Mothman wrote:
The meeting was pretty obviously a set-up, at least in my view. The NFL requested it on short notice, created an unusual circumstance and when Peterson and/or the NFLPA decided it would be unwise not attend, the league wasted no time in getting the word out the next morning. They clearly wanted the world to know they tried but Peterson wouldn't play ball with them. The apparent lack of cooperation, despite the circumstances of the meeting being outside of what had been collectively bargained, was just the hammer Goodell wanted to pound Peterson like a nail and that's what he's done ever since.
I agree, and I suspect the meeting was set up in such a way that Peterson would have been damned if did and damned if he didn't. Goodell needed his PR stunt.
There are a lot of things that stink in this whole situation but Goodell has been the worst, and I can't bring myself to watch the NFL until he's gone.
I do disagree with the idea that this is just about football at this point. In fact, my interest in this issue at this point has 0 to do with football. I think its clearly about more than that, but I fully agree that this is not the forum to get into those details. Its just very disappointing to me how this has all been handled by everyone from front office to the press to the DA to the fans. Its been such a thoroughly cheap, dishonest, and twisted conversation and portrayal of the whole episode, with people trying to score points for their perspective instead of a sincere discourse about the legitimate issues at hand! And while I really like Mike Zimmer and a lot of the Vikings players, its become more and more difficult to be a fan of (a) the NFL (b)the Vikings organization and (c) many football fans in Minnesota as a result of all this. I fully acknowledge that other organizations would probably have been as cowardly in their handling, and many fan bases would have reacted as ethnocentrically and disingenuously too. Its just been a catalyzing event for me with regard to my relationship with football. Its got me considering being actively involved in coaching at the HS level and leaving "fanhood" behind all together.