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Adrian Peterson Discusses Suspension, Future With Vikes, Plans To Meet With Goodell

Vikings RB Adrian Peterson gave his "first extensive public remarks" since his Sept. 11 indictment, speaking on a "wide variety of topics, including why he refused to attend a hearing with the NFL before Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him as well as his future" with the Vikings, according to Tom Pelissero of USA TODAY. Peterson said, "I would love to go back and play in Minnesota to get a feel and just see if my family still feels comfortable there. But if there's word out that hey, they might release me, then so be it." Pelissero reports regardless of his football future, Peterson "wanted to make clear his main focus now is on repairing his relationship with his son and trying to make people understand that, contrary to Goodell's remarks in handing down his ban, his remorse is real." Peterson: "I know I'll have my opportunity to sit down with Roger face to face, and I'll be able to say a lot of the same things that I've said to you." Peterson said he did not attend the hearing the league scheduled for last week, with outside experts present, "because I didn't want to go into a situation blind. I didn't know what to expect. Who's going to be there? Who will I be meeting with? What details are we going to get into?" Peterson is "an almost sure bet to get another shot in the NFL," but if he "loses his appeal and has to sit out the rest of this season, he's not certain that'll happen with the Vikings." Peterson: "I know who loves me. The coaches and the players, it's not going to be a problem. I've felt so much support from those guys. The organization, I know there's people in the organization that support me and there's people that I know internally that has not been supporting me" (USA TODAY, 11/21).

WHO TO BELIEVE? Radio show host Dan Patrick said of Peterson's interview with USA Today, "You do an interview with USA Today, (but) you’re not doing anything on camera. What was the purpose of the interview? Do you want the message to get out? Who do you want to hear the message? Wouldn’t the message have been better served if we actually see that you are remorseful?" ... I can’t really tell from your words if you’re remorseful, but at least if we could see, and I think that’s what people want" ("The Dan Patrick Show," 11/21). Pelissero said of Peterson's missed interview in N.Y. last week leading to his suspension, "The tension is so high right now between the NFL and the players union that it would be only natural that the union would stand up and say, ‘We are not going to participate in this. Nobody is going to participate in this.'" ... That was not the context in which Adrian Peterson was willing to show up. He was not going to come to New York and be a part of a game being played on him" ("NFL AM," NFL Network, 11/21).

GOING FORWARD: PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio reported there is "actually no 'word out' that the Vikings might release Peterson." The Vikings have "been adamant about their belief that Peterson is a Viking." If anything, the Vikings would "want to trade Peterson in lieu of letting him walk away." At a compensation package of $13M in '15, it is "hard to imagine Peterson walking away," but that "may not keep Peterson from trying to force his way out" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 11/20). 

THE REVIEWS ARE IN: In Minneapolis, Jim Souhan writes Goodell has "mismanaged an idiot-proof job." He is "power-hungry and has watched too many tough-cop movies." Souhan: "If I were the NFLPA, or a member, I would find him very distasteful." He "deserves to be fired, and should be replaced by someone savvier and smarter" (STARTRIBUNE.com, 11/21). But in San Diego, Tom Krasovic writes under the header, "Goodell's Discipline Finally Hits The Mark." The NFL "went on an accountability spree this week," and instead of "nonsense, the League gave us sense." Goodell, "bouncing back from his mishandling of the Ray Rice case, got this one right" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 11/21). In DC, Mark Maske writes it is "not clear how much of what happened this week in the Peterson case will carry over to future cases" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/21). NBC's Bob Costas said of Peterson's punishment, "The NFL has made a stance that they hope goes a bit further towards assuring the public they get it and they’re going to continue to get it closer to right. If the players association prevails in the push back, then the league can always say ‘That was our position. The players association prevailed and that’s that.’ I think that’s probably where it will be” (“The Dan Patrick Show,” 11/21).

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