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Vikes reinstate Peterson, who faces new accusation

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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Confusion and a solid dose of anger from the public and some media members reigned at Minnesota Vikings’ Winter Park complex Monday as team officials seemed to reverse course on their stance on perennial All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson in the aftermath of his indictment in Houston on Friday for reckless or negligent injury to his 4-year-old son.

Three days after deactivating Peterson for Sunday’s home opener against the Patriots, the Vikings issued a statement in which ownership announced that Peterson would return to practice this week and play on Sunday at New Orleans. Peterson’s indictment stemmed from the welts and open wounds suffered by Peterson’s son when Peterson used a switch to spank him.

The announcement of Peterson’s reinstatement came before a Monday report from Houston television station KHOU saying that the running back was accused of another incident involving another of his 4-year-old sons.

Peterson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, said in a statement, “The allegation of another investigation into Adrian Peterson is simply not true. The allegation is more than one year old and authorities took no action. An adult witness admittedly insists Adrian did nothing inappropriate with his son.”

The 4-year-old son in the incident reported Monday is by a different mother from the alleged victim in the case that led to Peterson being deactivated.

The second incident allegedly occurred in June 2013, according to the report, and took place while the boy was visiting Peterson.

The TV station report said a photo that was allegedly texted by Peterson to the boy’s mother showed a wound on the boy’s head with bandages on it.

A text from Peterson to the woman reportedly said, “Be still n take ya whooping he would have saved the scare (scar). He aight (all right).”

The Vikings released a statement regarding Monday’s report that read: “As part of the information we have gathered throughout this process, we were made aware of an allegation from 2013 in which authorities took no action against Adrian. We will defer any further questions to Adrian’s attorney Rusty Hardin.”

Earlier in the day, Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf issued a statement regarding Peterson’s reinstatement.

“Today’s decision was made after significant thought, discussion and consideration,” they wrote. “As evidenced by our decision to deactivate Adrian from yesterday’s game, this is clearly a very important issue. On Friday, we felt it was in the best interests of the organization to step back, evaluate the situation, and not rush to judgment given the seriousness of this matter. At that time, we made the decision that we felt was best for the Vikings and all parties involved.

“To be clear, we take very seriously any matter that involves the welfare of a child. At this time, however, we believe this is a matter of due process and we should allow the legal system to proceed so we can come to the most effective conclusions and then determine the appropriate course of action. This is a difficult path to navigate, and our focus is on doing the right thing. Currently we believe we are at a juncture where the most appropriate next step is to allow the judicial process to move forward.”

Late Monday afternoon, the Radisson hotel chain issued a statement saying it would suspend sponsoring the Vikings in the aftermath of the Peterson incident.

“We are closely following the situation and effective immediately, Radisson is suspending its limited sponsorship of the Minnesota Vikings while we evaluate the facts and circumstances,” the Minnesota-based company’s statement read.

The hotel chain’s sponsorship includes a banner that was seen behind Vikings general manager Rick Spielman as he discussed reinstating Peterson on Monday, the Star-Tribune reported.

Spielman fielded questions from the media, and most of them were pointed questions about the message it sends to victims of child abuse when the team decided to re-activate Peterson a day after the Vikings averaged 2.8 yards per carry in a 30-7 loss.

Spielman tried to explain that the decision to deactivate Peterson on Friday was not meant to be the final decision and that the organization had planned all along to huddle over the weekend to discuss the next step. The indictment was handed down Friday and a warrant for Peterson’s arrest was issued. He turned himself in Saturday morning and was released on $15,000 bond.

“On Friday, there was a significant amount of uncertainty,” Spielman said. “We felt it best to step back, evaluate and make our decision based on all the information gathered.”

Spielman then tried to explain where the team now stands, regardless of how unpopular that might be for some people.

“Based on all that we made a decision that we felt was the right decision at this time,” Spielman said. “We are trying to do the right thing. This is a difficult path to navigate how a parent disciplines his child. Based on the extensive information that we have right now and what we know about Adrian, not only as a person but what he also has done for this community, we believe he deserves to play while the legal process plays out.

“At the same time, we must defer to the legal system to determine if he went too far. We cannot make that judgment.”

Peterson issued the following statement Monday following the news that he would play this week:

“My attorney has asked me not to discuss the facts of my pending case. I hope you can respect that request and help me honor it. I very much want the public to hear from me but I understand that it is not appropriate to talk about the facts in detail at this time. Nevertheless, I want everyone to understand how sorry I feel about the hurt I have brought to my child.

“I never wanted to be a distraction to the Vikings organization, the Minnesota community or to my teammates. I never imagined being in a position where the world is judging my parenting skills or calling me a child abuser because of the discipline I administered to my son.”

Vikings players were asked after Sunday’s game and again on Monday about their reaction to the Peterson situation.

Several players voiced their support for Peterson and the team and said the issue won’t be a distraction. Some players said they don’t condone such actions, while others said that sort of thing was just common practice when they were growing up.

Fullback Jerome Felton said he was beaten with switches growing up. Receiver Jarius Wright said, “I don’t think (Peterson) did anything wrong.”

As for distractions, safety Harrison Smith said, “There’s nothing that we can really do besides do our jobs. That’s what we’re focused on doing.”

Smith also said the locker room supports Peterson.

“We’re always going to stand behind our guys,” he said. “We obviously don’t condone any of the alleged things and stuff like that, but we’re going to stand behind our guys.”

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