I remember reading about the 90s Cowboys when I was in college and one of the things Jimmy Johnson was notorious about was cutting fringe players for any minor offense. One time a player pointed out that Michael Irvin was doing a lot worse things and Jimmy pointed out when the player could produce like Irvin he could too.
NFL teams don’t care about due process, they care about having an excuse to play their star players by any means necessary. Adrian Peterson is a child abuser and has admitted as such (even if his twisted mind he doesn’t view it as abuse), but the Vikings are 1-1, so “due process” will be used to get him back on the field.
A quick study of the 56 domestic violence that has happened during Roger Goodell’s tenure shows that 10 of those players were released within a week after their arrest.
Here are the names.
- Markus Curry
- AJ Nicholson
- Claude Terrell
- Cedrick Wilson
- Willie Andrews
- Kevin Alexander
- Jarriel King
- Chad Johnson
- Chris Rainey
Besides Chad Johnson who was at the tail end of his career, none of the players had much value to their team and were expendable way before due process. There is one more player to add to the list.
A.J. Jefferson: Minnesota Vikings
Arrested on probable cause of domestic assault after allegedly choking his girlfriend.
Released by the Vikings immediately following arrest.
It shouldn’t be noted that Jefferson hasn’t been found guilty of anything yet, his case is still going through the court system.
Here is what Vikings GM had to say about “due process”.
“The photos are disturbing, I understand that. But to be clear, any matter that’s involving the child is very important to our organization, but we also think it is right for him to go through the process legally,” Spielman said.
Asked if the Vikings are standing by Peterson only because he’s a great player, Spielman insisted that’s not he case.
“It has nothing to do with him as a football player. It’s based purely on the facts that we have, that have been presented to us,” Spielman said. “It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with the information we have gathered.”
If it has nothing to do with Peterson as a football player, why didn’t Jefferson get the benefit of the doubt considering there were less facts in his case than Peterson’s case? You know the answer to that.
I just want honesty, it is not my place to judge their decisions (but I can critique), but I don’t think teams should insult people’s intelligence. The Vikings know that Peterson beat his children (2 cases now) to the point of bruising him and drawing blood. The marks and scars on both kids were visible a week later. Peterson admits to beating his kids and the Vikings are willing to look the other way because they need him on the football field.
That is the truth and only a blind person couldn’t see it. It isn’t different than many other teams that rather hide behind legal system when they know something illegal has happened. In this case wins and losses were more important than the safety of a child and that is something no amount of touchdowns can change.
