Adrian Peterson Skips Out on NFL Disciplinary Hearing (UPDATE)

Adrian Peterson straight up skipped his NFL disciplinary hearing on Friday.

Image via USA Today Sports

Tension between Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and the NFL continues to escalate, and on Friday Peterson refused to show up for a disciplinary hearing with Roger Goodell. The meeting was supposed to take place on Tuesday but Peterson and the NFLPA had it moved to Friday, then just didn’t go.

It’s one of two hearings Peterson is set to have with the league in the near future. Tomorrow, he’s slated to participate in a conference call hearing over the grievance filed on his behalf by the NFLPA.

The league issued a statement on Peterson’s decision to skip his own disciplinary hearing saying:


“We had hoped that Adrian would take advantage of his opportunity to be heard and present whatever information he believes should be considered before a decision on discipline, counseling and services is made. Because he and the NFLPA elected not to do so, we will have to address this based on the information currently available to us.”

NFLPA spokesman George Atallah fired back with an email statement of his own:


“The league office seems more focused on creating an arbitrary disciplinary process for Adrian instead of honoring a signed agreement to remove him from the commissioner's list. They are simply making stuff up as they go along. They should commit their efforts to meeting us at the table to collectively bargain a new personal conduct policy.”

The league and the union are seemingly engaged in yet another staring contest as they vie for control over the NFL and its policies. This time, it’s Peterson caught in the middle of a fight that is about so much more than one player’s bid to get reinstated.

UPDATE: Via the NFLPA, Peterson has released a statement. Here it is in full:


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.

[via ESPN]

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