. If it’s any consolation (and it just might be), the Sky was the first team with a losing regular-season record to make it to the league finals.

* Speaking of teams with a losing record, on the bright side (bright being a relative term in a 7-3 defeat) of the Cubs’ game at Pittsburgh, rookie shortstop Javier Baez hit a home run (bases empty) in a 1-for-4 night that included two strikeouts. Baez, who is batting .173, has struck out 67 times in 150 at-bats (45 percent of the time). If it’s any consolation (and the guess here is that it is not), he is averaging a home run every 18.75 at-bats. Meaning, if he batted 500 times per season, he would hit about 27 home runs.

* Speaking of Cubs striking out, first baseman Mike Olt went 1-for-3 to raise his batting average to .154. He also struck out twice, giving him 93 in 208 at-bats (45 percent). On the brighter side, regular Cubs baseman Anthony Rizzo is expected to return from a bad back when the Cubs return home Monday for a series with Cincinnati. Also scheduled to return is outfielder Jorge Soler, who left the team to go to Miami for the birth of his child.

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