Finally

The Adrian Peterson nonsense has finally come to an end. The only more trying bit of nonsense in recent memory that comes close was the annual waffling of Brett Favre. Both instances were made much worse by the media. With the Favre nonsense the paparazzi-like coverage was simply nauseating. Just let the indecisive, old man make his decision. With the Peterson nonsense the media didn't have a clue as to what was taking place and they reported guesses as fact. They created a story when nothing was there. The media is tasked with reporting the news not creating it. They made an unfortunate situation worse. Much worse.

I really didn't want to touch this ridiculous topic ever again. But here I am. I just can't let the media go on this. Former Green Bay Packers salary cap guy Andrew Brandt is a weekly guest on the Ross Tucker Podcast. He used to be part of NFL management. He's part of the media now. For months Brandt has maintained that Peterson will not play for the Minnesota Vikings again. Despite not having a clue as to what is actually going on with the Vikings or with Peterson he never wavered. He even maintained that uninformed stance after Peterson reported to the Vikings this week. Incredible. His uniformed opinion became firm after Peterson's agent Ben Dogra got into a very public altercation with Vikings cap guy Rob Brzezinski at the Scouting Combine. I have no idea how anyone could have seen that incident as anything but staged. Especially when you consider that Brzezinski and Dogra smoothly negotiated a contract for Terrence Newman not long after as if nothing had ever happened. Personally, I think that Dogra was an idiot throughout much of the offseason. Any agent that thinks a public incident with a team representative, staged or otherwise, is appropriate is an idiot. And that was just one of a run of simply stupid public stunts by Dogra. It was ridiculous things like this that drove the uninformed narrative for Brandt and the rest of the media. No one stopped to consider that trading Peterson was never in the Vikings best interest. No one stopped to consider that Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer were serious when they said that Peterson wasn't going to be traded. No matter how many times they were asked they said the same thing. You could tell that they were getting sick of answering the same questions on a damn near daily basis. The only people that could move Peterson had no interest in moving him. How do you simply ignore that? The media did. Incredible. And Brandt continues to do so. Even with Peterson in a Vikings uniform.

Perhaps the most puzzling time of this ordeal came in early February. Peterson was in Minneapolis for the appeal of his suspension. Outside the courthouse he was asked if he would like to stay with the Vikings. "Of course" was his answer. Those words straight from the player's mouth never gained any traction. Peterson says that he wants to play for the Vikings. Spielman and Zimmer say that he isn't playing for any team but the Vikings. The whole thing should have ended there but it didn't. Somehow the media-generated narrative kicked into gear and took off in the opposite direction. And it snowballed a few weeks later after Dogra's clown act. It was mind-numbing. The drama was preferred so it was reported. Some even started reporting that a trade was inevitable. The only question was where. Arizona? Dallas? Tampa Bay? The Vikings compensation? Some said that a second round pick would be fair compensation for a 30-year old running back. A second isn't even close to fair compensation for what Peterson means to the Vikings offense. A second would be charity rather than a trade. None of it made any sense.

Everyone with a voice is reporting a story. It doesn't even have to be true. As long it's interesting. The media prefers an interesting lie more than a boring truth. The more people reporting the lie the more likely the public will accept as a truth. And maybe, just maybe, all of the chaos stirred up by the media might even force their story into reality.

The nonsense ended this week the only way that it was ever going to end. Adrian Peterson playing football for the Minnesota Vikings. Despite the chaos that the media caused. Fortunately it's at an end. Finally.