NFL Adrian Peterson Had Warped View of Fatherhood Even Before Abuse Charges

I've been told that the NFL does an exhaustive job of vetting the young men they select.  The process includes personality tests, conversations with high school friends, the college equipment manager, a thorough review of police records.  But one rather simple measure of "being a good citizen" they overlook.  Find out how many kids these athletes have by how many mothers and keep the list updated on an annual basis. That will tell you what kind of "model citizen" you're dealing with and what to expect by way of future public relations nightmares.

In that regard, I don't mean to dump on Adrian Peterson. But maybe his downfall can be a cautionary tale to others following in this young man's footsteps.  The most damning evidence against Peterson that will linger in the court of public opinion long after any trial issues are wrapped up regarding whether or not the whipping he gave his four year old son constituted child abuse is this.  In a public interview he refused to answer questions about how many children he has fathered.  And now I can see why.  He may not have a clue.  Peterson has two children who live with him and his fiance.  A former girlfriend, Erica Syion, also has a child with him, and told TMZ that Peterson actually has seven kids.  According to Ms. Syion, he pays child support, but does not spend much time with these children.  Peter met the two year old son, who was beaten to death last year by his mother's boyfriend, for the first time in the hospital the day before the toddler died.

I have been startled and disappointed by how many comments I've read since the Adrian Peterson child abuse stories appeared in the news attempting to shame people like myself for "prying" into Peterson's personal life. I've read more quips than I care to count, essentially saying:  "As long as he pays child support, whatever else he does or does not do with his children is nobody else's business." I'm a member of the public and I have an opinion.  Public opinion is what bolsters the inflated salaries of these athlete entertainers.  There's nothing illegal about having a nursery school full of kids of the same age, and a harem full of baby mamas.  But it shows such a level of  narcissism and lack of concern for the emotional welfare of each of these children that it constitutes a level of spiritual child abuse that will in the end prove even more destructive than physical beatings.      

Peterson is not a father.   He's just a muscular buck on Roger Goodell's plantation, showing off his manhood.  And the NFL deserves our censure for having presented this man to us all along as a model dad as well as a star athlete.