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If anyone followed the NFL this past Sunday, I’m sure you heard about the tragic death of Vikings’ RB Adrian Peterson’s young son last week. The child was apparently beaten to death by the boyfriend of the boy’s mother.
At a press conference last week, before the boy died, Peterson said he would play in Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers no matter what.
It was no surprise that the media ran with this story. I teach an introductory mass media course at a university, and I often talk about formulas and how news is put together. The tragic hero is an archetype the media relies upon again and again.
I have to say I was a little surprised that Peterson could pull it together enough to play in the game, not even 48 hours after his son died. But it shows that everyone processes grief differently. For whatever reason, Peterson decided that he had to play in the game. There are no rules when it comes to grief and how long the bereaved should remove themselves from their routine. Thankfully, I did not hear any criticism of Peterson’s decision, though I’m sure it’s out there.
What do you think of Peterson’s decision?
If You Have Five Seconds to Spare 
At first, I didn’t agree with his decision. But then when I thought about it, not knowing anything about the situation, I realized that he probably didn’t get to see his son often. That would tell me the bond wasn’t quite there between father and son like it was with my son and husband, who was a constant. And I also agree about being with his teammates–to him, that’s probably his family.
The bottom line is that yet another child was lost to violence and how tragic that is.
I’m sure it was such a shock to learn that you have a child, then shortly after that child dies. Tragic, for sure.
I heard that he had only recently was told that the child was his son. Maybe that played a critical role in his decision to play.
I wondered if something like that was going on.
He would find more to take his mind off of the tragedy by being with his teammates. And they would be more familiar of how to offer him comfort.
It’s true we derive a lot of comfort from routines and being surrounded by people we know.