Peterson’s plea agreement lessens the felony charge he faced and also expedites a return to the Vikings.
The plea deal presented to Judge Kelly Case includes probation, a $4,000 fine and 80 hours of community service which includes a public service announcement.
According to Fox 26 in Houston where the case is being heard, Peterson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, has been in regular contact with the NFL. Peterson is currently on the commissioner’s exempt list, and he has continued to be paid his full salary since his arrest on charges of causing physical harm to his 4-year-old son.
Peterson hasn’t played since Week 1. A trial date was initally set for Dec. 1, but the plea deal accelerated the case and sets things in motion for a return this season.
The NFL would still need to decide whether Peterson should be further punished. If they decide the court’s decision, combined with his eight-game suspension to date, are sufficient, he could be back on the field within a week.
Minnesota plays plays Chicago in Week 11. The Vikings (4-5) are currently third in the NFC North behind the Lions and the Packers.
Off the field, Peterson has lost many sponsorships. The NFL and the Vikings scrambled to put out fires. The league dealt with another bout of embarrassment. And now the player at the center of it all will be at the door, eager to step back into his role as one of the league’s premier running backs.
Ray Rice is not the only inactive NFL player with a lot riding on his grievance arbitration hearing beginning Wednesday.
The specific issue to be decided by former federal judge Barbara Jones is whether the NFL acted properly in suspending Rice indefinitely in September for a domestic violence violation, after having already suspended him for two games in July. But overall, the disciplinary process and player conduct policy on commissioner Roger Goodell’s watch will also be on trial.
And that means that Peterson and the Vikings will be watching closely, after Peterson pleaded to a lesser charge in the child-abuse case that eventually landed him on the commissioner’s exempt list, with pay, starting in Week 3.
It’s hard to envision the Rice decision having some influence on what punishment both the NFL and the Vikings give Peterson, or if they give him any. Having Jones presiding by agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association, instead of Goodell ruling on the same punishment he handed down, was major shift in precedent itself.
At some point next year, the ruling likely will also be applied to a decision about Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy, who is on the same commissioner’s exempt list for his team. On Tuesday Hardy’s domestic violence trial in Charlotte, originally scheduled for later this month, was postponed until 2015, making it unlikely that he will play at all this season.
Goodell can be called to testify in the Rice hearing, it was reported last month. General manager Ozzie Newsome and president Dick Cass of the Ravens will testify, but owner Steve Bisciotti, head coach John Harbaugh or director of security Darren Sanders will not.
Rice, out now for nine weeks, has filed a separate grievance against the Ravens for the salary lost after they released him on Sept. 8, the same day the NFL suspended him and the day a casino elevator video of his assault on his then-fiance went public.
The hearing is expected to be completed no later than Thursday. If Rice wins, he would likely be eligible to be reinstated quickly and available for a team to sign.
The Charlotte Mecklenburg District Attorney’s office Tuesday morning announced the Nov. 17 trial involving Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy will be postponed to 2015. An exact date has not been set.
Hardy is appealing a July 15 conviction on domestic violence charges stemming from a May altercation with an ex-girlfriend.
In a statement, the DA’s office said ongoing murder and homicide trials have gone on longer than anticipated and are tying up available courtrooms. Hardy’s trial, along with other domestic violence cases scheduled for Nov. 17, must be moved back to accommodate the ongoing trials.
“The District Attorney’s office must now adjust the dockets in several courtrooms, affecting multiple cases that had been scheduled for the coming weeks,” DA spokeswoman Meghan Cooke said in the release. “These changes will affect the Domestic Violence Team’s cases scheduled for the week of Nov. 17. A number of matters must be continued.
The Panthers placed Hardy on the exempt-commissioner’s permission list Sept. 17.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera on Friday said he feels Hardy should be allowed to rejoin the team if his trial is pushed back. But Hardy cannot play again until he is taken off the commissioners’ list — a decision that can be made solely by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell — which is not likely to happen until his legal issues have been resolved.
Jerry Rice was a Super Bowl winner and remains the greatest 49er of all time. Rice, however, doesn’t think Jim Harbaugh is the coach to get them back to that championship glory anymore.
Rice, doing the rounds for a charity event Tuesday in New York, told Newsday that Harbaugh’s college-styled coaching has started to rub the team the wrong way.
“I have heard some complaints from some players that he likes to try to coach with the collegiate mentality, and that’s just not going to work in the NFL,” said.
Stemming from the same event, Rice also told Sports Illustrated’s Pro Football Now show that another eason Harbaugh has been ineffective this season — the 49ers are only 4-4 after 8 games — is the fact the cloud of returning to college is on Harbaugh’s mind with reports of an apparent rift with general manager Trent Baalke.
“We don’t really know if he wants to come back and be the head coach for the San Francisco 49ers,” Rice also said. “Maybe that’s starting to wear and tear on the team and it’s taking its toll.”
Harbaugh’s “college” ways, however were good enough to take the 49ers to three consecutive NFC championship games, a Super Bowl and a near Super Bowl win. As they may not be good enough again to reach those heights this season, the rumors continue to swirl that Harbaugh is looking more at his worse alma mater, the University of Michigan.
Contributors: Rana L. Cash, David Steele, Brandon Schlager, Vinnie Iyer, The Associated Press
