NFL Scandals Complicate Matters In Locker Room When Players Return

NFL: Minnesota Vikings-Training Camp The Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice scandals rocked the NFL, but did they rock their respective locker rooms?

It’s becoming increasingly likely that the NFL will reinstate Peterson — with the possibility that he could rejoin the Minnesota Vikings as soon as this season — while Rice’s future in the league remains in doubt. Regardless, if the NFL welcomes them back, a handful of former NFLers examined whether the Ravens and Vikings would welcome them back in the latest post for Football By Football.

While it can be difficult to ever forget what each of the players did, the former players emphasized that the team mentality trumps what’s going on off the football field, and it sometimes means putting up with someone that isn’t well liked for the benefit of everyone else.

“So, from a player’s perspective, if Adrian Peterson or Ray Rice happens to show up in your locker room, you have to trust the process has taken its course, and that these guys are now adopting a new path that led them to having this new chance to (re)join your football team,” former linebacker Brady Poppinga writes.