Vikings announce they will allow Adrian Peterson to play while child abuse charges are pending

The owners of the Minnesota Vikings announced today they are reinstating star player Adrian Peterson — despite his child abuse charges for admittedly “whooping” his son to the point of broken skin and bruises.

“Today’s decision was made after significant thought, discussion and consideration,” owners Zygi Wilf and Mrak Wilf said in an official statement.

They added yesterday’s 30-7 loss to the New England Patriots influenced their decision to reinstate Peterson, who was benched for the game.

“As evidenced by our decision to deactivate Adrian from yesterday’s game, this is clearly a very important issue. On Friday, we felt it was in the best interests of the organization to step back, evaluate the situation, and not rush to judgment given the seriousness of this matter. At that time, we made the decision that we felt was best for the Vikings and all parties involved,” they continued. “To be clear, we take very seriously any matter that involves the welfare of a child. At this time, however, we believe this is a matter of due process and we should allow the legal system to proceed so we can come to the most effective conclusions and then determine the appropriate course of action.”

The controversy comes in the immediate wake of the NFL’s decision to indefinitely suspend Ray Rice because of video showing him knocking out future wife Janay Rice in February. The NFL has been heavily criticized for not taking quicker punitive actions against Rice, leading ESPN anchor Hannah Storm to wonder aloud this weekend what the organization “stands for.”

Now that the Vikings owners have basically said they value winning games over reprimanding someone who admitted to beating his son, I think the answer to Hannah’s question is clear.