NFLPA Says Roger Goodell Mandating Adrian Peterson Counseling Not in Contract
The NFL Players Association filed a brief in federal court on behalf of Adrian Peterson, stating that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had no right to mandate that he should get counseling before returning to the league.
Peterson, the 29-year-old Minnesota Vikings running back, made headlines last Sept. when news broke claiming that he abused his four-year-old son whom the football star struck with a stripped tree branch, resulting in severe lacerations. Although his no-contest plea left him with the ability to continue with the 2014-2015 NFL season, the league officially decided he would remain suspended without pay until next April.
In the brief obtained by ESPN, the NFLPA outlined the parameters of Peterson's contract that they allege Goodell is not following by continuing to suspend Peterson.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"The collectively-bargained NFL Player Contract could not be clearer in expressly limiting the Commissioner's disciplinary authority 'to fine Player[s] in a reasonable amount, to suspend Player[s] for a certain period or indefinitely; and/or to terminate th[eir] contract[s],'" the NFLPA wrote in the brief, obtained by ESPN.com. "The NFL does not deny that the Commissioner's imposed counseling requirement is neither a fine, suspension, or contract termination, nor would there be any other 'plausible' interpretation of this CBA provision permitting such a requirement. Instead, the NFL — like the [suspension] itself — entirely ignores the Player Contract's CBA disciplinary limitation."
Although Peterson has met with a psychology professor from Harvard along with a pastor after his indictment, the NFL directed him to meet with a different doctor from NYU in order to return to the league.
"As the NFL highlights, Arbitrator [Harold] Henderson sustained the counseling requirement of Mr. Peterson's discipline not on the basis of any provision in the CBA, but by relying upon Commissioner Goodell's unilaterally promulgated Personal Conduct Policies," the NFLPA brief reads.
The NFLPA decided to file a federal lawsuit after an arbitrator decided not to grant him an appeal that could help him return to playing for the Minnesota Vikings this season. The case involving Peterson will appear in court before U.S. District Court Judge David S. Doty at 2 p.m. on Feb. 6, according to USA Today reports.
Peterson previously said he believed he was being made an example of after a NFL player Ray Rice was recently allowed to return to the league following a suspension stemming from a domestic violence assault against his wife where he knocked her unconscious.
"I've been made an example out of. It kind of baffles me how — I have nothing but love for Ray Rice, I'm happy he has the chance to play," Peterson previously told ESPN. "But it's like, how did Ray Rice get reinstated before me, a team has a chance to pick him up, but I don't have the opportunity to come back until April? When has that happened in any other case in the NFL, ever?"
