PETERSON VS. NFL
RB loses appeal, vows to challenge decision in court:
THE HOUSE wins again.
An NFL arbitrator rejected Adrian Peterson’s appeal of his suspension for child abuse, barring the Minnesota Vikings star from returning to the field this season. The decision sets the stage for a legal battle between the league and player, who vowed to take the NFL to federal court.
Arbitrator Harold Henderson, appointed by commissioner Roger Goodell to oversee the appeal, said in his decision that Peterson had failed to prove the disciplinary process was not “fair and consistent.” The decision means Peterson will remain suspended for the rest of the season and unable to apply for reinstatement until April 15.
The ruling sparked an immediate and bitter response from the NFL Players Association, which had expressed concerns that Henderson, a longtime NFL executive, would not be independent and impartial like arbitrator Barbara S. Jones, the former federal judge who overturned Ray Rice’s domestic violence suspension last month. Henderson was a “designee” of Goodell’s.
“The NFLPA expected this outcome, given the hearing officer’s relationship and financial ties to the NFL,” the Players Association said in a statement.
In an interview with ESPN, Peterson expressed shock that his suspension was upheld while Rice can return to play.
“I feel like they’re handling the situation absolutely wrong,” Peterson said. “I think I’ve been made an example out of. It kind of baffles me how — I have nothing but love for Ray Rice, I’m happy he has the chance to play. But it’s like, how did Ray Rice get reinstated before me. A team has a chance to pick him up, but I don’t have the opportunity to come back until April. When has that happened in any other case in the NFL, ever?”
Henderson’s ruling drives another wedge in the increasingly contentious relationship between the owners and the union over the discipline of players accused of off-field misconduct. The NFL owners, responding to national outrage over the way the league investigated and punished Rice after TMZ posted a video that showed him slugging his wife in a casino elevator, approved a new personal conduct policy this week.
The Players Association, however, believes changes in the policy should be negotiated. The union said owners’ unilateral approval of the policy — and Henderson’s ruling — violate the NFL’s contract with the union.
The union has claimed that the personal conduct policy allows Goodell or his appointee to serve as prosecutor and judge, which makes the process arbitrary and inconsistent.
Jones agreed with that assessment when she ruled that Goodell had punished Rice twice. The commissioner originally suspended the former Baltimore Ravens star for two games but gave him an indefinite ban after TMZ posted the video.
“This decision also represents the NFL’s repeated failure to adhere to due process and confirms its inconsistent treatment of players,” the Players Association statement said.
The union said it is considering “immediate legal remedies.”
Peterson told ESPN he will head to federal court to appeal the decision, and Daily News legal analyst Tom Harvey said he expects the union will also ask a judge to issue a stay of Henderson’s decision in order to get Peterson back on the field before the end of the season.
“I would be shocked if they are not in federal court next week,” Harvey said.
Goodell could have avoided allegations of conflicts of interest if he had appointed Jones, and not his longtime colleague, Henderson, to hear the Peterson case.
Peterson, accused of beating his 4-year-old son with a tree branch in May, was charged with felony abuse in September. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault in November.
“The facts in this appeal are uncontested,” Henderson said in his decision. “The player entered a plea, which effectively admitted guilt to a criminal charge of child abuse after inflicting serious injuries to his 4-year-old son in the course of administering discipline. No direct evidence of the beating was entered in the record here, but numerous court documents, investigative reports, photographs and news reports, all accepted into evidence without objection, make it clear that Mr. Peterson’s conduct was egregious and aggravated as those terms are used in the policy, and merits substantial discipline.
“His public comments do not reflect remorse or appreciation for the seriousness of his actions and their impact on his family, community, fans and the NFL,” Henderson added.
Peterson, who played the first game of the season, received his salary after Goodell placed him on a special exempt list as his case moved through the legal process. But Henderson’s decision means Peterson will forfeit checks from the Vikings’ last six games — a hit of more than $4.1 million.
The NFLPA argued at the hearing, held Dec. 2 and Dec. 4, that Peterson was punished by Goodell under a modified discipline policy announced on Aug. 28. The union said the punishment was inappropriately retroactive because the incident took place in May.
The Players Association also claimed that NFL executive Troy Vincent had told Peterson that he would receive a two-game ban if he attended a Nov. 14 hearing. Goodell banned Peterson until the spring on Nov. 18 after the Vikings star refused to attend, the union said. Henderson rejected that argument; he concluded that Vincent had not been dispatched with a message by the NFL but was instead trying to help Peterson resolve the issue.
“I conclude that the player has not demonstrated that the process and procedures surrounding his discipline were not fair and consistent,” Henderson wrote. “He was afforded all the protections and rights to which he is entitled, and I find no basis to vacate or reduce his discipline.”