UPDATE 11/20/14 - ESPN has released a letter written by Tom DePaso
, NFLPA General Counsel responding to the appeal. The letter can be found here: NFLPA letter written on behalf of Adrian Peterson.
UPDATE 11/19/14 - Adrian Peterson's hearing for the appeal of his suspension given on Monday has been scheduled for December 2nd, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen. This is the second Tuesday after the appeal is filed, which is what is stated in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
UPDATE 5:38pm: The independent arbitrator has just released the ruling from the grievance meeting yesterday. According to Arbitrator Shyam Das, Adrian Peterson will be kept on the Commissioner's Exempt List while he is appealing his suspension for violating the Personal Conduct Policy. This means that even though Adrian has had his situation adjudicated, the suspension will be drawn out longer because of the appeal. This will also mean that Adrian will continue getting paid until his appeal has been heard.
UPDATE 11:47am: The Minnesota Vikings have released a statement regarding this situation “The Vikings are aware of today’s plea agreement involving Adrian Peterson. We will have further comment at the appropriate time.”
Also being reported is that it is possible that the Vikings will choose to part ways with Adrian Peterson after the season, considering the fact that all the guaranteed money which is owed to him by the Vikings has already been paid. Hanging over that decision is the fact that Adrian will not have his first "progress" meeting with Commissioner Goodell on what else will be imposed on him aside from the suspension is not scheduled to take place until April 15, 2015 which is two short weeks before the NFL Draft, and the Vikings would have to have a plan in place before that as to what to do if Adrian's suspension carries into next season.
It is no secret that Adrian Peterson, the NFL Players Association, the NFL, and Adrian's lawyer Rusty Hardin have been going back and forth on what to do about the charges that Peterson pled "no contest" to earlier this month.
Adrian missed a meeting on Friday that had to do with this situation, and had his grievance hearing yesterday. After the reports started coming out that Adrian had missed this meeting, he and the NFL Players Association released a statement stating "The report that I backed out of a meeting with the NFL is just not true. When Roger Goodell's office asked that I attend the "hearing" on Friday, I consulted with my union and learned that this "hearing" was something new and inconsistent with the CBA. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this past week, my union sent emails, letters, and had conversations with his office on my behalf asking about the nature of the hearing, how it was to occur, who would participate, and its purpose. We repeatedly asked them to respond quickly to my questions because I want to cooperate and get back on the field, but they didn't respond until late Wednesday evening, and even then they didn't answer important questions about their proposed "hearing."
After consulting with the union, I told the NFL that I will attend the standard meeting with the Commissioner prior to possible imposition of discipline, as has been the long-term practice under the CBA, but I wouldn't participate in a newly created and non-collectively bargained pre-discipline "hearing" that would include outside people I don't know and who would have roles in the process that the NFL wouldn't disclose. At this point, I've resolved my matter in the criminal court; I've worked to make amends for what I've done; I've missed most of the season, and I stand ready to be candid and forthcoming with Mr. Goodell about what happened. However, I will not allow the NFL to impose a new process of discipline on me, ignore the CBA, ignore the deal they agreed to with me, and behave without fairness or accountability. The process they are pushing is arbitrary, inconsistent, and contrary to what they agreed to do, and for those reasons, I never agreed to the hearing.
I'm sorry for all of this, but I can't excuse their refusal to be fair."
It was reported yesterday that his grievance meeting in fact was a conference call which took approximately 30 minutes and that after that meeting, the grievance moderator and the NFL would determine punishment and it would be handed down by Friday of this week. Then, this morning, the NFL announced that they were going to suspend Peterson for the remainder of the 2014 season and would not consider reinstating him until after April 15, 2015.
Also being reported now is that Adrian is going to appeal the decision, meaning that he will stay on the Commissioner's Exempt List until the appeal of his suspension is heard. The NFL Players Association has also released a statement today regarding this situation stating "The decision by the NFL to suspend Adrian Peterson is another example of the credibility gap that exists between the agreements they make and the actions they take. Since Adrian’s legal matter was adjudicated, the NFL has ignored their obligations and attempted to impose a new and arbitrary disciplinary proceeding." The Players Association has also stated they will appeal the suspension on behalf of Adrian and demand a "neutral" moderator to hear the appeal.
A letter issued by Commissioner Roger Goodell to Adrian Peterson stated that the length of his suspension was now going to be in Adrian's hands. Commissioner Goodell also told Peterson that he was prepared to assist in putting him in a program that would allow him to succeed and be reinstated and also that Adrian needed to commit himself to counseling and rehabilitation.
Commissioner Goodell was also quoted in a letter to Adrian explaining his decision as saying “First, the injury was inflicted on a child who was only four years old. The difference in size and strength between you and the child is significant, and your actions clearly caused physical injury to the child. While an adult may have a number of options when confronted with abuse – to flee, to fight back, or to seek help from law enforcement – none of those options is realistically available to a four-year old child. Further, the injury inflicted on your son includes the emotional and psychological trauma to a young child who suffers criminal physical abuse at the hands of his father."
“Second, the repetitive use of a switch in this instance is the functional equivalent of a weapon, particularly in the hands of someone with the strength of an accomplished professional athlete."
“Third, you have shown no meaningful remorse for your conduct. When indicted, you acknowledged what you did but said that you would not ‘eliminate whooping my kids’ and defended your conduct in numerous published text messages to the child’s mother. You also said that you felt ‘very confident with my actions because I know my intent.’ These comments raise the serious concern that you do not fully appreciate the seriousness of your conduct, or even worse, that you may feel costless to engage in similar conduct in the future.”
It is a sad situation, and now obviously there will be speculation as to if Adrian will ever wear a Vikings uniform again, since they now will be without him at least until April 15, 2015.
VAVEL USA will continue to monitor the information forthcoming in this situation and add any pertinent information needed to this article.