After 'Additional Thought,' Vikings Again Bench Peterson

Team bans star until child abuse charges resolved
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 17, 2014 3:44 AM CDT
Updated Sep 17, 2014 3:48 AM CDT
Team Does U-Turn, Benches Peterson
A fan holds his tickets, with photos of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, outside the stadium before Sunday's game with the New England Patriots in Minneapolis.   (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Carlos Gonzalez)

The Minnesota Vikings have decided to ban star running back Adrian Peterson until the legal issues over him hitting his 4-year-old son with a stick have been resolved. The team—which decided to reinstate him on Monday—has now reversed course and placed him on the exempt-commissioner's permission list, a move that bans him from all team-related activities, reports ESPN. "We have decided this is the appropriate course of action for the organization and for Adrian," the team's owners said in a statement issued early today.

"This is the best possible outcome given the circumstances," Peterson's agent tells the AP. "Adrian understands the gravity of the situation and this enables him to take care of his personal situation." The move comes after heavy pressure from sponsors, reports CNN. The Radisson hotel chain suspended its sponsorship of the Vikings on Monday night, and Castrol pulled out of its deal with Peterson yesterday. His first court hearing in the abuse case is in Texas early next month. It emerged yesterday that the mother of another one of Peterson's children, a 4-year-old son, filed a complaint after he texted her about giving him a "whoopin," but his lawyer says there is no "ongoing or new investigation" of the incident. (More Adrian Peterson stories.)

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