Brennan: If Adrian Peterson has learned, he's not showing it

(Photo: The Associated Press)

Does Adrian Peterson want to play football again?

I know the answer must be yes, but after his actions last week, I wonder.

If the goal the past week was to get back on the field as soon as possible, blowing off a meeting with the NFL commissioner was not the way to do it, no matter what the players' union was whispering in his ear.

We hear that Peterson and the NFL Players Association didn't like "the process" surrounding the NFL's scheduled hearing with him last Friday, so they decided not to attend. The role of outside experts apparently was a problem for Peterson and the union, even though much of the national conversation over the past 10 weeks about how the league and its players will address the enormous problem of domestic violence has centered on the hiring of exactly those experts to help deal with the issue.

Instead of coming in to meet with Goodell and the experts with plenty of lawyers on both sides of the table, presumably and trying to show Goodell that he is worthy of reinstatement this season, Peterson listened to the union and gave up his last, best chance to show how serious he was about doing what's necessary to return to the game after pleading no contest to injuring his four-year-old son as he whipped him.

This means that his old statements, including the appalling comment Goodell cited in which Peterson said he did not intend to "eliminate whooping my kids," still hang in the air, as fresh as the day that he said them.

If you're Adrian Peterson, and you know that quote remains in the public arena, and you have seen the nation react with collective disgust to any kind of domestic violence in the wake of the Ray Rice elevator video, you are asking for nothing but trouble if you skip the one meeting that could help you regain your job.

Three days later, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Peterson for at least the remainder of this season, without pay, saying the earliest he could be reinstated was April 15.

"These comments raise the serious concern that you do not fully appreciate the seriousness of your conduct," Goodell said, "or, even worse, that you may feel free to engage in similar conduct in the future."

Of course the union wailed in reply, which begs this question: Has it been paying any attention to what has happened in this country since Sept. 8?

That's the day the video of Rice's horrifying knockout of his then-fiance Janay Palmer (now Rice's wife) was made public. Four days later, Peterson was arrested. Three days after that, the Radisson hotel chain suspended its sponsorship of the Minnesota Vikings when Peterson was allowed to return, albeit briefly. Throughout it all, the words "zero tolerance" became part of our national vocabulary.

Back in September, Goodell was heavily criticized for not doing enough to punish and prevent domestic violence by NFL players. Now the union and its allies say he's doing too much.

This much we know: Goodell's NFL is the only sports organization on earth making significant changes and hires right now to try to begin to combat domestic violence. Things are fluid and the rules are changing.

At times like this, it would be extremely wise for any player who has been linked to domestic violence to not miss another meeting.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2014/11/19/adrian-peterson-domestic-abuse-national-football-league-christine-brennan/19297801/