C.J.: Adrian Peterson's tweets on Zimmerman verdict calm, classy

Adrian Peterson has demonstrated once again that he's one of the NFL's gentlemen.

Peterson was among the athletes who reacted, and responded appropriately on Twitter, to the not-guilty verdict in the Florida trial of George Zimmerman over the death of Trayvon Martin.

USA Today reported that Giants star Victor Cruz tweeted, "Zimmerman doesn't last a year before the hood catches up with him." Cruz later deleted that, explaining himself in tweets and at least one appearance on ESPN's "Mike and Mike" show.

Falcons wide receiver Roddy White was in an eye-for-an-eye mode, too, when he vented: "All them jurors should go home tonight and kill themselves for letting a grown man get away with killing a kid."

Peterson, the Vikings running back, tweeted this: "My Heart goes out to the Martin Family! Keep the Faith! #God is in control, He's the one and only Judge!"

Others on Twitter tried to bait Peterson by belittling his tweets, but he stayed cool and logical: "You don't go out looking for trouble!!! Neighborhood Watch means WATCH & report! Not initiate & take things into your own hands ... I'm different if i was in Zimmerman shoes that night. I stay in my car n watch especially known I'm safe with a loaded pistol on my waist."

Interesting to see that as far as I can tell, Twitter's Larry Fitzgerald has exercised his right not to comment on the verdict. I'm sure he's sent a private message to Trayvon's family.

One last tweet sent out with little thought came from repeat NBA Champion Dwyane Wade of the Heat: "Wow! Stunned!! Saddened as a father!! Som1 make sense of this verdict for me right now please!!! … How do I explain this to my boys?"

Dwyane Wade has been a black male all his life, so he should have no problem explaining that life's especially unfair to some.

Like a rock

Art Garfunkel treated me to the sounds of silence last week.

A tipster thought he or she saw Garfunkel in the metro a few days after his sold-out "acoustic rehearsal" at the Cedar. To confirm he was here, I called the establishment where I was told Garfunkel was staying. Maybe he'll return my next call if I don't disclose his off-the-beaten-path place of lodging.

"There's no answer," said a woman whom I'm going to identify as Bonnie. "Do you want me to leave a message for him?"

Yes, please, I told Bonnie, who responded with "Call Ms. C.J." Bonnie laughed when told that the initials would suffice, although the late Tiny Tim would address me only with the "Ms."

"And he knows you're calling?" asked Bonnie. "No?" she said, laughing at my response. "Do you think he's going to want to call you back?" I told Bonnie she'd be surprised who'll call me back — sometimes.

"May I ask how you know that he's here?" said Bonnie.

Come on, disclosing that wouldn't make my tipster happy.

I'm just sitting by the phone, waiting for Garfunkel to call me, although I think I have a better chance of hearing from Paul Simon, who can call me Al if he wants.

Was that Spiderman or CJ?

MyTalk 107.1's Lori Barghini chickened out of rappelling the 214 feet down the 23-story Hyatt on Nicollet Mall.

At media day last week for "Over the Edge," a fundraiser of the National Youth Recovery Foundation, Barghini came to watch but wouldn't rappel because she didn't want to tempt fate on her birthday.

Breaking the hearts of some who stood around to watch various media daredevils, I survived the descent. The only reason I was mildly interested in attempting it was that I wanted to shoot a video for startribune.com.

This is nothing I've ever thought of doing. I just assumed it would be no problem, because I'm not afraid of heights (as long as none of my media "friends" hadn't tampered with my ropes).

The weird camera angles are the result of the video being shot from what I've named "My Left Ovary Cam," because the body harness stopped me from hanging the camera where it was originally designed to go.

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on FOX 9's "Buzz." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count. Attachments are not opened.