Adrian Peterson Isn't the Victim; His Son Is

Let's make this clear: Adrian Peterson deserves to be back in football one day. Not this week. Not this month. Not even this season. Even if the act of beating his own four-year-old child with a switch was despicable, cowardly and shameful, he deserves to play again. 

There have been so many arguments and counterarguments since Peterson was arrested and those vile pictures of his son's bruised legs appeared on the Internet. There have been battles about arbitration and due process. Missed meetings and kept meetings. Peterson and the union wrapping themselves in the Constitution, draping themselves in the American flag, making it about Roger Goodell overreach.

Back and forth it went, but what the Peterson discipline is about—the entire case, actually—is much simpler. It's about an abused child, a bullying and flawed parent and punishment for the abuser. It's that straightforward. 

Somehow, the union has transformed this argument into a referendum on Goodell's power. It's a nice rope-a-dope and will appeal to some Minnesota Vikings fans who seem to think a child abuser should go back onto the field lickety-split.

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

And while Goodell has faults, and the union has legitimate gripes, we need to be crystal clear here...

Roger Goodell didn't beat Peterson's son.

Peterson did.

Roger Goodell didn't disfigure the legs of a four-year-old.

Peterson did.

Roger Goodell didn't whip a young child, hitting one of the child's testicles with a stick.

Peterson did.

It wasn't the commissioner who caused these bruises. It was Peterson. It wasn't anyone from the NFL that shoved leaves in his son's mouth. It wasn't an owner or a lawyer or the mean media who did the kind of damage that couldn't be done legally by a U.S. soldier to an enemy combatant. It was the running back himself.

Peterson's son suffered cuts, marks and bruising to his thighs and back. Who did that? Who is responsible? Who is the victim? Let's not forget any of that.

Does Peterson deserve to play again? Of course he does. But I also think he and the union have been playing the blame game and forgetting who the real victim is. It's his son. Not him.

Goodell has become a convenient scapegoat for the union and others. We have reached an unfortunate moment in time when players aren't taking responsibility for their own actions. Goodell is now to blame, according to some, for everything. Goodell the boogeyman. Goodell the despot. Goodell is to the union what Barack Obama is to Republicans.

Next, the union will blame Goodell for the Denver Broncos losing to the St. Louis Rams. Ben Tate got zero fantasy points? Goodell's fault. Damn socialist.

The union is headed by an incredibly intelligent man in DeMaurice Smith, but his platform can't simply be Goodell is evil. What exactly is the union doing to help prevent some of the abhorrent behavior from players in the first place? What are they doing to keep more muscled-up running backs from knocking their female significant others unconscious?

Call me crazy, but I think a 6'1", 215-pound NFL player like Peterson beating up a child warrants massive punishment. Not unlimited, unchecked punishment, but the NFL making Peterson take a long look at himself while sitting out is the right move.

Because I don't think anyone can say Peterson won't do this again. I don't know if he has learned his lesson.

Bob Levey/Getty Images

By the way, Peterson has been collecting his salary all this time. Think about what would happen with your job if you committed that sort of crime. Think you'd still get paid? Think you'd still have an office? 

What the Peterson apologists also conveniently forget is this is his second accusation of child abuse (that we know of). While the first accusation—involving another child—was never prosecuted, and Peterson denied any wrongdoing, the series of text messages KHOU-TV made public are troubling.

Mother: "What happened to his head?"

Peterson: "Hit his head on the Carseat."

Mother: "How does that happen, he got a whoopin in the car"

Peterson: "Yep"

Mother: "Why?"

Peterson: "I felt so bad. But he did it his self."

Mother: "What did you hit him with?"

Peterson: "Be still n take ya whooping, he would have saved the scare [scar]. He's aight."

Interesting how Peterson wanted his son to take a whoopin' like a man but he hid behind the union.

This goes back to a central point. Remember the real victim. It's not the wealthy athlete, his flank protected by a union.

It's a four-year-old kid.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.