Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was deactivated by the team following his indictment in Texas by a grand jury on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child and a warrant was issued for his arrest ahead of the game in Week 2 of the season against the New England Patriots.
According to ESPN.com, Peterson will surrender to the authorities regarding the charges and his lawyer Rusty Hardin said that Peterson had "spanked" his son with a switch, which is a tree branch object. The report from ESPN and a local police report detail the incident and it describes Peterson striking the child repeatedly in the leg and other areas with the switch and the charges came after the boy's mother reported the injuries.
According to Pro Football Talk, the grand jury originally did not indict Peterson on charges, but the case was re-filed by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office and charges were eventually brought. Peterson admitted that he hit his son with the switch object and said that he "regrets" the "unintentional" injury that he caused to his son.
Peterson is one of the top running backs in the NFL and he had over 1200 yards last season and before that he had over 2000 yards and he will be a major absence for the Vikings. Matt Asiata will take over for him in the starting lineup and he could miss more time depending on what develops. Peterson has previously been connected to another situation where his 2-year-old son died last year in South Dakota. Peterson learned about the son only two months before and his son died after "being allegedly assaulted by a man who was dating the boy's mother," according to ESPN.com
Peterson's lawyer Rusty Hardin texted ESPN.com and said that Peterson will be giving himself up to the authorities and he also released a statement regarding the incident:
"This indictment follows Adrian's full cooperation with authorities who have been looking into this matter. Adrian is a loving father who used his judgment as a parent to discipline his son," Hardin said in his statement. "He used the same kind of discipline with his child that he experienced as a child growing up in east Texas. Adrian has never hidden from what happened."
