ChuckieWoodson

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.

mtlcarcajou

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...

MightyMatt13

February 26th, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^

Yet another Vikes fan. I see no way he wears a new uniform next season. Whether or not he wants to play for Minnesota or not, he knows where the paychecks are coming from. The trade return isn't going to be worth the player, and I can't see this organization making a deal with Dallas specifically for anything less than a solid haul of picks.

m1817

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.

Moe

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.

ijohnb

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.

In reply to by ijohnb

michgoblue

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.

LJ

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?

michgoblue

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.

OccaM

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. 

michgoblue

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.

OccaM

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. 

HarbaughToMichigan

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.

canzior

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. 

 

mgoblue0970

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.

Yo_Blue

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.

SituationSoap

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.

OccaM

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. 

OccaM

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. 

 

 

michgoblue

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. 

ijohnb

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.

michgoblue

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.

OccaM

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. 

 

mgoblue0970

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.