|
 Peterson, 29, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge.
He must pay a fine of $4,000 and perform community service, under
the deal reached in a court outside of Houston.
He had been accused of felony injury to a child. Montgomery County
Judge Kelly Case deferred any finding for two years.
"I'm just glad this is over," Peterson said on the steps of the
courthouse. "I can put this behind me. And me and my family can
begin to move forward."
Peterson is among a handful of National Football League players
recently charged, convicted or implicated with domestic abuse in a
scandal that has rocked the nation's most popular sport.
Peterson had been charged with striking his son with a thin tree
branch as a form of punishment, leaving the child bruised.
 Any punishment by the NFL is separate from any possible deal with
local prosecutors.
"We will review the matter, including the court record, and then
make a determination on his status," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy
told Reuters in an e-mail.
"We cannot provide a timetable."
The Minnesota Vikings said in a statement the team was aware of the
plea agreement and will have a further comment at the appropriate
time.
Peterson's combination of speed and power has made him one of the
league's top running backs.
[to top of second column] |
He rushed for 2,097 yards in his MVP year of 2012, an eye-popping
6.0 yards per carry, and finished just eight yards shy of Eric
Dickerson's all-time single-season record set in 1984.
Peterson said as a child growing up in Texas, where corporal
punishment is legal, that he was disciplined in the same manner that
he used to punish his son.
The Vikings absorbed heavy criticism for holding Peterson from only
one game until one of its sponsors, hotel chain Radisson, suspended
its contract with the team.
With the NFL under fire for its uneven handling of domestic abuse
cases, the Vikings ultimately placed Peterson on the NFL's exempt
list, which suspends him from all team activities but continues to
pay him his full $11.75 million salary.
(Additional reporting by Steve Ginsburg in Washington and David
Bailey in Minneapolis; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Eric Walsh)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
