10/7/2014
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Adrian Peterson was the face of the Vikings and marketing magic, his brushes with the law and personal life ignored – until suddenly no one could look away.
With a new season, a new coach and a $1 billion stadium on the way, the Minnesota Vikings turned to their undisputed star last summer to appear on the team’s yearbook cover: Adrian Peterson, standing confidently in a dirty purple jersey.
In an accompanying interview, Peterson said it was easy being the public face of the Vikings because “I don’t really get into a lot of trouble.”
Just a few weeks later, he was indicted in Texas on charges of whipping his child, and now a Hall of Fame career has come to a jarring halt. Peterson is scheduled to make his first court appearance Wednesday, and he remains on a paid suspension from the Vikings until the case is resolved.
On the field, Peterson has been a breathtaking athlete, seeming to relish running over defenders even more than running past them. Raised by a single mother in rural Texas — his father was a felon — he had grown up to sign the richest running-back contract in NFL history. Off the field, his winning smile and modest, gentle demeanor made him one of the NFL’s most bankable players. In one of countless volunteer events recounted by Vikings staff, Peterson took children holiday shopping at Dick’s Sporting Goods last year, spending more than $100 on each child. Some of the most prominent corporate brands in America, such as Nike and General Mills, have linked their image with No. 28.
Sometimes, that has meant looking past incidents of questionable judgment and troubling behavior.
Records examined by the Star Tribune show that Peterson, who was married earlier this year, has fathered at least six children out of wedlock. Two of them, a boy and a girl, were born to different mothers a month apart in May and June 2010, according to birth records.
Peterson also has had several scrapes with the law in Minnesota and Texas, two involving nighttime carousing. In 2011 he was the subject of a six-month police investigation of alleged criminal sexual misconduct during a night of partying at a Twin Cities hotel; no charges were ever filed. And while Peterson is well-known for his generosity to local charities, his own charitable foundation has filed contradictory financial records.
Peterson and his attorney declined to comment for this story.
Yet any contradictions between Peterson’s public image and private life didn’t seem to matter — until the photos of bloody welts on his 4-year-old son surfaced last month, and the public began to ask how well they actually knew the genial young athlete.
A celebrated freshman
Adrian Peterson arrived at the University of Oklahoma in 2004 as one of the most heralded high school players in the country. In his freshman year he finished second in balloting for the Heisman Trophy, college football’s most prestigious honor.
Soon, he was confronting the hazards of sports stardom. While at Oklahoma, Peterson was investigated — but cleared — over the aborted purchase of a Lexus from a local auto dealer. Two teammates, including the Sooners’ starting quarterback, were dismissed from the team after school officials investigated reports they received extra money from the dealership.
Peterson himself had possession of a car for several weeks before returning it. His mother told reporters that the family could not afford the payments. A former dealership owner defended Peterson’s arrangement, saying it was normal to allow potential buyers to drive a car before financing was secured.
After Peterson’s indictment last month, Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops praised his former star, and told the “Dan Patrick Show,” a syndicated sports television program, that Peterson “had a good, strong family around him.” At the same time, Stoops acknowledged that Peterson’s father was in prison while Oklahoma was recruiting the young star.
Peterson, who was drafted after his junior year, recently donated $1 million to the university. It was the largest financial gift from a former football player.
“He’s a beautiful person,’’ Oklahoma athletic department spokesman Pete Moris said in a recent interview.
Night of partying
Once he arrived in Minnesota in 2007, Peterson’s popularity rocketed nearly every time he touched the football. In Sports Illustrated’s annual NFL season preview issue on Sept. 1, Peterson anchored an eight-page ad for the league’s Sunday Ticket and DirecTV.
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