The Minnesota Star-Tribune has released a damning investigative report about Adrian Peterson, the embattled star running back for the Minnesota Vikings, who is currently on the NFL's exemption list following allegations of child abuse. Though the reports touches on a number of details within Peterson's personal and professional life, it spends an extended period of time unveiling a previously-unearthed scandal concerning the financial specifics of Peterson's charitable All Day Foundation. In particular, the report details one night when Peterson and two of his relatives, including his younger brother, stayed in an Eden Prairie, MN hotel with four women, engaging in debauchery charged to a credit card connected with Peterson's charity.
The report states:
The 38-page police report details a night of drinking, arguing and sex that involved the running back, two relatives — including Peterson’s brother, a minor — and four women, in various pairs. One of those present, Chris Brown, a Peterson relative who lives with him in Eden Prairie, told police that he paid for the room using a company credit card for Peterson’s All Day, Inc.
As the night wore on, the report says, one woman who said she knew Peterson previously became upset when she saw him having sex with another woman. She started an argument that lasted at least an hour. According to the report, when she told him that she was “emotionally attached to him,” Peterson reminded her that he was engaged to another woman and had a baby.
The next day one of the women filed a police complaint that was investigated for months. Peterson insisted on his innocence and, at one point, arrived to provide evidence at police headquarters through a back door, his face shrouded by the hood of his sweatshirt.
The rape accusation against Peterson was false, and was reported by TMZ on September 26, 2014.
However, further details against Peterson concerning his charity show that this wasn't the first time some shady bookkeeping was taking place within his organization. The Star-Tribune continues on with their report:
In 2009, the charity said its largest gift, $70,000, went to Straight From the Heart Ministries in Laurel, Md. But Donna Farley, president and founder of the Maryland organization, said it never received any money from Peterson’s foundation. “There have been no outside [contributions] other than people in my own circle,” said Farley. “Adrian Peterson — definitely not.”
The East Texas Food Bank, based in Tyler, said it received money from Peterson’s foundation in 2009, although the foundation’s tax filing for the year listed just one donation to a food bank — the North Texas Food Bank, based in Dallas.
Colleen Brinkmann, the chief philanthropy officer for the North Texas Food Bank, said that while her agency partnered with Dallas Cowboys players, she could not recall ever getting money from the All Day Foundation. “Was he with the Cowboys before?” she asked of Peterson. “I’m not a football fan.”
The Star-Tribune's story gives Peterson a lot to answer for in the coming days. One thing, however, is certain: Peterson will definitely not be back in uniform for the Vikings this season, and the rumors about his eventual departure from Minnesota only seem more likely.
[via Black Sports Online]
