OT - Adrian Peterson. With Reggie gone, would you want him on the Lions roster?
Saw this on ESPN today.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12387081/adrian-peterson-reinstated-j…
Now that Reggie Bush is gone and the Lions need a premier running back - to all my fellow Lions fans out there - assuming the Vikes release him, would you be interested?
February 26th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
the interesting part of this story will be if he wants to play for them. He's said he wants to be released - knowing that, do they dump him thinking he might not be 100%? Obviously he'd be contractually obligated to play but I wonder if he'll ever be the "AP of old" again either there or for another team.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:47 PM ^
who seconds that.
Not as grim about our O-line as Solid, but AD has a lot of mileage on him. He is an unreal talent and has freakish recovery abilities, but I am sure Spielman will trade him to the south and out of our demographic - including the Lions.
Then there's the kid-abuse.
Gordon, Cobb, McKinnon, with Teddy, hmm...
February 26th, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
Dallas has DeMarco Murray (#1 in the NFL with 1845 total rushing yards and 4.7yards/attempt); Houston has Arian Foster (#6 in the NFL with 1246 total rushing yards and 4.8 yards/attempt).
Neither Texas team needs Peterson, even as a free agent signing for the minimum, regardless of his off-the-field issues.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^
Yet another Viking fan here. You'll remember the Jerry Jones/Adrian Peterson "conference" last year. Jerry may dump Murray (I sure as hell wouldn't) and go for AP. I think it will take a #1 for Spielman though to trade him. I really don't see him cutting AP.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
Parents live in Minneapolis, and have said exactly the same thing. I think he ends up with the Cowboys, but it will be nearly impossible to pull him away from MN.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:14 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 1:15 PM ^
No! Next Question
February 26th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
Seriously, you just dismiss out of hand the ability to acquire one of the top backs in the game? I don't think it's at all likely that we would get him, but if he's on the market, that at the very least bears serious consideration.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:29 PM ^
I also dismiss AP - guy is a child abuser. No interest. If the pictures of the bruises to hos 4-year old son were not bad enough, did you read the text exchange following the beating that he had with the kid's mom? As a father of two young sons, I would not root for any team that takes him,
February 26th, 2015 at 1:31 PM ^
was the texts that really got me more than even the pictures. The pictures could have evidence that he simply was hitting him harder than he realized. The texts revealed that he thought it was kind of funny and really had kind of a sinister tone.
I don't think most people that go with "No big deal I got whooped too" read those texts. Pretty disturbing stuff.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:42 PM ^
The beating thing was bad enough, and perhaps could have been excused to some extent with (1) anger management problems, (2) upbringing, (3) not realing how hard he hit the kid, etc. But those texts? A few days later? I was horrified when I read them. AP is a sick individual.
February 26th, 2015 at 2:17 PM ^
I don't disagree with anything you said, but it's pretty hard to stick to the "I don't want morally questionable guys on my team" attitude. Obviously this isn't close to the level of AP's transgressions, but do you want Suh on the team? Surely there are plenty of other complete dicks on the team as well. Where do you draw the line?
February 26th, 2015 at 2:49 PM ^
Serious answer. I draw the line with physically abusing one who has absolutely no power to fight back.
Suh is a dirty player. Fine. He plays dirty against other grown men who have th ability to respond in kind. Even Richie Oncognito picked on someone his own size (or close).
AP is different - he beat up a little boy.
I expect that this comment will get negged as my others in this thread have. That's fine - everyone has their own view. But a serious question to those that have negged my comments: what is your exact issue? Do you think that what AP did was ok? Would you personally root for the guy? Just curious.
February 26th, 2015 at 2:59 PM ^
"what is your exact issue? Do you think that what AP did was ok? Would you personally root for the guy? Just curious."
People have explained this multiple times already.
From ijohnb,
"the down voters come from the perspective that he paid the price our society deems appropriate, and that his past deeds, for which he was punished should not prevent him from pursuing his livelihood. I don't think they are condoning child abuse, as much as they are saying his past conduct should not prevent a team who needs a running back from going after him."
Can you mentally differentiate between shitty character, productive football option and "paid the price?"
I don't need to like a person to know if he is valuable for my favorite football team. Charles Barkley said it best "I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids."
Athletes and celebs are given too much idol worship.
February 26th, 2015 at 5:37 PM ^
I think that the point of our disagreement is that while I can "differentiate" between shitty character and productive football option, I have no interest in personally rooting for someone who did something is horrific as what AP did. So, yes, I completely understand that a shitty person can be a great player, and can really help a team. I do. And to some degree I accept that many teams that I root for probably have a bunch of shitty people on them.
I am a Giants fan, and I would have welcomed PLaxico back. Guy carried a gun and shot himself in the foot. Moron, sure, reckless, perhaps, but he didn't beat up a lid. As a fan, I cannot root for someone like AP.
Finally, while you claim to be able to differentiate between football ability and character, I suspect that there are limits to your tolerance, as well, ableit at a different point on the spectrum than mine. Would you want, for example, your team to sign a talented RB who was an admitted serial child rapist who happened to beat the charges against him on a pure technicality? I doubt that you would.
February 26th, 2015 at 7:20 PM ^
Eagles fan (lol).
I give AP some leniency b/c physical discipline hasn't fallen under child (society wise) abuse until fairly recently relatively speaking. Knowledge about it is still lacking in many groups depending on ethnicity. So many people who have children these days are still reluctant to believe it. I do not believe for one second that AP meant to actually hurt is kid even if he sent a text in bad taste afterwords. It was accidental and I hope he's learned his lesson about child abuse psychology research that we are now aware of.
People like Ray Lewis and OJ Simpson make me cringe b/c they got away with it. Donte Stallworth and Josh Brent types with reckless DUI deaths on their resumes make me cringe. (I have a hard time forgiving DUIs) Steubenville sociopathic rape cases make me cringe (Not gray zone he/she said Winston type cases). Dez Bryant's mom beating getting tossed aside makes me cringe.
I don't think people like AP and Vick are on that level due to complicated upbringing and societal factors especially if they were punished.
February 26th, 2015 at 6:27 PM ^
We're not mad because he isn't "being a role model". He beat a child. HE BEAT A CHILD. HE BEAT HIS OWN CHILD. He is a child abuser who hides behind althetic talent. The fact that we, as a society, excuse such behavior because he's an NFL running back is disgusting enough. He should be in prison, not on a football field.
February 26th, 2015 at 2:52 PM ^
completely. No need to be holier than though. None of these guys are priests or moral authorities on anything. Why do you care what he does off the field? Outside of your fantasy team and sunday afternoon, his life is his personal life. If I rooted for a team, I would jump at the chance to take AP..or Suh..or Jameis Winston. If I were running a church, then I would take Tim Tebow.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:16 PM ^
You draw the line by not rooting for morally questionable guys on my team. I'm not a Lions fan so don't care otherwise; but I cringed when the Wings picked up Bertuzzi. Yes, Bert paid his dues. I would have hoped his second chance occurred elsewhere though.
February 26th, 2015 at 4:15 PM ^
I dismiss him because I don't think he is a good fit for the offense run by the Lions. He needs to be a Bush/Bell type receiver, blocker, and safety valve. He is a better runner than either of them, but I think he is lacking in the receiving and blocking area.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^
AP is a 30 year old running back who hasn't played football in a year, yet is still likely to command a very high salary. He's an extreme gamble on a position where it's rare to find a player who performs dramatically higher than the replacement level, and it's likely that it would be possible to get to 85-90% of his production with a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick next year at a fraction of the price.
If the Lions were to try to sign AP, there's no chance they'd be able to resign Suh or Fairley. Does the calculus make a bit more sense now?
There's no question that signing Adrian Peterson would be a bad football decision regardless of how you feel about the way he raises his children.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^
Rb's are a dime a dozen. Their careers average just about 6 years. Why pay for a RB that has bad character and has logged a lot of hours? In addition is expensive. The Lions have about 6 other areas they need to address first. Makes no sense. Next question
February 26th, 2015 at 1:36 PM ^
unless you think Bell is the long term answer, running back is one of the first things they need to address. They cut Bush because he could no longer produce, but that is a position of need now.
February 26th, 2015 at 2:55 PM ^
but elite talents are not. And AP isn't just a rb, and never has been...he's been great since high school.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:16 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 1:28 PM ^
I would think AP doesn't want to go the Sanders or Tomlinson route of giving his all to a team and never sniffing a shot at post season success.
If that makes him crappy then you have an odd perspective.
I'll give AP another chance with his child abuse case b/c many are brought up that way who are set in their ways and he paid the price for it.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:50 PM ^
we were a pick and a bounty away from the SB a few years ago.
February 26th, 2015 at 2:24 PM ^
February 26th, 2015 at 2:32 PM ^
Again, he paid his dues for it. His character can be in question for that.
Wanting to change teams from Minnesota for a potential winner doesn't add anything or detract from his "character."
Besides he won't be able to get out of his contract anyway. He will be traded or kept. This is purely football negotiation tactics.
February 26th, 2015 at 6:36 PM ^
Hahahaha. I love Lions fans who now consider this franchise to be a "winner". LOLOLOL. Ap wants to win championships and have playoff success... so he's going to go to Detroit?! Are you fucking joking?
February 26th, 2015 at 1:16 PM ^
With this offense???
Probably can get him rather cheaply to boot.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^
but he ain't coming here.
jdo
February 26th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^
that piece of shit should be in prison. Sick fuck.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:31 PM ^
I want to know who downvoted this response? Seriously? Is there a group out there that defends child abusers?
Yes, the guy is a great RB. One of the best. That doesn't change that he is also a seriously disturbed individual who BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIS 4-YEAR OLD SON!! And then joked about it with the kid's mom over texts.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^
the down voters come from the perspective that he paid the price our society deems appropriate, and that his past deeds, for which he was punished should not prevent him from pursuing his livelihood. I don't think they are condoning child abuse, as much as they are saying his past conduct should not prevent a team who needs a running back from going after him.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:39 PM ^
I understand that view. The justice system chose not to punish him (with which I disagree strongly), and now he is entiteld to move on with his life. Fair enough.
However, part of sports is fandom, and as a fan, I am so personally revolted by this conduct that I could not root for AP to succeed. So, if he is the RB for my team, I am going to hope that he gets hit - and hard - on every carry. I cannot bring myself to feel happy when he reaches the endzone, so as a fan of a team, it would take away my personal enjoyment of watching my team and create conflicting rooting interests for me. I would expect that just about anyone would feel the same, given the horrible conduct, but everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion. My own opinion on this might have been different pre-kids, so I am really not judging.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^
I have pretty strong opinions about child abusers and the people that enable and apologize for them.
I'm going to remove myself from this particular conversation as it has the potential to ruin the rest of my afternoon.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:35 PM ^
would be people that got similar treatment from their own parents and refuse to acknowledge that it was child abuse.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:40 PM ^
Uhhh more like he paid the price for it. A lot of these issues stem from being set in people's ways and not realizing the advancements made in research regarding child abuse. Is he potentially shitty for what he did? Sure. Did he get away with it? No.
February 26th, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^
You really are bad at speculating, aren't you?
February 26th, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^
Maybe people who don't like visceral reactions to complex problems.
February 26th, 2015 at 3:18 PM ^
Yes there is a group which defends child abuse. That group is called the students of Penn State, the faculty, the alumni association, and the fanbase.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:20 PM ^
I dont know, hard to pass up a future hall of famer.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:21 PM ^
If he leaves, he goes to Dalls; it's the one place he has expressed interest in going.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:28 PM ^
I think DeMarco Murray is a better fit in Dallas.
February 26th, 2015 at 2:31 PM ^
Even at his age, I think Peterson is a bigger homerun threat than Murray. But Dallas might be fine paying Murray to fumble and not run very fast
February 26th, 2015 at 1:22 PM ^
If he's playing in the NFL, I'd prefer he play for the lions rather than against them, assuming he's affordable.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:28 PM ^
for the Lions who are trying to find cap room for Suh. 30 year old RBs are rarely worth a big contract, at best it's a big gamble.
February 26th, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^
Sure. Babysitter? Probably not.