Should Adrian Peterson be allowed to continue playing? Yes.

Minnesota Vikings’ star Adrian Peterson and his legal issues have been well documented this year. Peterson was indicted on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child in September.

Soon after, photos surfaced of his son’s injuries and his career seemed over. Two months later he reached a plea agreement and managed to avoid jail time. Now, Peterson is looking for his reinstatement into the NFL. After handling many situations poorly, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is taking his time with this matter.

Adrian Peterson should be reinstated into the NFL. In his agreement to be put on the commissioners exempt list, the NFL stated they would remove him from the list when his legal situation is resolved. Peterson’s legal matters are behind him now, in turn the NFL should follow suit and remove him from the list.

Along with the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings’ organization is trying to keep him on the list as long as possible so they can figure out how to best handle the situation. Vikings’ players have expressed that they would welcome Peterson back with open arms, while team executives are divided on the issue. Major sponsors of the Vikings’ organization may terminate relations with the organization if Peterson plays.

What Adrian Peterson did to his child was without a doubt a horrible thing. Peterson was raised in a culture where this behavior was normal and expressed this shortly after news of the arrest broke. Times have changed since then, and what was acceptable is no longer. His actions, however, have been handled by the courts and the NFL should give him a much lower fine, than some are asking, for his misdemeanor.

The NFL has to realize that Peterson has been punished and has already sat out for eight games. It would be hard to believe that Adrian’s situation would be this big of a deal if he wasn’t a famous NFL player. The NFL needs to let Adrian Peterson return to his life and treat him like a normal person. His paychecks support his children, so if you suspend him you are hurting the child even more.

Peterson’s hearing with the NFL is scheduled for November 17th.