How do you feel about Adrian Peterson?

[Monster]

After everything that happened the past few months I'm tired of hearing about Adrian Peterson the victim. Tired of him whining about this and that. I've never really heard him say what he did was wrong and own up to it. It seems like he is out of touch with reality. I'm assuming he will be playing for the team next year but other than him being on the team and I want the team to do well I won't be cheering for him. Maybe at some point in a couple months he lays out how he feels says some things that change my mind but at this point I am not a fan.

Anyone else have thoughts?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

AP's trying to get more guaranteed money. He'll likely get his way in some regard. Oh, and he won't miss any games due to this semi-holdout. He'll also be playing for the Vikings. He's a Hall of Famer when he hangs it up and one of the best running-back talents I've seen with my own eyes since I've been watching sports. I'm not even a Vikings fan (Chargers die-hard here, but I pull for the Vikings because I have an unexplainable love for Minnesota), but I recognize his football greatness because it's deserved.

I don't try to get involved in judging players off the field because that's when it gets dicey. There's a lot, a LOT, of "questionable" characters in the NFL. I root for the guys that wear my favorite teams' uniform. It's easier to root for an individual that's a model citizen, but that's not always the case and I accept that.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

1) Terrific running back
2) Uninformed, cruel father
3) One of the stupidest guys in the NFL

[Monster]

Cam that's usually about how I aproach things but as you can imagine since AP is a player for my favorite team it hits a little more personally or at least I take it with more interest and investment.

LST that was a short and to the sweet breakdown. I can't help myself can you break down how you feel about Kevin Love and AP by some sort of comparison or whatever I'm really curious about that because of the stance you have taken on Love. It seems you are pretty harsh on AP also. I'm pretty interested in your breakdown.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Cam that's usually about how I aproach things but as you can imagine since AP is a player for my favorite team it hits a little more personally or at least I take it with more interest and investment.

LST that was a short and to the sweet breakdown. I can't help myself can you break down how you feel about Kevin Love and AP by some sort of comparison or whatever I'm really curious about that because of the stance you have taken on Love. It seems you are pretty harsh on AP also. I'm pretty interested in your breakdown.

I see them as different situations, monster, but I agree with you on the Peterson deal...until he changes his attitude, I'm going to have a difficult time cheering for him. And I'm a big Vikings fan.

In many ways, Love and Peterson are exact opposites. I don't think Adrian is very smart at all, but even though I don't like Love, he does seem like a smart guy to me. Love has never been liked by his teammates and has trouble building relationships, while by all reports AP is a stellar teammate. His teammates seem to genuinely like him, and even some who are repulsed by what he did are supporting him as a teammate and really want him back. Adrian's behavior off the court is abhorrent...fathering children all over the globe and savagely beating one of them. On the other hand, Kevin Love is not known to have done anything like that.

So, even though the situations are quite different, they both fit into a very rare category for me...local sports heroes that I have a problem cheering for. The big difference is this...if AP got smart and showed some remorse for what he did and showed some semblance of a clue, I could easily jump back on the AP bandwagon.

How about you, monster? Has AP lost you as a fan forever, or could he do or say some things that could make you cheer for him again?

[Monster]

Cam that's usually about how I aproach things but as you can imagine since AP is a player for my favorite team it hits a little more personally or at least I take it with more interest and investment.

LST that was a short and to the sweet breakdown. I can't help myself can you break down how you feel about Kevin Love and AP by some sort of comparison or whatever I'm really curious about that because of the stance you have taken on Love. It seems you are pretty harsh on AP also. I'm pretty interested in your breakdown.

I see them as different situations, monster, but I agree with you on the Peterson deal...until he changes his attitude, I'm going to have a difficult time cheering for him. And I'm a big Vikings fan.

In many ways, Love and Peterson are exact opposites. I don't think Adrian is very smart at all, but even though I don't like Love, he does seem like a smart guy to me. Love has never been liked by his teammates and has trouble building relationships, while by all reports AP is a stellar teammate. His teammates seem to genuinely like him, and even some who are repulsed by what he did are supporting him as a teammate and really want him back. Adrian's behavior off the court is abhorrent...fathering children all over the globe and savagely beating one of them. On the other hand, Kevin Love is not known to have done anything like that.

So, even though the situations are quite different, they both fit into a very rare category for me...local sports heroes that I have a problem cheering for. The big difference is this...if AP got smart and showed some remorse for what he did and showed some semblance of a clue, I could easily jump back on the AP bandwagon.

How about you, monster? Has AP lost you as a fan forever, or could he do or say some things that could make you cheer for him again?

That's a good breakdown thanks for sharing.

Can I cheer for AP again if he owned up that what he did was wrong and said other good things? Yeah but not as much as before but I will say that he wasn't a guy I connected with for some reason. Even with that I remember feeling awful on that Saturday when things were coming out. It just feels like he has lost sense of reality and to be fair for a star person that's gotta be hard to keep grounded at all. I get why he is going after a new contract if the Vikings are so commuted to keeping him then why shouldn't they put their money where their mouth is... Of course he talks about a contract with more money but he skipped OTAs which means he gave up $270,000. Sure him not showing up gives him additional leverage but what if he showed up saying he wants to be a Viking the next 3 years and says the money he gets from the workout bonus goes to a Minnesota charity for kids or whatever? The Vikings would look kinda bad if they didn't reach out to him then right?

So here is the deal. The Vikings have been steadfast in wanting to keep AP (or I'll speculate that IF they would let him go it was for a heck of a return) so I think it's clear they want him for at least the next 2 years. Of course they just got thrown under the bus by AP because he wanted out and all that...well his agent said it.

Sidenote: I don't have a big problem in general with players having their agents speak for them and be the bad guys. It's smart and heck let those folks earn their check. I almost feel a little bad for Dogra because fans are saying he is a bad guy for all the stuff he has said and maybe he is a jerk (he seems like he is at least annoyingly arrogent) or whatever but you know AP wasn't just letting his agent go rouge or whatever saying stuff APA and for that matter Dogra isn't that stupid. I'd like to have guys speak for themselves like men but it's a business and AP himself didn't say anything publically against the Vikings he can't recover from I suppose so that's smart.

So the Vikings probably feel a little like they aren't just going to give AP what he wants because he tried to get out. I wouldn't either and I am not a bigtime grudge holder type.

One last thing to consider about all this is that we forget is been less than 2 months since AP was reinstated and that's not a lot of time for all the wounds to heal or whatnot. If AP wanted out the draft was likely the only time it was going to happen based on the Vikings stance they weren't cutting him. Supposedly AP and Zimmer have chatted since AP's Twitter rant and Zimmer saying he plays for us or he doesn't play comment. There is a chance it all blows over relatively speaking things get patched up and AP plays the next 3 years for the Vikings. At this point the way the Vikings have played it that's APs really only choice. All things considered of the Vikings end up with a relatively happy AP back and he is the stud RB everyone expects they will have played this pretty well you would love to get a player of AP's talents on your team so keeping him is a win. This team could take a step forward thisbyear and is young and talented.

Have I mentioned recently how much I like Teddy? I am really high on the kid I haven't been this excited and truely invested in a young Vikings QB since Rich Gannon and I did actually like Culpepper.

Cam as a chargers fan what is your take on Teddy?

[Monster]

AP is coming back to work today good for him. Lol It sounds like he is gonna put all this stuff aside and be a football player again. Alright that's half of what I wanted to hear.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I learned a long time ago to do my best to separate players on the field from the people off it. In today's society, with the proliferation of multiple social media channels and 24/7 sports coverage, the lines are blurred... which can lead to uncomfortable situations.

I never liked Adrian Peterson the person. I didn't dislike him either. I had no opinion either way. But he was a helluva football player. This is one of those times, however, when I can't hide from the person off the field. And unfortunately, that will skew my opinion of the guy on the field. Peterson is a louse in so many ways. He's handled the situation so poorly. To be fair, NFL teams are not exactly the most loyal organizations either. That's a two-way street.

Cheering for pro teams (athletes) is a dicey deal. These guys, especially in the NFL, are mercenaries or gladiators. They make their money while they can and get beat up doing it, which can even compromise their quality/length of life. We cheer them on. Are we simply cheering for laundry though? And do they owe anything to us? After all, we're the ones who pay exorbitant amounts (relatively speaking) to cheer on these gladiators.

I'm ok with that relationship as long as there's a facade of fans cheering for the players... and the players acknowledging the fans. But, we're seeing more and more where the fans are dismissed by players and entire leagues (see NBA lockout(s)). That skews the long, storied history of fan/player/team relations. Why should we continue to root for players who openly dismiss us?

[Monster]

Did any of you watch the whole Zimmer PC and AP today? I just did. here are my thoughts and where I am at with AP.

What he said today went a long way towards repairing everything. He was candid i don't' think he was BSing around or anything. I still feel like he may not really get it but I can see though that he was really hurt by what happened and how people turned on him. He wasn't being whiny and dumb I think he was truly hurt. I won't rip a guy for that and that might actually make me respect him or even like him more as a person and human. While I didn't leave totally satisfied I don't know what else I could have expected him to say in this PC to make me feel super good about everything. I don't think he is at peace yet either but he has taken steps to move on and therefore at this point I will also.

I won't be cheering as hard for him, but in general I'm ready to move on. He had plenty of punishment did what he was asked to do and says he loves his kids. What else can I ask of the guy? As far as him as a player he said he wants to be here with the Vikings and thats good enough for me. Its not all good or anything but its good enough. Its kind of amazing how quick it seemed to turn around.

As I said before if you are a Vikings fan you should be pretty excited about this season. You have AP the most feared RB in the game right now, a theoretical true deep threat which we haven't seen since the promise of Berrian, some new young players at key positions no worthwhile losses to the team in FA and we gained a couple vet players that may be worthwhile plus that Teddy guy. This team overachieved last year and thsi year they ad a fresh AP and some young players things could come together.