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Additional Minnesota Viking Commentary

Peterson 
Oh yeah, I was livid.  I heard it just like you ... I'll play if they are in the hunt (for the playoffs).  Maybe it wasn't a direct quote but the sentiment was there oozing out of the pages.  After our loss to the Packers, I wanted Adrian Peterson shipped out on a rail ... but now ... not so much.  Why?  Because I'm not so anxious to destroy a true legend of the game ... that is ... until a question is answered.  What is clear is that if and when it fell apart (The Colts), risking further injury to collect stiffs would not be the smart move.  

You've heard it.  The Vikings cannot afford to pay AD's final year on his contract.  There is no doubt of that however the amount on Adrian Peterson's contract, to play for the Vikings, is actually meaningless.  The reasons may not be apparent but there is one thing for certain.  If Adrian Peterson leaves this franchise, he will be shredded into oblivion ... and he knows it.  As soon as walks out that door ... if he walks out that door ... his status will be as a hired gun where he'll either be paid ... or he will not be paid hoping for a result.  In the later case ... he joins the Patriots as fodder hoping that they can string together another championship for him.  The problem with this mindset is that unless he has a crystal ball ... knowing the outcome with any franchise is impossible as there is way to much withheld from view.  If AD is paid ... you know ... to go along with his 75+ millions in earnings ... he's be seen as a hired gun.  In this case, he's taking money out of another franchises pocket that could be paid to a bunch of hard asses that actually deserve that money.  Once they get a whiff of Adrian Peterson's high jinx, do in part to things falling apart beyond his control, things will get real ugly ... real fast.  Enter the garbage grinder.

Just walking away ... from something he's chased for so many years now ... has it's own impact.  Very few can dispell the taste that comes along with doing so as it is always better to fall upon ones sword than it is to live with an unbearable thought.  

This begs the question.  Is there a number ... Can there be a number?  Only the strongest of spirit & will can answer this ... and to be direct ... I'll never be in Adrian Peterson's class, so I'll never know.  

To be direct, if this Vikings franchise allows any of this to happen without answering the #1 key question in regard to Adrian Peterson ... well ... they'd be better off cutting his heart out.  In other words, dumping AD without an earnest approach to this historic entity ... it would be equivalent to ripping the carpet from beneath his feet and throwing him naked to the dogs of war.  In short, the actions of this franchise would be despicable.  In regard to the franchise, the issues of money does not stack-up against an entity that doesn't care or an entity without compassion.   

The word is apathy.  As for this franchise, the gods do not look upon apathy with anything other than disdain & vengeance, and as we are all aware, vengeance can go on & on & on.  This is the only true threat this Viking franchise will face & it is Adrian Peterson's only leverage.  To be direct, this organization has had it's belly full of vengeance against it where some could refer to it as a 55 year long curse.  

So what is the question?  What might be the due diligence that must be done by this franchise?  To be direct, it has taken a great deal of time to reflect upon this but the answer is actually quite apparent.   

On the one side of the equation are 75 million reasons, and more, of accumulated answers to the question.  If this is Adrian Peterson's response to the question, then you've done everything that you can for this man ... and you move on.  In this case, Adrian Peterson has taken the short view where the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence ... and there is not a thing in the world that you can do to sway that vision ... and to be direct, you shouldn't even try to do that.  

The only answer that has any meaning to the Vikings actually can only come from Doug Glatt.  Is Adrian Peterson going to take that slap shot in the face.  Of course, this isn't a literal translation but it can be the only answer.  It comes from the statement, "I'm sick of losing".  I'm sick of everything being taken from me ... in peril from the gods.  I've faced all the adversity.  When will it be my time? Sure, I might get beat in a heated regular season contest but I'm ready to take that puck where ever my teams needs me to take that puck. I've bled, and I'll bleed again.  It's what I do.  I'm literally at the end of my rope & I have patience for no more of it.       

Here's a better understanding of what lies at the heart of this issue.  When asked by Ray Lewis in Adrian Peterson's first pro bowl, "You're not going to run (hard) like you did during the season?"  Adrian had only one response ... he knew no other way to run.  Since that time, something trained him differently & like Favre, it had its basis in the earning of millions of dollars.

When Adrian is cornered by reporters, his response is telling.  Is he angry or is he cute?  "Adrian, why are you so angry?"  I have two fumbles (in the 2009 & 2015 playoffs) that I'm going to get back.  Until then I'm going to spit brimestone & bile and there's nothing that's going to change that.  But!  But!  Then growl in response.  In it's essence ... this is it.   Sure, you might see a smile and I might have some fun with me mates ... but make no mistake.  

Everything that is dear to me ... has been taken.  Do you remember that rookie record?  How about that 2009 season?  How about playing in temperatures well below zero only to have it all ripped away from me?  How about being 9 yards away from immortality?  These things ... they represent only the very tip of the ice berg.  Am I clear ... Am I ... Growl.  Screw the numbers & the figures.  I've been torn & tattered & every aspect of its foundation has been rocked to its core but I've got to find a way to overcome it all.  Maybe, just maybe, it might be for something that I'll only understand when I break-on-through.  Adversity has become my middle name.  Maybe the only thing left that I'll ever have is the fight within my soul.  Growl!   

This is what surrounds me.  This is the color of my world.  It may not be much but its all I'll ever have.  Are you seriously asking me to just walk away from it all ... like it never even existed?  Like I never existed?          

Sure, Adrian Peterson may not have an ounce left in his tank ... and then again ... maybe he does.  That's not the issue.  Cute doesn't win championships.  Legacy does.  

The reason that Doug Glatt takes the puck in his face either literally or figuratively is because he knows no other way because winning can be the only answer.

Now before you do something stupid ... like insult another legend ... due your due diligence.

It is now apparent to me.  Alan Page knew no other way.  L. C Greenwood, or Larry Csonka, or Bill Walsh, or Joe Kapp, or Joe Montana knew no other way.

When you felt the bite of Frank Gore pulling away from you, now at number 8 on that all time list ... someone that you fully expected to pass this year ... it wasn't simply because of injury.  It was because of a question embedded in everyone's mind.

You legacy is at hand.  Even Ziggy can be inspired by something that he'll never truly understand.  Can you find your destiny or will it be only in another universe ... where you can't taste any of it?


The Viking Ghost Writer
http://MyVikingBlood.org
Date: January 9, 2017


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