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Last week, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was indicted for child abuse.

Perhaps because they have something resembling a sense of right and wrong (or, more likely, because they learned from the Ray Rice scandal), the Vikings owners immediately deactivated Peterson for Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.

It initially looked as though justice would be served in a way that it never will be with the Rice incident.

It seemed Peterson would be kept out of the lineup until the court had it’s say, as a way of ensuring that an entire city wouldn’t end up realizing in retrospect that they’d be cheering on a child-beating monster.

Yes, that’s how it looked, and we were happy to offer kudos to the Vikings organization. And then today the team announced that they’d effectively absolved Peterson of any blame.

In a move that should have every football fan, parent, and sensible human being seething with rage, the Vikings announced that Peterson will play this Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

So how could the organization be so bold while the league is still dealing with the fallout from the Rice scandal?

It’s simple: no video evidence means no bad press.

The Vikings owners made the calculated decision that since the public won’t be subjected to footage of Peterson savagely mauling his 4-year-old child with a tree branch, the whole thing will blow over and it will be safe – from a PR perspective – to put Peterson back on the field.

The sad thing is, they’re probably right. After all, what’s a scarred, traumatized child when there are yards to be gained?