Adrian Peterson, the Minnesota Vikings running back who was indicted by police and later suspended by the team for physically abusing his four year old son, now has been suspended for the rest of the season by the NFL.
Arbitrator Shyam Das ruled in favor of the NFL on Tuesday evening, saying the league can keep Adrian Peterson on the commissioner's exempt list, effectively ending any chance the Minnesota Vikings running back will play again this season.
Earlier Tuesday, Peterson was suspended without pay for at least the remainder of this season. Das' ruling was in reference to a grievance Peterson had filed arguing he should have been reinstated from the exempt list as soon as there was a resolution in his child abuse case, which came with his no contest plea on Nov. 4. Das' ruling was not connected to the suspension.
A source told ESPN's Andrew Brandt that Das ruled that Peterson "failed to establish on this record that the NFL violated either the letter agreement or the CBA."The NFL Players Association announced earlier Tuesday that it planned to appeal Peterson's suspension and sharply rebuked what it called the league's inconsistency and unfairness in the process.
Now that an arbitrator has ruled in favor of the NFL, Peterson will most likely appeal the decision.
Apparently Roger Goodell is responding to the recent criticism heaped at him for his horrendous handling of the Ray Rice domestic abuse case by taking tougher action against Peterson.