The Timeline Doesn't Lie: Adrian Peterson's Holdout Was Doomed from the Start
An NFL player without any sort of leverage on his side went into a holdout situation and lost. Months of increasingly ridiculous speculation and public demands predictably ended in said player returning to the team empty-handed.
This is a tale many times told. This is the story of Adrian Peterson's lost battle against the Minnesota Vikings.
Peterson finally returned to the Vikings Tuesday, providing an anticlimactic conclusion to a self-inflicted saga months in the making. ESPN's Josina Anderson first reported Tuesday morning that Peterson was back in Minnesota with intentions to attend the club's organized team activities. It will be Peterson's first official reunion with the Vikings since he missed 15 games last season due to the wide-ranging fallout from his child abuse charges in Texas.
TOP NEWS
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Colts Release Kenny Moore
Projecting Every NFL Team's Starting Lineup 🔮
Rookie WRs Who Will Outplay Their Draft Value 📈
The timeline of the showdown helps illustrate both the lunacy of Peterson's camp and the successful hardball play from the leverage-laden Vikings. Minnesota had the upper hand from the very start, and no matter how many cards Peterson and agent Ben Dogra tried to play, the Vikings never wavered. General manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer called Peterson's bluff and eventually won the pot comfortably.
Peterson will play for the Vikings in 2015, likely for the price set by Minnesota's decision-makers.
This unrelenting story has its ugly beginnings in September of last year, when Peterson was officially indicted on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child in Montgomery County, Texas. What followed was a winding trail of mistrust and misguidance, definitiveness and backtracking, and leverage and disadvantage.
Peterson's showdown with the Vikings never had a chance.
The timeline tells us why.
Sept. 12: Vikings deactivate Peterson for Minnesota's Week 2 game against the New England Patriots.
Sept. 15: Vikings reinstate Peterson to the active roster. Initial expectations are that Peterson will play in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints. From the Vikings' official statement:
"Today’s decision was made after significant thought, discussion and consideration. 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.
"
Sept. 17: Vikings place Peterson on the NFL's exempt/commissioner's list. The franchise reverses course following a barrage of public pressure, including from Minnesota governor Mark Dayton and top club sponsors.
Nov. 4: Peterson pleads no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault as part of a reduced plea agreement. He avoids jail time but is required to pay a $4,000 fine and provide 80 hours of community service.
Nov. 10: Zimmer publicly backs Peterson's return to the Vikings. From Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press:
Nov. 18: The NFL suspends Peterson without pay for the remainder of the 2014 season, or the final six games.
Nov. 18: Independent arbitrator Shyam Das quickly rules the NFL is allowed to keep Peterson on the commissioner's exempt list. The decision allows Roger Goodell to oversee Peterson's case.
Nov. 21: Peterson admits to USA Today's Tom Pelissero that "maybe it's best for me to get a fresh start somewhere else," citing an uneven level of support within the Vikings organization.
Nov. 23: Zimmer tells Ed Werder of ESPN that he believes Peterson will return to the Vikings once he is reinstated. "All I know of Adrian is that he's always been great with me, always done what I've asked him to do, and I kind of go by what I see," Zimmer said.
Dec. 12: Appeals officer Harold Henderson denies Peterson's appeal, upholding his indefinite suspension. Peterson is not eligible for reinstatement until April 15, 2015.
Dec. 14: Peterson confirms he has thought about retirement from the NFL. From his interview with ESPN's Ben Goessling:
"I've considered retiring from the NFL. I still made $8 million dollars this year. I've thought about getting back into the real estate (business in Texas) I'm already in. That's something I've been interested in, something I'm involved in. I've thought about getting back into that. I've thought about going after the Olympics—you only live once. It might be time for me to pursue that, as well. I love playing football, don't get me wrong, but this situation is deeper than that. For me, it's like, 'Why should I continue to be a part of an organization or a business that handles players the way they do? Making money off the field anyway, why not continue to pursue that (Olympic) dream and pursue other dreams and hang up the cleats?'
"
Dec. 30: Zimmer says he would welcome back Peterson after reinstatement from suspension. "I think obviously he's a great running back, and if it works out that way and things work out and he gets his life in order—that's the most important thing, he gets his life in order, he gets the opportunity to come back—then I will be in his corner whatever the decision is made," Zimmer said, per Goessling.
Jan. 14: Spielman confirms to Mark Craig of the Star Tribune that the Vikings want Peterson back in Minnesota following his suspension.
Feb. 11: President Mark Wilf expresses his support for Peterson returning to the Vikings in 2015. "Of course, he's a Minnesota Viking, and we'd love to have him back," Wilf said, per Goessling.
Feb. 12: Vikings chief operating officer Kevin Warren tells reporters he would welcome Peterson back "with open arms." The development is significant, as Warren was believed to be one of the major operators against Peterson within the organization.
Feb. 19: Peterson tells Goessling that he remains unsure about returning to the Vikings, while adding his wife wants him out of Minnesota. "I'm still uneasy about a lot of things that took place within the organization," Peterson said.
Feb. 19: Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports Peterson wants a "fresh start," citing failed dialogue between the running back and both Zimmer and Spielman. Trade rumors swirl.
Feb. 23: Dogra and Vikings executives share a heated exchange at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. One source close to Peterson tells Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports that the running back will "never play another game for the Vikings. It's over."
Feb. 23: Peterson's father, Nelson Peterson, does not close the door on his son going back to Minnesota. “He is open to returning to the Vikings,’’ Peterson said, per Tomasson.
Feb. 26: Judge David Doty overturns Peterson's suspension, which allows for his reinstatement to the NFL.
March 5: Spielman and Zimmer meet with Peterson in Houston, where he expresses lingering concerns with his return to the Vikings.
March 18: Spielman confirms to Dogra that the Vikings won't release Peterson.
March 20: Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reports that Dogra rejects meeting with Spielman at the NFL owners meetings.
March 23: Dogra offers a strong public statement, telling Bleacher Report's Jason Cole that he doesn't "think it's in the best interests of Adrian Peterson to play for the Minnesota Vikings."
March 23: Dogra finally plays his hand. "We want out of Minnesota," Dogra tells USA Today Sports' Jarrett Bell from the NFL owners meetings.
March 25: The Vikings once again draw their own line in the sand. "We have no plans to trade Adrian," says Zimmer, per Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune.
April 15: Peterson is officially reinstated by the NFL. He is removed from the commissioner's exempt list.
April 26: Rapoport reports the Vikings' intention is for Peterson to "play for them or no one."
April 28: Spielman sticks to his guns. "We have no interest in trading Adrian Peterson," he says.
April 29: At a Houston Rockets NBA game, Peterson admits to Dallas' WFAA-TV that playing for the Dallas Cowboys "would be nice."
April 30: The Vikings do not trade Peterson or draft a running back during the first round of the 2015 NFL draft. Trade talk starts to dissipate.
May 1: Dogra begins changing his tune. While still wanting a trade, Peterson's agent now asks that the Vikings show some sort of financial "commitment" to his client. "...Actions speak louder than words," Dogra told Pelissero. "If that's going to happen, and you want to keep him, then show him a commitment to make him retire as a Viking. And I haven't had that solution."
May 24: A source tells Robinson that Peterson still wants to be traded. To get his wish, the running back plans to skip OTAs.
May 27: Zimmer leaves no room for interpretation: "He's got two choices. He can play for us or not play," Zimmer told Goessling.
May 28: Peterson goes on a Twitter rant about NFL contracts. While owed almost $50 million over the remaining three years of his deal in Minnesota, Peterson is not due guaranteed money. Talk shifts to Peterson requiring a new contract.
June 2: Peterson returns to the Vikings. "I’m returning because I want to," Peterson said, per Vensel. "I’m a part of this football team, and I owe it to the guys I play with and to our coaches."
The individual events tell the story with clarity.
The Vikings certainly struggled with the Peterson situation early on, but for the majority of the process, the organization didn't waver in its public commitment to backing the player. The franchise's hard-line stance was consistent.
Meanwhile, Peterson created the destructive circumstances through his own malicious actions, and only once he and his misguided agent came to terms with the leverage working against them did Peterson cave on his otherwise-definitive desire to leave Minnesota.
Leverage almost always writes the story in these kinds of standoffs. The Vikings had it all.
Peterson is under contract, and while his 2015 price is substantial, Minnesota can and likely will part ways after making another serious run at the playoffs this coming season. The Vikings are able to work under the assumption that the club is getting back one of the most dominant offensive players of his generation on what essentially adds up to only a one-year deal.
Why in the world would the Vikings have budged an inch? Why trade such an obvious asset at a likely discounted price? Peterson brings back more value to Minnesota in 2015 than any other deal could have netted.
The disgruntled running back tried every ploy. The wanting a fresh start, the retirement talk, the woe-is-me approach. All were likely attempts to get the Vikings to back down—and all of them failed.
The Vikings are now major winners. The club's consistent stance allowed Minnesota to do nothing and gain everything. Meanwhile, Peterson comes off as petty and ignorant—seemingly oblivious that he created his own situation by harming his child and equally unaware that the Vikings owed him nothing.
Often times, taking a step back and reviewing an entire situation can provide clarity. Adrian Peterson is back with the Vikings today because his desperate attempts to gain traction in the standoff stood no chance against Minnesota's leveraged and undeviating position.
Zach Kruse covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
