NFL too tough or not tough enough on Peterson? Your Say

The NFL this week suspended Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson for the rest of the season, without pay. Letter to the editor:

In the real world, if you go to your boss and say that you are going to miss a few weeks because you are on trial for beating your kid and then plead no contest, good luck getting your job back, especially if your position is a high-profile one. Adrian Peterson may be a great football player, but he is an awful human being, regardless of what he does in the community.

My life has been affected daily by the abuse suffered by someone close to me. The ripple effects don't go away just because the abuse stopped. We have no idea how Peterson's children (and let's not forget that he has more than one) will have their lives changed by this. To ask him to atone by sitting out a season is a small price, if it can help him change.

James Trail; Champaign, Ill.

Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

The NFL did the only thing it could do to keep up appearances. The league doesn't care about Peterson's son, the 4-year-old disciplined with a switch. It cares only about repairing its tarnished image.

— Luke Sonner

The NFL punted to the players union, which is appealing the decision. When Peterson is reinstated, the NFL can say it tried everything it could.

— Ward Morris

The NFL is standing up for the abuse victim, which in this case was a helpless child.

I live in Minnesota and couldn't be happier with this outcome. Abuse, of any sort, will not be tolerated, and if you get paid millions to be a role model, you don't need that many second chances.

— Nell Currey

There is never any excuse for beating a child. And how was Peterson held accountable? If I did the same thing to another adult, I would be in jail, which is where he belongs!

— Bill Marshall

Plenty of people were hit with switches when they were kids. It's only in the past 10 to 15 years that schools stopped using corporal punishment.

While I think Peterson should understand there are better ways to discipline his kids, particularly a 4-year-old, I am not fully jumping on the bandwagon that he is an abuser.

I have no doubt that he loves his kids a great deal; I think he is just showing a learned behavior that he needs to unlearn.

— Christopher Daly