For someone that seems like he wants to get on the field as soon as possible, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson clearly missed an opportunity this week. At least, that’s what the NFL would like us to believe.
According to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Peterson backed out of a disciplinary meeting with the NFL on Friday after agreeing to meet with the league earlier in the week.
Vikings RB Adrian Peterson declined to appear Friday at a scheduled disciplinary hearing with NFL despite agreeing to meeting earlier last week, per an NFL official.
The NFL also charged that Peterson would not give the NFL an alternative date for the disciplinary hearing in connection to his violation of law in an incident of family violence.
This is a different, more significant hearing than the conference call set for 2 p.m. Monday, about when Peterson’s grievance relating to remaining on the commissioner’s exempt list will be heard. The Friday meeting was the one that would have been for a disciplinary decision on Peterson’s past and future.
Schefter went on to indicate that the Friday meeting was originally scheduled for Tuesday before the NFLPA said it was unavailable that day.
A league official had this to say about both the NFLPA and Peterson backing out of multiple days for the meeting.
We informed the union that we were unwilling to postpone the hearing beyond this week given that the player and union had both expressed a strong desire to resolve this matter as soon as possible and we had been given no meaningful reason why Adrian and the union could not appear and participate,” said a league official. “We offered other alternatives for this week, but those also were not acceptable. We also have yet to receive more than cursory materials in response to our requests for information on the case. Accordingly, we went forward with the review on Friday as scheduled.
“We had hoped that Adrian would take advantage of his opportunity to be heard and present whatever information he believes should be considered before a decision on discipline, counseling and services is made. Because he and the NFLPA elected not to do so, we will have to address this based on the information currently available to us.
NFLPA spoksperson George Atallah also indicated that Peterson’s lawyer provided the NFL with a letter saying that it was against Texas state law to give the league documents that it has requested.
This is yet another example of the two sides failing to work together as it relates to Peterson’s case. If the NFLPA and Peterson were intent on coming to a quick conclusion, it appears that this recent report disables their ability on that front. The players association, however, has continued to go public about its stance against the NFL providing an “arbitrary disciplinary process” for Peterson. Maybe that’s one of the primary reasons that it has been dodging a meeting that can be defined as arbitrary in and of itself.
Peterson is set to meet with the NFL via conference call on Monday. a Call that will set a date for his grievance hearing against the league.
Photo: Time.com