NFL Misses the Point
Show me your Union card. Now tell me if you believe what that union is doing.
The war over control of player discipline continues in the NFL, between the Commissioner’s office and the Players Association. The gunfire from both sides is enormous, and running back Adrian Peterson is in the middle of all this.
Peterson, arrested, charged with a felony for child abuse, has sat out 8-games in a row, while being paid, till has case was handled by the courts. He plea bargained down to a misdemeanor, paid a fine, will be on probation and do some charity work.
His 4-year old son had welts, cuts and bruises, on 4-different parts of his body.
The Union says the 8-game sanction, in which Peterson collected nearly $6M-dollars should count as his discipline, for the games he missed.
As part of the agreement to put him on the Commissioner’s exempt list, with pay, there was also a sentence that said he could be reinstated, once the legal case was resolved. But there was also another sentence that indicated he had to go thru a hearing in front of the Commissioner.
The hearing did not take place, Peterson refused to show, and how he has been slapped with a 6-game suspension, loss of $4.1M-salary, ordered into counseling, and banned form any NFL involvement till April 15th, which is the date he might re-apply for admission.
Then in late afternoon, independent arbitrator Shaym Das ruled against the Union and Peterson, saying the Union-NFL CBA lays out the rules for penalties, hearings and reinstatements, meaning Goodell’s ruling is legal and binding.
The Union is furious, saying the sanctions are unfair,considering time missed already. Union Chief DeMaurice Smith keeps saying the time served, with pay, was penalty enough.
Goodell’s letter to Peterson was harsh, words like ‘showed no remorse’…’criminal abuse’…’you used a switch, which is a legal weapon, against a four year old child’.
It’s ugly, it’s distasteful, and more importantly, this is a “power play” by the union. It’s not about due process, it’s about trying to get a player back on the field. You never hear the union ever answer questions about their client’s act, being a right or a wrong, just statements ‘you cannot trust the NFL’.
Where’s the accountability factor? Did the Union not see the photos of the injuries suffered by the child?
I have yet to hear an NFL player step up in public and condemn the Vikings running back for the attack on that little boy. All I hear is ‘it’s a family matter’, or it is part of a southern culture, or we all got whooped. Well not any more in this day and age of society, especially in the NFL..
Oh I forgot, none-so blind, as those who refuse to see. Or must have missed it, looking the other way for loopholes in the collective bargaining agreement.
Show me your union card. Tell me this is right. Put your union card away. Their actions are wrong, almost as shameful as what Peterson did to his child.
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It’s amazing that he thinks that 8 games off, with pay, should even count as punishment for his offense. If he had lost pay, maybe. But this was a paid vacation.