Adrian Peterson Misses Monday Training Camp For Court Appearance, Pre-Trial Dates Set

It was reported earlier on Monday that running back Adrian Peterson was set to miss a day of Minnesota Vikings training camp to attend court. The court date was in reference to an incident on July 7, where Peterson allegedly struggled with two off-duty police officers who were working security jobs at a nightclub. Peterson was asked to leave and allegedly shoved one officer, and denies all charges.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the court appearance was uneventful, and that prosecutors requested more time to review his case. Two pre-trial dates were set for Sept. 27 and Nov. 15, according to the piece. This is right in the middle of the regular season, which is noteworthy at this point.

As far as missing camp is concerned, Peterson is unable to take instruction while on the practice field regardless, as he's on the physically unable to perform list with dual ACL and MCL injuries from a season ago. The Vikings hope he'll be ready by the start of the regular season, and were probably hoping that his legal issues would be up by then.

It's worth noting that Peterson remained calm and seemed confident things would go his way, which is a good sign, coupled with the lack of actual information and hard evidence regarding the incident.

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Adrian Peterson To Miss Vikings Training Camp For Monday's Court Appearance

It's been almost a month since Adrian Peterson was arrested in Houston for resisting arrest during a small scuffle inside of a nightclub, and the court date is finally here. Unfortunately, it came during the Minnesota Vikings training camp.

On Monday, Peterson will spend his day in court at the Harris County Criminal Court in Texas and will miss a day from the team.

Peterson is still technically on the Physically Unable to Perform list for the Vikings anyway, so his contributions to training camp would probably not have amounted to all that much. He's still gunning for an eventual return date before the first game of the season in September, but with preseason starting and him being forced to miss camp dates it might be less likely than hoped for originally.

Whatever verdict happens to come down in the arrest case might have some bearing on it as well.

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Adrian Peterson In Court On Friday After Houston Arrest

After being arrested for resisting arrest back on Saturday, Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings hired high profile attorney Rusty Hardin for his case. They finally appeared in court on Friday on the misdemeanor charge and the attorneys involved in the case agreed to reset the case to August 6.

Hardin, who recently was involved in the infamous Roger Clemens case of lying to a court about his alleged use of steroids, had unkind words to say about the club and the officer who were involved in Peterson's arrest at the Live! at Bayou nightclub in Houston:

"Adrian Peterson did not resist arrest this past Saturday morning and any suggestion that he pushed, struck or shoved a Houston Police Officer is a total fabrication," Hardin said in an email released Monday afternoon. "He, in fact, was struck at least twice in the face for absolutely no legitimate reason, and when all the evidence is impartially reviewed, it will clearly show Adrian was the victim, not the aggressor."

Peterson has already stated that he feels that reasonable doubt is on his side, but we'll need to wait a while before any verdict is handed down in his case.

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Adrian Peterson Arrest: Minnesota Running Back Believes He Has Reasonable Doubt On His Side

On Wednesday afternoon, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson continued to plead his case in the court of public opinion when his attorney Rusty Hardin appeared on the Dan Patrick show and stated that he hopes that the prosecution will choose to drop the case due to reasonable doubt.

During the interview Hardin explained that the nightclub where Peterson was arrested had no surveillance footage of the alledged incident that resulted in injuries to Peterson and an arrest as well as the claim that six eye witnesses are able to testify that the star running back did nothing wrong.

Hardin hopes this will be enough to persuade the prosecution to drop the charges out of fear of not being able to convince the jury to hand down a conviction.

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Adrian Peterson Arrest: Vikings Tailback Has Bruises Examined By Doctor

The Adrian Peterson arrest saga rages on, as the troubled tailback's laywer, Rusty Hardin, continues to sheds doubt on whether his client was the aggressor through the media.

After again claiming that Peterson was the true victim of the incident through various outlets, Hardin revealed that his client saw a doctor on Tuesday to have the bruising above his eye inspected according to ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert:

Hardin told NFL Live that Peterson visited a doctor Tuesday to have bruises over his eye examined. During an interview with KFAN-100.3 in the Twin Cities, Hardin said Peterson got "punched in the face by fists several times" in the melee. He also had both shoulders pulled, according to Hardin, but the injuries are considered minor.

Although Hardin himself reiterated the minor overall nature of the injuries Peterson suffered (we're talking about bruises), the fact they were still serious enough to warrant seeing a doctor at all is interesting. The Pro Bowl runner has maintained his innocence throughout this ordeal while some have been quick to unfairly throw him under the bus, but only time will tell as more information comes out.

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Adrian Peterson Arrest: Rusty Hardin Issues Statement On 'Totally False Version' Of Events

On Monday afternoon, Rusty Hardin, the high-profile attorney who was hired by Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson following his arrest on Friday night in Houston, quickly got to work defending his client.

Via Pro Football Talk:

"Adrian Peterson did not resist arrest this past Saturday morning and any suggestion that he pushed, struck or shoved a Houston Police Officer is a total fabrication," Hardin said in a statement, via Josina Anderson of ESPN. "He, in fact, was struck at least twice in the face for absolutely no legitimate reason, and when all the evidence is impartially reviewed, it will clearly show Adrian was the victim, not the aggressor."

Hardin also represented former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens in his recent perjury trial, in which he was absolved of all charges.

Peterson is being charged with resisting arrest but will also be looking to sue the Houston Police Department for mistreatment by it's officers. The 27-year-old running back hopes that Hardin can help him come out victorious in both situations.

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Adrian Peterson Arrest: Running Backs Father Says Officers Were 'Disrespectful' Prior To Incident

The Adrian Peterson situation is just getting more confusing each day. Minnesota's feature running back was arrested and charged with ... resisting arrest after an incident in a bar in which he allegedly shoved an off-duty police officer. Peterson took to Twitter to suggest that things didn't happen that way, referencing a quote from Winston Churchill that clearly defined the official word on what happened as a lie.

So what did happen, then? Well, Adrian Peterson's father, Nelson, spoke to the Pioneer Press and he had some insight. Nelson said that the police were very disrespectful to Peterson, and that Peterson has a "high regard for people in the military and the officers that help protect us." On top of that, Nelson echoed the sentiment many have raised already: why is Peterson not being charged for shoving the officer?

"The officer said he pushed him, shoved him, then why is he not charged with assault?" Nelson said. "Only charged with resisting arrest. Doesn't make sense."

That's definitely a good point, and one that makes the hiring of Hardin to represent Peterson much more interesting. It's likely that Peterson would just be served a fine that he certainly can afford on Friday when he goes to court, but if Peterson truly feels that he wasn't in the wrong, he may be fighting it for the purposes of his record.

According to Nelson, Peterson also received a black eye when his face hit the ground while the officers were trying to detain him.

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Adrian Peterson's Clean Record Means A Simple Fine Is Likely

Is Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson just being safe with the hiring of high-powered attorney Rusty Hardin? After all, Hardin has done some pretty notable stuff - most recently being the frontman representing Roger Clemens in his perjury trial. Clemens was exonerated with the help of Hardin.

Peterson's dilemma seems to be ... quite a bit lower profile, at this point. The incident he was involved in still has a lot of loose ends and even more gaps to fill before it's fully understood, but is Hardin overkill, or is Peterson just being safe? Could he be gearing up to defend his innocence when he appears in court on Friday, or is he simply looking for reputable council?

At the very least, it would seem as though Peterson doesn't need the services of Hardin. After all, he's got a clean record and hasn't had anything like this happen before. Not to mention, there's the report from NFL.com that states it's likely that Peterson gets a fine and that this whole process will be over rather quickly.

So either Peterson is just being safe, as already mentioned several times, or perhaps he wants to fight off a potential fine. Sure, it's obvious that he has the money to eat that kind of fine, but perhaps his record is more important to him and he wants to show the world that he was not in the wrong when it comes to the incident. It will be interesting to see how far this goes and in which direction.

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Bomani Jones Investigates Adrian Peterson's Arrest

Adrian Peterson Arrest: Vikings Back Hires Attorney Rusty Hardin

Adrian Peterson can certainly afford to hire a high profile attorney to represent him after getting arrested over the weekend in Houston. With that in mind, it's no surprise that he got one of the most high profile guys around, Rusty Hardin. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Hardin was involved in the recently finished Roger Clemens case, which his client won.

ESPN's NFC North blog broke the news on twitter than Peterson had selected Hardin to represent him.

Filed to ESPN: Adrian Peterson has hired high-profile attorney Rusty Hardin to represent him after weekend arrest. Hardin was Clemens attny.

— Kevin Seifert (@espn_nfcnblog) July 9, 2012

Details are still fuzzy on just what exactly happened that night in Houston when Peterson got caught for 'resisting arrest'.

It doesn't seem likely to be that long standing a case in the end, as the Houston Police told NFL.com:

Houston Police spokesman tells NFL.com that Peterson likely to get a fine. Expects case to be adjudicated quickly.

— NFL: AroundTheLeague (@NFL_ATL) July 9, 2012

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Adrian Peterson Arrest: Vikings Tailback Responds To Fans, Critics On Twitter

There are many different accounts of what took place last Friday that led Minnesota Vikings tailback Adrian Peterson to be taken away in handcuffs. And while a grainy, incomplete video of the arrest itself has already surfaced, the blame game continues from both sides without concrete evidence either way. So in an effort to defend himself, the talented runner took to Twitter on Sunday afternoon and reminded fans to stay level-headed:

While it's hard to believe Peterson can walk away squeaky clean in all of this, it has to be promising for fans to hear how determined he is to prove this charge to be wrong. Knowing that at least one witness made claims about the club's bouncers being instigators instead of AP is surely a troubling sign, and it's quite evident that Peterson is confident that he'll be cleared of all charges in the coming days with comments like this.

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Adrian Peterson Arrest: Video From Incident Released Online

Charged with resisting arrest after a hazy incident in Houston, Texas, Minnesota Vikings tailback Adrian Peterson is facing plenty of scrutiny as details of his messy situation continue to come forward. And now, via TMZ.com, we have a 36-second video of what appears to be Peterson getting hauled off in handcuffs:

As nice as it might be to actually see a ridiculously brief part of what happened, this clip provides no evidence whatsoever of what took place at roughly 2:00 a.m. that morning. Some witnesses have said that Peterson was extremely drunk and escalated things himself, while others have said that the club's bouncers were the ones causing the issue. Regardless, it will be hard to make full sense of this situation until some sort of damning surveillance video is released. Until then, both sides will continue to deflect any blame.

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Adrian Peterson Arrest: Details From Police Report Released

There's a been a lot of confusion over the arrest of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and what exactly went down. Initially, all that was known was that he was charged with resisting arrest after multiple police officers tried to get him into cuffs. Details of the actual incident were unknown, but the police have relayed their report to the media and we've got a little bit of clarity.

It's not the good kind of clarity, though. The details really do make Peterson out to be the bad guy. ESPN Twin Cities has the report, which in a nutshell has Peterson talking back to an officer who was working security, and then shoving said officer which led to his arrest.

According to the report, the incident happened just after 2:00 a.m. when the Bayou Live Nightclub was closing and the security guards (who are police officers) were rounding up the patrons and telling them to go him. They reportedly told Peterson and his group that they needed to leave and make their way towards an exit, and then went on their business telling the rest. Eventually, they came back to Peterson, who was still standing and talking with his group, and asked him again.

Peterson than reportedly gave the officer the "I heard you the first time," line and then pushed the officer, causing him to stumble. At that point, the officer tried to arrest him, was failing in doing so, and the other officer assisted and hauled Peterson off the jail. There, Peterson complained of shortness of breath, was pronounced medically fine and was formally charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.

There's no word as to whether or not there will be a charge for assaulting a police officer, but it is somewhat surprising that there hasn't been yet. Usually when you have details like that, you have multiple charges, so it will be interesting to see where this goes.

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Adrian Peterson Arrest: Incident Reportedly Captured On Video

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has been arrested and charged with resisting arrest. Usually, this is coupled with some other charge - namely the charge that was originally being resisted - but as of now, the only thing he's got is the resisting. It's all a bit fuzzy as to what exactly happened on Saturday morning, but the gist is that Peterson was tackled by a officer who was "trying" to arrest him, and then more officers joined in to bring him down.

And this appears to have been all over a glass of water, or perhaps even a sip from a water fountain. At any rate, things might clear up a little bit soon, as Pro Football Talk reports that the whole incident was captured on video:

A source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT that the incident culminating in Peterson's arrest was captured by one or more surveillance cameras. Multiple persons also witnessed the event.

So, we'll either be treated to video of the still-injured Peterson juking and breaking some tackles, or it'll be something totally different. At any rate, it should help to clear some things up. The Vikings are aware of what's going on, and had a brief statement, though it's the same cookie cutter stuff you'd expect, with team spokeman Bob Hagan saying that the Vikings "are aware of the situation and are gathering more information," according to the Associated Press.

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Adrian Peterson Arrested In Houston, According To Report

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was reportedly arrested late Friday night and has been charged with resisting arrest.