Off-The-Field Issues

More Details On Peterson’s Arrest

July 8, 2012, by 15 comments

More details have been released regarding Adrian Peterson’s arrest late Friday night at a Houston Nightclub. The original reports of the event left some questions regarding what Peterson had done to be “tackled” by a police officer. The official report though from Kese Smith, a spokesman for the Houston police department, gives much more detail about what caused the scuffle between AP and HPD.

Below is Smith’s account of the events:

“This happened at a club in downtown Houston called the Bayou Live Nightclub. It began just after 2 a.m. this morning when a Houston police officer working an approved extra job as security began the process of clearing the bar of patrons. The bar had just closed. While doing so he approached Adrian Peterson, who was with a group of people next to the bar. Peterson was talking with that group of people next to the bar and the officer informed Peterson and the group that the bar was closed and asked them to walk toward the nearest exit. The officer left the group to continue advising other patrons the bar was closed. A short time later, the officer returned and found Peterson and the group still talking at the bar. The officer again asked everyone to leave the bar, reminding them that it was closed. As the officer turned away to remind other patrons of this, Peterson told the officer that the group had heard him the first time and pushed the officer in the shoulder causing him to stumble. The officer then informed Peterson he was under arrest and asked him to turn around and place his hands behind his back. Peterson instead began yelling at the officer who again told him to place his hands behind his back. As the officer attempted to place Peterson in handcuffs, Peterson pulled away from the officer and assumed a violent stance. At this time an HPD sergeant, who was also working an approved extra job, saw what was happening and attempted to assist in arresting Peterson. Peterson began struggling with both officers. During this entire time, that initial officer was giving verbal commands to Peterson to stop resisting and place his hands behind his back. Peterson ignored those verbal commands and continued to struggle with the officers and ultimately a third officer had to assist in detaining Peterson. Once placed in handcuffs, Peterson was transported to the Houston Police city jail where he complained of shortness of breath. He was examined by Houston fire department medical personnel who pronounced him to be medically fine. He was then booked into the jail and is charged with resisting arrest, which is a misdemeanor.”

I think there are a couple things worth noting here:

After Adrian Peterson was arrested, he complained of “shortness of breath.” I don’t mean to crack jokes regarding an incident like this, but hopefully this is not a sign that Peterson’s conditioning is severely behind…

This is very out of character for AP who, other than a couple traffic violations, has been a model player on how to carry yourself off-the-field. TMZ reported (Man, do I hate saying that…) that the club manager said Peterson was “heavily intoxicated” and that “He looked really scary… I thought he was gonna attack the cops.” I’m going to go ahead and assume that Peterson’s behavior can primarily be attributed to his mental state at the time. (Not to, in any way, validate that kind of behavior.) From the sound of things, it seems like Peterson was immediately aware that he had screwed up. The same club manager noted that as soon as Peterson was subdued, he apologized and explained that he doesn’t normally drink.

I’m still a little confused regarding the charges, though. I guess it’s a good thing though that Peterson was only charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor charge, as opposed to assaulting an officer and resisting arrest. (The officer was ‘off-duty’ though, don’t know if that changes anything…)

Anyway, this whole thing has me very disappointed with Adrian Peterson. I don’t imagine that it will have a huge impact on the Vikings. I don’t even really see Peterson getting much of a punishment from the NFL. But, nonetheless, Vikings fans expect better from him.

Adrian Peterson Arrested

July 7, 2012, by 9 comments

Just a couple days ago, Adam and I were discussing the lack of any substantial Vikings news lately. I reminded him that sometimes, during this slow part of the offseason, “no news is good news.” He agreed and we pretty much dropped the subject.

Well, folks, unfortunately I have some major offseason news this morning: Adrian Peterson has been arrested.

Jerome Solomon, a columnist for the Houston Chronicle broke the news via Twitter earlier this morning.

According to Mike Florio, of Pro Football Talk, Adrian Peterson was with his girlfriend and some family members at a Houston nightclub late last night/this morning. Police, for unknown reasons at this point, entered the club at its closing hours and began instructing people to leave. Adrian Peterson attempted to get some water before he left the club and Peterson was again instructed that he needed to leave. He then supposedly walked to the exit with a couple of the club’s bouncers. Then, according to Florio and a ‘source’, “It’s believed that one of the officers then jumped on Peterson’s back from behind and tried to take him down. (Key word: “tried.”) Other officers then joined the fray and completed the arrest.”

At this point, there really aren’t any other details of the incident but it is believed that is was captured on video by multiple subjects. (When these videos become public you can be sure we’ll share them here.)

As of right now, it is believed that Adrian Peterson is still in jail with bail set at $1,000.

While this isn’t the first time AP has had  a run-in with the law (with other various traffic violations), in my opinion, something seems a little fishy here. While I’m sure more details will become available soon, I’m not sure why an officer “jumped on Peterson’s back.” Either way, probably wasn’t a very good idea for the cop to try and tackle a football player who is known for not being tackled…

Well, I guess we got our big piece of offseason drama. Wouldn’t be a Vikings offseason without some, now would it?

Adam Gives His Opinion On Leslie Frazier

July 6, 2012, by 10 comments

I am heading out for the weekend, off to meet long-time internet friend and fellow Vikings fan “Fran the Man” to do some fishing on the famous Tangle Lakes (pictured  above). 

Before trekking off into the wild, however, I wanted to get one last post up as sort of a response to a comment received under my recent post on Leslie Frazier’s USO Tour.

B. Grant wrote:  “Nice piece here, Adam. Shows some real class on Leslie’s part (and on your part for pointing it out to us). Gonna put you on the spot, now…  What’s your true gut feeling about Leslie Frazier as an NFL head coach? Is he gonna have a long term and eventually successful run here in Minnesota, or will we be looking at a different head coach in the not-too-distant future? Can Leslie be a Super Bowl champion head coach? Go ahead, give us your honest take on this.”

Okay, it has been a while since I have taken a real hard stance on something and made foolish predictions, so now seems like a fitting time to rekindle my old love for hack bloggering.

Yes!  I think Leslie Frazier can be a Super Bowl winning head coach.

Now, there is a long laundry list of reasons to doubt Frazier.  He mistakenly hung his hat on washed up veterans like Donovan McNabb and Bernard Berrian last season.  Chris Cook’s disasterous arrest prior to a Packers game and Adrian Peterson’s horrible injury during a garbage game, both happened under his watch.  Bill Musgrave, under Frazier’s authority, seemed to greatly underutilize players like Percy Harvin, Kyle Rudolph, and even Adrian Peterson at various points last season.  There was even some unexpected wishy-washy decision making at the end of the season when a hobbled Christian Ponder, who perhaps shouldn’t have been playing to start with, was replaced a number of times by Joe Webb.  Familiarity led to jobs being handed to Fred Pagac and Mike Singletary but the results were not at all favorable.  Botched challenges and too many penalties were just more signs of a dismal season.

More aggravating to me than anything listed above, and also more worrisome, were some very questionable play calls that ended up deciding games… and not to the Vikings benefit.  Who can forget Toby Gerhart’s fourth down carries against Detroit and Atlanta, both of which screamed “desperation” and signaled to the fans that the 2011 was forever lost.

Still, despite all of the negatives, I think that this is not only a new season but also a very different season and Frazier will make improvements that show exactly why he is an asset to the team.

First, there is no lockout.  Taking over a roster with a shortened offseason and two new quarterbacks as a first year head coach is not an enviable position to be in.  The negative consequences of the craziness that was the 2011 offseason were evident throughout the season, but I think we have already started to see (outside of Percy Harvin) a cohesiveness this year that just simply wasn’t there last year.

Secondly, Frazier gets to be a coach.  He put his name on enough poor personnel decisions last offseason that the Vikings ended up essentially demoting him and giving sole authority over the roster to General Manager Rick Spielman.  I think this will take a lot of pressure off of Frazier and allow him to sit back and do the two things he does best:  coach football and mentor young men.  What we saw this offseason, in the way Frazier and Spielman handled the sudden eruption from Percy Harvin, was a refreshing change from the days of Brad Childress and, while we don’t know all the details, this is the first true evidence we have to suggest the new power structure is an improvement over the old Triangle of Authority.

Cutting down on off-the-field problems, instilling a sense of discipline on this young roster, and seeing progressive improvement and development in all phases of the game are essential to Frazier’s future with the team.  No single factor will have more weight, however, than the progression of Christian Ponder.

If Ponder excels, Frazier has a future.  If he stumbles, Frazier likely doesn’t.  Fair or unfair, right or wrong, I think that will be the case regardless of how Frazier does in all the other aspects of coaching this season.  Ponder and Frazier (and possibly Spielman) are tied together with a knot that is too tight to undo.  Ponder’s improvement and success are paramount to the future of this young team, and the employment status of Leslie Frazier and his staff.

So far, all signs are pointing towards an improved quarterback situation, so right now I have no reason to doubt Frazier or his ability to turn this mess around and get started down the right track.

Okay, have a good weekend everyone!

I’m off to catch some fish.

Abdullah Brothers Take Break From Football

June 22, 2012, by No comments yet

Husain Abdullah has had somewhat of a rollercoaster of a career in the NFL.  The Washington State safety went undrafted in 2008, climbed the Vikings depth chart, was the team’s best safety in 2011, nearly decided to hang up the cleats, and then declared that he planned to continue his career and was fielding multiple offers for his services.

Now, however, Husain and his brother Hamza have decided to forego their NFL careers, at least for now, to make a religious pilgrimage.

The two brothers plan to “deconstruct” the negative connotations associated with the Islam faith.

While I would love to see Abdullah back in the mix with the Vikings this offseason, one can’t help but have respect for a guy whose convictions are the most important thing to him.

Good luck to them both.

Good News For Greenway’s Dad

June 20, 2012, by 15 comments

As we previously mentioned, Chad Greenway has had a rough go of it this offseason coping with a hard truth that would not be anywhere close to easy for the toughest of men.

On that front, however, we have some good news to pass along.  Alan Greenway, Chad’s father, is currently at Mayo Clinic (not hospice care) and his leukemia is in remission.

Greenway had previously been excused from the Vikings minicamp, but the linebacker was indeed present given the improved condition of his father.

Greenway admits his father is on his mind constantly, but that going to practice with his teammates can provide some solace, too.

“Yeah, every day and every minute you’re thinking about it,” Greenway recently said, “but at the same point you have to go to work, and it is a reprieve to be at work, and be around my friends and do something that I love.”

We, as Vikings fans, have high hopes for Chad Greenway in 2012.  However, the biggest wish of all is for his father to continue to improve health-wise and that the Greenway family has a fantastic year in general.

Chris Cook: “I got to rest a lot”

June 14, 2012, by 25 comments

Cornerback Chris Cook has been making some Twitter followers angry because some of his tweets would suggest he is not fully focused on football, which is not something fans want to see or hear after Cook’s health and legal troubles have resulted in what can best be described as an “absence” during his first two NFL seasons.

Cook concludes that those fans that don’t like his tweets should simply refrain from reading them, or unfollow him all together.  I’m no Twitter expert (Brett, you should weigh in) but getting upset about people’s tweets expressing how upset they are about your tweets seems a little tweet-diculous.  Can Cook not unfollow or ban those posting things that are making him angry, the same as he suggests those people should do?

Anyways, Bob Sansevere recently interviewed Cook and I feel like he blew a golden opportunity to ask some good, tough questions.

Sansevere asks Cook about his sleep habits, his twitter accounts, threw him a softy or two about being “misunderstood,” and attempts to lead Cook towards saying he is a Pro Bowl talent.

Here is my favorite Cook quote from the piece:  “I feel like I’ll be better. A good thing about being away from the game is I got to rest a lot. I got my legs up under me. I got to study more. I studied myself a lot on tape from games I have played and from practices. I feel like I’ll be better.”

So, that is the good thing about being suspended?  Geesh, just imagine how good he could be in 2013 if he slips up and gets suspended for all of 2012!

Ugh.

Greenway’s Absence Understandably Due To Father’s Illness

June 13, 2012, by 4 comments

The Minnesota Vikings have had good, spirited attendance at OTA’s so far this year by all accounts.  A few veterans have stayed away, including Percy Harvin after his shoulder presumably started to act up after attending the very beginning of OTA’s.  Jared Allen has also been away, which is not really a surprise given that is pretty much the norm for number 69.

One player that has been somewhat of a mystery has been Chad Greenway whose absence has been attributed to the vague reason of “family situation” up until this point.

According to reports, however, Greenway is indeed dealing with an unenviable and difficult situation.  His father, whom we can all remember for his words after Greenway was drafted, has been battling leukemia and is currently getting hospice care.

“I talked with him a few days ago and I don’t know if we’ll have him back for mandatory minicamp,” Leslie Frazier said. “His family situation is something he’s dealing with so we may or may not have him back for that but it’s understandable, what he’s experiencing.”

According to the reports, a number of South Dakota farmers have banded together to help Alan Greenway out by bailing his hay this season.

We here at VT would like to pass along our best wishes to Alan, Chad, and the whole Greenway family. This is surely the most trying of times for the Greenway family, and I know many of you would be eager to help out, but I have been unable to find any sort of fund being organized for Mr. Greenway.  If I find one I will be sure to pass that along.

In the meantime, Pennies for Patients has always been a standup organization to support in the battle against leukemia.

[UPDATE: It should be noted that the sixth annual Greenway's Gridiron Gallup will be held this Sunday, Father's Day, in Minneapolis.  The 5k run helps to raise funds for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board youth athletic programming.  For more details, you can click here.]