The NFL Players Association announced on Monday it has filed an expedited, non-injury grievance to remove Vikings running back Adrian Peterson from the Commissioner's Exempt List.
It requested on Friday in a letter to the NFL that Peterson would be immediately reinstated after he pleaded no contest on Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of recklessly injuring his 4-year-old son.
Here's the NFLPA's statement on the subject:
"The NFLPA has filed an expedited, non-injury grievance to remove Adrian Peterson from the Commissioner's Exempt list based on the explicit language in a signed agreement dated September 18, 2014. We asked the NFL to honor the terms of that agreement last week and as of now, they have failed to respond or comply. It is our obligation to protect all players' rights, and we will pursue any and all breaches of any contract between a player and his team on the NFL."
The move by the NFLPA is an attempt to activate Peterson this week against the Bears. The Vikings have defaulted to the NFL in terms of reinstating Peterson, who was deactivated against the Patriots during Week 2 after a warrant was issued in Montgomery County. The team then reinstated Peterson, only to place him on the exempt list after public backlash.
"In regards to Adrian Peterson's status with the Minnesota Vikings, at this time his potential reinstatement is under NFL guidelines," the Vikings said in statement. "As an organization, we respect and understand the league's process. In the interim, our focus is on the team and preparing for this weekend's game against the Bears.
The NFL also released a statement regarding the grievance from the NFLPA.
"We have received the NFLPA's grievance on behalf of Adrian Peterson. We have honored our commitment to Mr. Peterson and the NFLPA not to process or impose any discipline until the criminal charges pending in Texas were resolved. When Mr. Peterson decided not to contest criminal charges, we promptly advised both him and the NFLPA that we were prepared to consider what, if any, discipline should now be imposed under the Personal Conduct Policy. We asked Mr. Peterson and his representatives, including the NFLPA, for relevant information. We have not received any of the requested information, but remain prepared to schedule a hearing and make a determination as quickly as possible based on as much information as available."
