NFL

The Minnesota Vikings player pled no contest to charges of reckless assault Tuesday

Nike has terminated its contract with Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, the shoe and apparel company confirmed Thursday. Peterson filed a no contest plea for charges of reckless assault earlier this week.

The football star allegedly hit is four-year-old son with a switch. After the boy’s mother reported him to the authorities, Peterson said that although he felt remorse, he was just disciplining his child and didn’t believe he had committed a crime. Per the terms of Peterson’s agreement with the prosecution, the plea makes no reference to either family violence or violence against a minor. Peterson will pay a $4,000 fine, perform 80 hours of community service and be placed on probation. The Vikings deactivated Peterson for their Week 2 game against the New England Patriots, but have since reinstated him.

Nike suspended their contract with Peterson on Sept. 17, according to ESPN. Peterson also lost deals with Castrol and EpiPen earlier this year. Standard morals clauses in endorsement contracts allow for companies to drop athletes for various legal or ethical transgressions.

Nike has dropped three other athletes besides Peterson this year: Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice after a video leaked of him hitting his now-wife in an elevator; Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius who was sentenced to five years in prison for the negligent killing of his girlfriend; and UFC fighter Jon Jones who brawled with another fighter in August.

[ESPN]

He would ordinarily hear such appeals, but as he is appearing as a witness a former District Court judge is arbitrating

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell testified Wednesday at Ray Rice’s appeal of his suspension from the Baltimore Ravens, after Rice was seen on video attacking his fiancée.

Goodell would ordinarily hear such appeals, but, since he is appearing as a witness, former U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Jones is arbitrating the hearing, the New York Times reports.

Rice was suspended indefinitely from the pro-football team after TMZ released a video of him punching his then fiancée, now his wife, in an elevator in February.

Rice has argued that he is being punished twice, since he was banned from two games for domestic abuse before the video went public. TMZ’s video also set off a public maelstrom over violence in the NFL toward wives and girlfriends.

Read more at the New York Times.

The big question: When did the NFL see the video of the Baltimore Ravens RB punching his then-fiancée?

A U.S. judge will hear former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice’s appeal of an indefinite ban from the NFL on Wednesday and Thursday.

Rice will argue that the NFL has subjected him to double jeopardy by extending his two-game suspension after a video circulated of him punching his then-fiancée in an elevator. The critical question is whether the incriminating video was new evidence, or if NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had already seen the video and punished Rice twice under the same set of facts.

Goodell, Rice, Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome, union attorney Heather McPhee and NFL attorney Kevin Manara will be among those called to testify, USA Today reports.

The U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones will hear the case, and the NFL Player’s Association counsel Jeffrey Kessler will represent Rice.

It's unknown if Peterson will face further discipline from the Vikings or the NFL now that his case has been resolved

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson pled no contest to one count of misdemeanor reckless assault on Tuesday, thus resolving his alleged child abuse case.

Per terms of the agreement between Peterson and the prosecution, the plea makes no reference to family violence or violence against a minor. Peterson must pay a $4,000 fine, will be placed on probation and will be ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.

Peterson does not have to serve jail time.

ProFootballTalk.com initially reported Tuesday morning that Peterson would agree to the deal the same day. It was reported Sunday that Peterson and his representatives were having discussions about a potential plea agreement and that one could be completed as soon as Tuesday.

Peterson was indicted by a grand jury in Texas in September on felony charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child after authorities said he hit his 4-year-old son with a switch. He faced up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the charges. A tentative trial date of Dec. 1 had been set, but the plea deal ends the legal process before any trial.

In the period following Peterson’s indictment, a newspaper report referenced alleged improprieties with his charity and other claims of illicit behavior, and prosecutors attempted to have Peterson arrested again after he admitted to smoking marijuana. Late last month, prosecutors attempted to have Judge Kelly Case recused from the case after alleging he was biased against them, though the request was denied.

While expressing remorse for his actions, Peterson maintained that he was merely disciplining his child and committed no crime. After his indictment, the Vikings deactivated Peterson for their Week 2 game against the New England Patriots before reinstating him the following week.

Pressure from the public, media and team and league sponsors, including Nike and Anheuser-Busch, led to Peterson being placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt list until his legal case was resolved, effectively placing him on paid leave.

Only NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has the authority to remove Peterson from the list. It’s unknown if Peterson will face further discipline from the Vikings or the NFL now that his case has been resolved. It was reported last month that Peterson could be suspended by the league even if found not guilty of the charges against him.

News of Peterson’s alleged child abuse came in the midst of controversy surrounding the NFL and the issue of domestic violence, initiated by the Ray Rice case. Earlier in the week in which Peterson was indicted, video showing Rice striking his then-fiancée was released, leading to Rice’s release from the Baltimore Ravens and his indefinite suspension from the NFL.

The incident led to renewed attention on the domestic violence case of Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy, who was also then placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt list, and on the NFL’s domestic violence policy in general.

This article originally appeared on SI.com

No major injuries have been reported

The buses carrying the Washington Redskins to today’s game against Minnesota were involved in a collision near Minneapolis.

News4’s Dianna Russini said the police escort missed the exit ramp to the TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota – where the Vikings are playing their home games this season.

Russini said the first bus carrying players and coaches stopped and was hit from behind by the second team bus. She said the police escort may have taken the brunt of the collision.

Russini said there are bumps and bruises, but everyone appears to be okay. No major injuries reported…

Read more from our partners at NBC News

Mayor Eric Garcetti says it’s “highly likely” that his city is going to get an NFL team for the first time in 20 years. Reaction: Time for D-Fence

Mayor Eric Garcetti says Los Angeles shouldn’t give taxpayer dollars to the National Football League. I disagree. L.A. would be wise to pay the NFL—to stay away.

Twenty years after the Raiders and Rams left, the very bad idea of luring the NFL back is gaining momentum. Los Angeles just extended a downtown stadium deal agreement. The NFL is surveying rich Angelenos to see if they’d buy season tickets. Garcetti says it’s “highly likely” a team will relocate here.

The arguments against bringing the NFL are so numerous that I can’t list them all in a short column, but here are a few:

1. An NFL team would only add to our deep bench of dubious celebrities.

The L.A. media already has enough celebrities to distract TV stations and newspapers from covering things that actually matter; we don’t need to introduce a team of rambunctious football players to our Kardashian culture.

2. An NFL team in L.A. would cannibalize existing businesses.

Studies show that adding a pro sports franchise doesn’t add to a city’s wealth. Instead, it takes existing dollars away from other entertainment options.

3. A new team would be wasteful.

The NFL requires cities to build a new football stadium in order to get a team, but the Rose Bowl just got a $181 million renovation, and USC is fixing up the Coliseum.

4. A new team would be bad for Los Angeles’ own football fans.

The absence of the NFL has allowed a delicate football ecology to flourish here. Our TV stations air the best pro games because there’s no local squad. On Sundays, Angelenos dress in their former hometown teams’ jerseys and gather together to watch games. And if you absolutely must see the NFL live, the Chargers are just a train ride away in San Diego.

Despite all this, many of our leaders insist that a city of our grandeur needs an NFL team and that a downtown stadium deal won’t cost us anything. Yet the current deal uses public land and requires the city to sell some $300 million in bonds to build new convention space. And, the NFL might draw big public subsidies by giving L.A. two teams instead of just one, or committing to hosting multiple Super Bowls here. Do you trust the L.A. leaders who just gave Hollywood a $1.6 billion tax break to hold the line against public support for a pro football team? Me neither.

Instead, L.A. should offer the NFL money to stay away. When you think of all the costs of having a team—potential stadium costs, additional traffic, the business that football would divert from other entertainment options, and time wasted on the NFL drama—paying off the NFL becomes a bargain.

So let’s offer the league $100 million in exchange for a guarantee never to put a team here. And if the league turns it down? That, at least, would make the reality undeniable: The NFL wants to take L.A. for all it’s worth.

Joe Mathews is California and Innovation editor for Zocalo Public Square, for which he writes the Connecting California column.

Paul Kitterman was found Tuesday after he vanished during last week's Broncos game

A Denver Broncos fan who vanished at during last week’s game has been found about 90 miles away, police said Tuesday night. He was “unharmed” and no foul play is suspected.

Paul Kitterman, 53, was last seen leaving his seat at halftime as the Broncos played the San Diego Chargers on Thursday. His concerned family later filed a missing persons report. Denver police said Kitterman was found “unharmed” in Pueblo, Colorado.

NBC station KOAA reported that he was spotted wandering in a Kmart parking lot on Tuesday after police received a call from his ex-wife.

Read more from our partners at NBC News

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Sam "had a long way to go" as a player

The Dallas Cowboys have waived defensive end Michael Sam from their practice squad, the team announced Tuesday.

Sam, the first openly gay player in the NFL, was signed to the team’s practice squad Sept. 3. He never made it to the Cowboys’ active roster.

According to the team’s official website, Sam will be replaced on the practice squad with linebacker Troy Davis, who worked out for Dallas on Monday.

Sam said the following on Twitter after his release was made public:

I want to thank the Jones family and the entire Cowboys organization for this opportunity, as well as my friends, family, teammates and fans for their support. While this is disappointing, I will take the lessons I learned here in Dallas and continue to fight for an opportunity to prove that I can play every Sunday.

MORE: BURKE: Cowboys’ Big 3 among big winners of Week 7

Sam made history and received national attention in the spring when he announced he was gay several weeks before the NFL combine. As the reigning SEC co-defensive player of the year at Missouri, Sam became the highest-profile active gay football player and sought to become the first gay player to be selected in the NFL Draft.

The St. Louis Rams picked Sam in the seventh round of this year’s draft and kept him on their roster until the last round of cuts at the end of training camp. He was picked up by the Cowboys several days later.

At the time of Sam’s signing, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Sam “had a long way to go” as a player while dismissing concerns that the rookie could be a potential distraction in the locker room due to his sexuality, echoing the sentiments of Rams coach Jeff Fisher from when Sam was with St. Louis.

Jones said Sunday that Sam’s sexual orientation was “a dead issue.”

Sam is now free to sign with any other team or join any other team’s practice squad. The CFL could also be an option, as Sam reportedly received interest from the Montreal Alouettes before he joined the Cowboys’ practice squad.

This article originally appeared on SI.com