mansquatch wrote:This doesn't deserve to end and AP deserves all the fire he is getting. People seem to forget that nobody made him take a switch to his kid.
Nobody has forgotten and since people feel compelled to remind us of that fact again and again and again, I don't think there's any danger of it being forgotten soon. However, the catalyst for a series of actions is not the only part of that chain of events that matters. Yes, Peterson's behavior was the first step leading to this situation but it's not the only thing of consequence and the incident with his son is over. It's done. He expressed regrets, dealt with the legal system, dealt with the league's penalties, the loss of commercial opportunities, the backlash from the public, etc. He reconciled the situation with his ex to the point where he can interact with his son again. Nobody has to forgive him if they don't want to forgive him but he's allowed to move on. His life didn't come to a complete and abrupt halt with that single action and as a human being, he's still entitled to have feelings and opinions about where he works, how he's treated, etc.
Then after the team pays him a gigantic sum of money last year while suspended he turns around and pulls this crap about wanting to leave.
They didn't give him anything. They were contractually obligated to pay him and almost certainly did so because he's a valuable asset to them. That wasn't an act of charity.
Constantly overlooked or dismissed in all the ire from fans who feel jilted by Peterson's reported desire to play elsewhere is the possibility that he may actually have very good reasons to want to play elsewhere. If so, he's entitled to act on them, to act in what he feels are the best interests of himself and his family.
I'm mad for the same reason I've been mad through this whole process. When AP's suspension and pissing match with Goodell and League was going on, we the fan base were ultimately the ones who got screwed.
... and if, as reports have suggested, the Vikings worked
with the league to keep Peterson off the field for the remainder of the 2014 even after he had come off the exempt list and Vincent had given him the impression he would be able to play again last year, we fans got screwed again...
by the Vikings.
Now AP is pulling this quasi hold out crap and again, it is we the fan base who are getting screwed.
How are we being screwed now? Peterson's missing voluntary workouts. That's no big deal. Was he screwing us when he did the exact the same thing under friendlier circumstances in the past?
So I do not care about the NFL being a business or AP needing to protect his livelihood or any of that other crap. At the end of the day, I'm a fan, and right now I (we) am getting screwed by this. My team will have less opportunity to win a championship this year because this clown is being a spoiled brat and not putting the team first.
Why should he put the team first? It seems to me his family should come first and we'd all be naive to think the Vikings, or any other team, would put a player first if he was an easily discarded asset. Peterson is fortunate that he's not because if he was, I doubt he would have even remained a Viking through last October.
Winning is all I really care about when it comes to the Vikings and this jerk is making it harder to achieve after all the gratitude (and patience) we the fans (and the organization) have shown him. He deserves every iota of ire we direct towards him.
Again, he wanted to to get back on the field and
help the team win last season and he hasn't missed anything but voluntary offseason programs this offseason. I doubt that's going to make much difference in the team's W/L record this season.
So, yes, I support Spielman in standing firm and sticking it to this guy, at this point he is the only person doing something that actually supports us, the fan base. AP can make this better only by coming out this season, being a team player, and playing hard, reminding us of why we used to love the guy.
... and at this point we have
no idea if he will do that or not. Teams and players play "chicken" like this all the time when one of them wants something and the other is reluctant to cooperate. As often as not, these situations are resolved well before meaningful games begin again.
Man, McKinnon had 34 reps with 225 lbs. at the combine I think you are waaaay of base PHP/Mike, this guy is an animal, strength wise and was a fluke hurting himself IMO and had nothing to do with lifting any brand of breakfast cereal
no I'm not questioning his strength I was just being sarcastic with that. My point being, getting seriously hurt lifting weights at his age isn't really the greatest sign of being a workhorse/full time RB and taking a pounding every game in the future. Which I why I think there is no way we get rid of AP at this point now that the draft is over. You can't rely on McKinnon and Asiata. You just honestly can't. One has question marks and the other couldn't make a guy miss if his life depended on it. We need a running game to help Teddy and at this point, our only hope is that moron, yet overly talented AP guy
