Peterson on bench

There has been an ongoing debate this week within the media as to whether or not Adrian Peterson deserves to be benched for his fumbling ways.  The discussion started almost instantly after his second fumble against the Bears when broadcaster Troy Aikman said that very few coaches in the NFL would have the patience to put up with these turnovers becoming a normal way of life.

After the commercial, Aikman back peddled a bit and clarified his comments by saying that he didn’t think he should be benched, and that the fact that he hasn’t been benched just goes to show how great of a player he actually is.

Aikman’s clarification was not the end of the story, however, and almost every sports authority in the nation has weighed in on the topic.  The opinions vary.

Peterson himself realizes that being benched for a certain amount of time is a possibility.

He recently said, “If I continue to fumble the ball, especially now in this stretch, I’m sure I’ll be sitting on the sideline and that’s something I definitely don’t want to do. So take care of the ball.”

Peterson has made statements like this before, and yet it seems that he has not found a way to fix the problem.

While I tend to lean towards the more forgiving and patient approach to his fumbling problem, Peterson recently did something that even I think should get him benched.

Peterson was clocked going 109 MPH in 55 MPH zone on Highway 62.  The area is a busy area known as Crosstown.  It was at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night when the traffic stop occurred.  Peterson says he was on his way to the hotel in which the team stays on the night before games.  Peterson says he was not late until after he was stopped by the police in his BMW.

Peterson seems to question the speed at which police have told the media he was going.  He says he wasn’t going 109 MPH, “But I know it was a speeding ticket, and that’s what I got issued for.”

Edina police described the stop as very routine. 

Peterson described the incident.  He said,  “got a little speeding ticket. I need to be more aware of the speed I was going and not let it happen again.”

And now here is the part where I inject my opinion on the matter. 

Refuting what the police have said his speed was combined with describing this ticket as “little” is troublesome to me.  Peterson has never had any off field issues that I know of, but his words are surprisingly diva-ish to me which is weird considering how level headed he typically comes off.

109 MPH is 1 MPH away from doubling the speed limit.  Now I took my original drivers education courses in Minnesota, and if my memory serves me right (feel free to help me research this, I can’t find proof that I’m right) then if you double the speed limit in the State of Minnesota then you can be charged with attempted vehicular manslaughter.  If I am right, then Adrian was 1 lousy tick on the speedometer (or a Vikings fan of a cop) away from being put in jail.

Even if my recollection of the law is wrong, driving 109 MPH is inexcusably, and downright dangerous.  Peterson is damn lucky that he seemed to get a fairly forgiving slap on the wrist from the Edina police.  I have a lot of family that live in or near the Twin Cities, and to know that he possibly put them in danger on Saturday night driving like a moron makes me incredibly angry.

I don’t care if you’re the Vikings best player, a good friend of mine, or the freaking President… driving like that is irresponsible, reckless, and dangerous to those around you. 

To make a long explanation somewhat shorter, I’ll just say that I will have no sympathy for Peterson if Coach Childress decides to bench him for the first drive of Sunday’s game or for the remainder of the season.  Whatever it takes to get him to truly learn his lesson then that’s what I am willing to see him given as a punishment.

That being said, I will assume that he’ll learn his lesson and then proceed to cheer for him on game days.

This does bring up the opportunity for me to share with you one of my favorite jokes.  What is the difference between a porcupine and a BMW?  On a porcupine, pricks are on the outside.