Adrian Peterson declines to show at NFL discipline hearing
You knew when the NFLPA released a statement as it filed an expedited grievance, claiming the NFL wasn’t living up to its word in taking Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson off the exempt/commissioner’s permission list after his legal situation was settled, it was just the start of a battle.
After Peterson declined to show for a disciplinary hearing with the NFL on Friday, both the NFL and the union were back at firing barbs at each other.
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Peterson, who plead no contest in a case involving injuries suffered by his 4-year-old son when he disciplined him with a wooden switch, has yet to come off the exempt list. But the NFL told ESPN’s Adam Schefter the discipline hearing had nothing to do with him remaining on the exempt list, and there is a conference call regarding that on Monday. Friday’s hearing was for the league to determine if Peterson would be punished further for the incident with his son. He hasn’t played since Week 1.
The NFL told Schefter it scheduled the meeting for Friday, then on Thursday the NFLPA said it was unavailable that day. A league official said the NFL told the union they wouldn’t postpone the hearing because Peterson and the NFLPA wanted it to be resolved as soon as possible, and was “given no meaningful reason” why Peterson and the union couldn’t be there. They said they haven’t received more than “cursory materials” on the case after requesting information. So the NFL just did the review on Friday without Peterson, the union or the information it requested, a league official told Schefter.
“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,” the league official told Schefter. “Because he and the NFLPA elected not to do so, we will have to address this based on the information currently available to us.”
The NFLPA responded, via Schefter. NFLPA spokesperson George Atallah said Peterson’s lawyer Rusty Hardin sent the NFL a letter saying it’s against Texas law to provide the league the documents it requested. The union said Peterson’s clinician was available for the league. And Atallah turned his response back to Peterson still being on the exempt/commissioner’s permission list, and an oddly-timed criticism about the league not collectively bargaining a new personal conduct policy. Once Peterson comes off the exempt list, he can still be handed additional punishment per the league’s personal conduct policy.
“The League office seems more focused on creating an arbitrary disciplinary process for Adrian instead of honoring a signed agreement to remove him from the Commissioner’s list,” Atallah said in an email to Schefter. “They are simply making stuff up as they go along. They should commit their efforts to meeting us at the table to collectively bargain a new personal conduct policy.”
This entire situation with Peterson has been a mess, obviously. The resolution of it is going to be contentious too, it seems, with the union digging in pretty hard against the NFL. It’s hard to imagine this is the end of it, either.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
