Yo, Adrian!!!

I am a big Minnesota Vikings fan.  They have been my team from the day I was born, and will be my team forever.  I am really struggling with this Adrian Peterson nonsense that is going on.  Many times when a professional athlete is making a career change either via a trade, or signing on with a new team by the way of free agency, you must likely will hear the line, "At the end of the day, it's a business."  Sometimes the athlete says that to support their decision to sign with another team. Sometimes the athlete ends up saying it because they were traded, which didn't make them happy, and all they have to fall back on is that statement.  This is something that Adrian Peterson needs to be aware of, the NFL is not only a sport, but also a business.  I don't like getting into the politics, because it frustrates me when some teams are able to spend more money which creates an imbalance in sports.  However, Adrian Peterson's choices most certainly affected a business and it put the Minnesota Vikings not only in the spotlight in a negative manner, but also in a bind.  Adrian claims to be upset with the Minnesota Vikings for not letting him play during the investigation last season when the Vikes put him on the Commissioner's Exempt List.  Despite being on this list, Adrian was sitting at home, but still receiving his paycheck each week.  The Vikings wanted to play him badly after be deactivated for a week, but when several of the Minnesota Vikings sponsors threatened to pull the sponsorship because of what Adrian Peterson chose to do, what else were the Minnesota Vikings supposed to do?  They had to make a business decision to keep their business viable.  Now, if it had been me that chose to do the actions that he did, I would been sent home...without a job and without anymore paychecks.  Adrian Peterson was allowed to make a plea deal (like all athletes that run into trouble magically do) and get the felony charges removed.  He was then suspended for the rest of the year, and finally stopped getting paid.

Now it is 2015, and everything is behind Adrian Peterson, although the trauma his son is probably still experiencing from the incident is still as fresh in his mind as the day it happened.  Adrian is lucky, he finally has the opportunity to have life back, and focus on playing in the NFL again. However, Adrian has chose to not let things go.  Adrian feels everything is owed to him.  Adrian feels that the Minnesota Vikings screwed him over, even though they have said time and time again that they welcome him back with arms wide open.  Instead of being grateful for his second chance, he now demands a trade, and he wants to be traded to Dallas, near his hometown.  He feels that he shouldn't have to renegotiate his contract and that's fine.  If he wants to stick to the numbers on the contract, then he should remember one number at this time.  That number is three, the number of years left on his contract.  He owes that to the Minnesota Vikings if they chose to keep him no matter of how big of a fit he throws.  It's all me, me, me with Adrian Peterson.  Before he was charged with crime that he chose to commit, the Vikings were "all in" with having Peterson be the face of the Minnesota Vikings.  In every drawing or image shown in the media of the new Vikings stadium being built, Adrian Peterson's picture was a part of those images.  They are not part of those images anymore.  The ones to take the worst punishment is the fans.  The fans who spend their hard earned money to go to the games.  What did the fans do?  It was selfish enough to affect the 2014 season the way it did, but dang it! Let's not let it affect the 2015 season.  We have Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback, the most promising player at quarterback since Brett Favre.  We brought in Mike Wallace at wide receiver to make the big plays.  We have also made numerous free agent signings and already had a solid defense.  Adrian, please don't screw up our 2015 season, the fans don't deserve it.

So if it were up to me to handle the Adrian Peterson situation, here is what I would do.  I would approach Adrian and tell him that we would like him to play for the Minnesota Vikings for the 2015 season.  After all, if Adrian Peterson is pissed, he will run hard this upcoming season.  He hasn't played in almost a year when the new season begins, and if he sits out (called a "holdout") he could be sitting out of action for a second consecutive season.  If he does this, it will have a drastic effect on his effectiveness as a star NFL running back.  I think it would be career suicide if he sat this season out.  So, I would tell him that he has three years left on this contract that he will not be released out of.  I would also tell him that he will be almost 34 years old when his contract is up, which means he may likely be past his prime.  So...I would tell him that if he comes back to the Vikings and play 2015 with full effort, then after the season I would trade him if still requests it.  By doing this, the Vikings get him for one more year in his prime and it allows the team to make alternative plans at the running back position for the future instead of being screwed on the spot.  By doing this, it would give the Vikings some leverage back.  Now I know Adrian Peterson is making huge money, which affects the Vikings salary cap, but it could be worth it if he shuts his mouth and runs angry.  The other catch to this is that NFL Free Agency has already began and teams are moving quickly to put their teams in place prior to the NFL Draft.  Many teams are not willing to pay for Adrian Peterson's contract and don't want to give up a high draft pick for someone who only cares about himself.

Now I could be wrong here, and the Vikings could still trade him during the NFL Draft.  I just hope that he is not given what he wants by being traded to the Dallas Cowboys, where he wants to go.  I am just tired of Minnesota sports teams being in the position to have to trade a superstar player because of a fluke or losing.  It is those days that makes it hard to be a Minnesota sports fan.

#govikesgo

New Blog, New Topics!

Welcome to my newest blog called Minnesota Sports Scene.  Many of you read my other blog called, "Blogging Rookie" and I hope you enjoy and share my passion with Minnesota sports.  I look forward to writing about sports items that are going on in all levels of sports throughout the state of Minnesota.  Now, what I write is my opinion, and as always it is ok to disagree with my thoughts.  I encourage anyone who reads my blogs to leave comments after reading my blogs.  Who knows, it may prompt me to write about something that you bring up.

I would say that my favorite sport is baseball.  I have been a Minnesota Twins fan since I was about nine years old.  My wife is not really a sports fan, and most of my family is not sports fans, except my brother and my two brothers-in law.  So, I am excited for this and here we go...