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In an outstanding interview with our friend Tom Pelissero of USA Today, Adrian Peterson touched on a number of different subjects. I'm not going to crib too much from it, because you really do need to go and read the entire thing for yourself. But there is one particular part that will certainly catch the attention of Minnesota Vikings fans.
"I would love to go back and play in Minnesota to get a feel and just see if my family still feels comfortable there," Peterson said. "But if there's word out that hey, they might release me, then so be it. I would feel good knowing that I've given everything I had in me."
. . .
"I would have to get back in the community and get a feel," Peterson said. "I know who loves me. The coaches and the players, it's not going to be a problem. I've felt so much support from those guys. The organization, I know there's people in the organization that support me and there's people that I know internally that has not been supporting me."
There are "people in the organization" that are not supporting Peterson. That kind of goes in the face of what we've seen in the media in recent days. The USA Today interview says that the coaches and the players want him back, including Mike Zimmer. The reports that came out after his suspension was announced said that Zygi and Mark Wilf were pretty unhappy about Peterson's suspension, too.
That doesn't leave a whole lot of people in positions of authority that could potentially be in the "against" column. Obviously, Peterson would have a better handle on this than any of us would, but you sort of have to wonder who the folks are that would be against a potential Peterson return.
In addition, contrary to the feelings of Roger Goodell, Peterson does express a great deal of remorse and contrition in his interview with Pelissero, including the fact that he immediately apologized to his son after the incident took place. I'm guessing that this won't have any real effect on Goodell-bot when Peterson's appeal is heard, but I guess stranger things have happened.
But it sounds like Adrian Peterson would like to come back to Minnesota. . .but that he's also more than ready to move on and get a fresh start somewhere else if it comes to that. What's going to happen? Well, if Peterson's current suspension holds up after appeal, the Minnesota Vikings are going to have about five months to make that decision.