Adrian Peterson’s appeal hearing has ended, but there’s no ruling on whether Peterson will be able to return to the field this season, or not.
According to the Star Tribune, the NFL has provided no timeframe for when to expect a ruling from arbitrator Harold Henderson. But, the collective bargaining agreement states “as soon as practicable following the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer will render a written decision which will constitute full, final and complete disposition of the dispute”.
ESPN’s Andrew Brandt notes that Peterson didn’t attend today’s hearing.
Adrian Peterson is listening to testimony of Troy Vincent from his home in Houston, per agent Ben Dogra, who's listening in St. Louis.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 4, 2014
On Tuesday, the NFL Players Association turned over what it claims was a transcript and recorded conversation between Peterson and NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent.
Peterson’s camp claims it recorded Vincent telling Peterson the league’s new domestic violence policy wouldn’t be applied to him since his child abuse case resulted from an incident prior to the new policy’s implementation.
Vincent was unavailable to testify on Tuesday. He was testifying for the league at a Senate committee hearing on domestic violence in professional sports in Washington, D.C.
According to Sports Illustrated, time served while on paid suspension with a possible two-game suspension added on is all the punishment Peterson thought was possible. Peterson has not played since Week 1 of the regular season.
However, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Peterson for the remainder of the regular season and unless he wins the appeal or reaches a settlement, he will not be up for reinstatement until April 15, 2015.
Pro Football Talk reported this week that Henderson has been encouraging the NFL, the players association and Peterson to resolve the issue with a settlement.
