Minnesota Vikings teammates came to the support of star running back Adrian Peterson after he was suspended for the remainder of the NFL season by commissioner Roger Goodell.
Peterson has been sidelined since the season opener while being paid on a special exemption list during a legal fight on a felony injury to a child charge for striking his son with a tree branch, leaving him with cuts, welts and bruises.
A plea deal to a lesser charge earlier this month allowed Peterson to avoid jail time and he hoped would expedite his return to the NFL.
But Peterson skipped a hearing on the matter with the league last week and on Tuesday was issued a ban for the final six games of the season after being accused by Goodell of showing "no meaningful remorse".
"I couldn't disagree more with the ruling," said Vikings fullback Jerome Felton, the lead backfield blocker for Peterson when he ran for 2,097 yards in 2012.
"I'm disappointed all the way around."
Vikings receiver Cordarrelle Peterson backed Peterson as well, saying, "We all know Adrian is not a bad person.
"You just can't judge a man because he whooped his child. Everybody gets raised differently and everybody grows up differently. Adrian was probably raised in a household where he got whooped all the time, so he probably thought that was the thing to do to his child if your child gets out of hand.
"He done paid the price already, and I feel like the league, they're stepping out of hand with it. I feel like they're doing too much."
A last effort to force Peterson back into the Vikings lineup failed on Tuesday when an arbitrator ruled for the league in a union grievance saying Peterson accepted missing games while being paid only with the understanding he would be allowed to return once the court fight ran its course.
The NFL said Peterson cannot be reinstated before April 15 and the speed of his return would depend upon this therapy work with April Kuchuk, an instructor in the New York University Department of Psychiatry. While Peterson has met with another psychologist, that person, the NFL says, does not have a background in child abuse.
