Vikings running back Adrian Peterson may not even know yet what a stir his comments created on Tuesday.
When his remarks comparing NFL players to “modern-day slavery” were first published, Peterson was traveling to Africa as part of a Starkey Hearing Foundation mission.
It’s worth noting that trip is typical behavior for Peterson, a player known for giving back and one who is well liked by teammates and media alike. Since Peterson couldn’t follow up on the comments, his agent Ben Dogra released a statement to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
“I think anybody that knows Adrian knows that Adrian is a very strong-willed and passionate individual,” Dogra said. “The game means an awful lot to him. People should not just take his statements per se word by word. It’s a difficult time. He would love to play.
“I’m sure that everybody would love to see football continue in the NFL and I’m sure at some point it will get resolved. But Adrian, that’s what makes him great. He’s soft-spoken but if he has something on his mind he’ll speak it. But I think nobody should really look at those words and take them out of context.”
Peterson reportedly repeated his slavery quote twice, so the quote didn’t come out by accident. We’ll chalk it up to a regrettable use of words and move on to the real football news of the day.
Oh wait.