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Hidden away among old shirts and dusty suit jackets in the forgotten section of my wardrobe hang three NFL jerseys.
These seemingly innocuous garments provide a daily reminder of my failed fandom, my very own twist on the Madden Curse.
You see the three jerseys adorn the names Vick, Rice and Peterson.
All were in my possession before those players went from famous to infamous. Before their names became synonymous with dog-fighting, domestic violence and child abuse (respectively).
And in my wardrobe these jerseys will remain, because I can’t, in good conscience, wear any of them in public, right?
The first jersey was a gift – an oversized Michael Vick Atlanta Falcons Number 7.
It was given to me about a year before the dog-fighting charges surfaced.
In 2006, Vick enjoyed arguably his best year in Atlanta.
He had 22 touchdowns and more than 3500 yards from scrimmage. He was one of the most electrifying players in the NFL and the jersey remained a regular in my sporting clobber rotation.
In 2007, he was charged with operating an interstate dog-fighting ring, suspended indefinitely by the NFL, dropped by his sponsors, released by the Falcons, jailed for 23 months and forced to declare bankruptcy.
His fall from grace was dramatic and he was deservedly severely punished.
But Vick has paid for his sins.
He has stayed out of trouble since and rebuilt his career. The dog-fighting charges will always follow him, but they no longer define him.
He has worked to become so much more; a mentor, the NFL Comeback Player of the Year and the founder of a charitable organisation.
And yet the Vick Falcons jersey remains stashed away, that period of his career tarnished forever.
But I have higher hopes for the future of Adrian Peterson and my purple and white Vikings singlet.
Peterson deserves to be punished for his actions. There should be no argument there. Whether you want to call it child abuse or parental discipline, Peterson crossed the line. He hit a four-year-old boy with a stick hard enough to leave marks on his legs, ankles and genitals.
But what Peterson shouldn’t be asked to do is pay for the sins of disgraced running back Ray Rice, who punched his fiancée to the ground in a casino elevator. Nor should he have to absolve the transgressions of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who got Rice’s punishment so wrong it caused widespread outrage.
But that is what Goodell is making him do. Peterson deserved to miss the games he did and deserves to be docked pay for those games. But he doesn’t deserve to be suspended until at least April, 2015.
Peterson is being made a scapegoat because the league messed up so publicly on Rice.
I read one analysis that compared it to Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The initial two-game punishment of Rice was too lenient, the punishment of Peterson too severe.
The drama started with the Vikings sitting Peterson against the Patriots on September 14, two days after he was charged with child abuse and a warrant for his arrest was issued.
The next day Peterson was reinstated and was expected to play against New Orleans.
A day later, after pressure from sponsors and consultation with the NFL, Peterson was placed on the exempt/commissioner list.
This month, Peterson resolved the case. He was placed on probation, ordered to pay a $4,000 fine and perform 80 hours of community service after he pleaded guilty to reduced charge of reckless assault.
Peterson was hoping to be reinstated immediately, at the very least he believed he would receive time served on his suspension.
But then the NFL goes and moves the goal posts, disciplining Peterson under the enhanced personal-conduct policy cooked up as the backlash over Rice was being turned up.
Under that policy, a first-time offense involving domestic violence would be an automatic six-game suspension.
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith was on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike this week and said, “You get the feeling that over the last few months that the National Football League has simply been making it up as they go along”.
He is right. But it is partly the NFLPA’s fault that Peterson can not play until at least next year. The union collectively bargained an agreement allowing such vagueness from Goodell.
The commissioner took advantage of the language in the agreement to interpret the rule however he saw fit, doing what he thought necessary to keep Peterson off the field in 2014.
After bungling the Rice case, he couldn’t afford the public relations storm that would come if Peterson was allowed to suit up again so soon.
In a scathing letter to Peterson explaining his discipline, Goodell cited the three main reasons Peterson would not play again this year: the victim was a four-year-old, the “repetitive use of the switch” was akin to using a weapon and Peterson had shown “no meaningful remorse” for his actions.
The first two points may be valid but the third is unfair. Peterson apologised for the hurt he caused his son in a written statement in September and did so again this week. It’s a convenient reasoning for a league that feels bound by public pressure to deliver a strong stand.
You could say Goodell did what a Texas court couldn’t or wouldn’t – hold Peterson accountable for one of society’s most heinous acts: child abuse. You could argue the end justified the means. But Goodell wielding his unchecked powers leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Peterson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, criticised the punishment on ESPN this week, comparing the approach to Peterson’s case to the handling of Rice’s domestic violence case.
“I’m just amazed the way they just keep making these things up as they go along,” Hardin said.
“They looked bad in the earlier things. With Ray Rice, they handled things badly, publicly. And now, they’ve just decided to make Adrian the scapegoat for all of their past failings.”
I think he has a point. Peterson was at fault in using excessive discipline that caused temporary bodily harm to his son. But hasn’t he been punished enough – he has lost millions in endorsements, had his reputation tainted and spent months off the field.
Had this incident occurred last year, before the climate around player conduct and domestic violence had changed, then Peterson may have missed one or two games and it would have all been forgotten.
“This man has paid a tremendous price for making a mistake in spanking his son,” Hardin says.
“When is enough, enough? I would suggest enough was enough a long time ago. This is a good man who believed he was doing the right thing in raising his child and made a mistake in the process. He left no lasting injury. The NFL didn’t need to do another thing. We’re supposed to give people second chances, not self-righteously blast them repeatedly.”
Peterson has since appealed his suspension, with the NFLPA has called Goodell’s punishment “unprecedented, arbitrary and unlawful”.
Peterson has paid for his bad judgement, now the NFL wants him to pay for everyone else’s.
For now, the Peterson jersey remains resigned to the back of the wardrobe along with Rice and Vick. But it won’t be there forever. Peterson will be back. And if his miraculous recovery from ACL surgery has shown us anything, he will be better than ever.
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