Adrian Peterson releases statement following arrest

Former NFL running back Adrian Peterson was arrested for domestic violence on Sunday, following an alleged incident with his wife Ashley Brown on an airplane.

According to reports, Peterson and his wife were on a plane, heading back to Houston from Los Angeles. After a verbal altercation, Peterson was removed from the plane and was arrested and booked for felony domestic violence at LAX.

Peterson on Monday released a statement on his arrest in which he acknowledged that he had gotten into an argument with Brown. However, he denied any activity that warranted an arrest, contradicting the felony domestic violence charge with which he was tagged.

“I was literally mind-blown that they took me to jail,” Peterson said. “They were like, ‘I’m sorry, Mr. Peterson, but because she had a scratch on her finger, (in) the state of California, we have to take you in.’ I sit there and watch the plane pull back and take off and I’m just like, ‘Wow! I cannot believe this is happening right now. I’m going to jail, and I literally didn’t do anything.’

“It’s blown out of proportion. Me and the wife got into an argument on the plane,” Peterson continued. “That was pretty much the gist of it. I ended up grabbing her hand and taking her ring off her finger. She didn’t press any charges. The state of California pressed charges because there was a scratch on her hand. Literally that’s why I went to jail, because the ring left a scratch on her finger. We just had a disagreement. I know the headlines: Domestic violence. You’d think I beat her up or something. It was nothing like that.”

Peterson and Brown were in Los Angeles on Saturday at a DIRECTV event for the Super Bowl. The police received a call at 8:30 a.m. PST about the disturbance, arriving on the scene. A representative for both parties released a statement on Sunday, labeling the incident a “private misunderstanding.” Peterson’s subsequent statement corroborates this claim, as he added that the passenger behind the couple aggravated the situation at hand.

“Only thing I will say is it looks horrible because Adrian Peterson arrested for domestic violence,” Peterson said. “I don’t hit women. It’s not that type of situation, and it just looks bad. I’ll deal with it, and God willing get the charges dropped and move on.”

Peterson played in four games this season with two different teams. The running back put on a Tennessee Titans uniform three times, while also representing the Seattle Seahawks. On the season, he had 38 attempts, rushing for 98 yards and two touchdowns. His best performance of the season came in a loss to the Houston Texans with the Titans, going for 40 yards on nine carries.

Throughout his career, Peterson built a Hall of Fame career, despite having a few issues off the field. After being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings out of Oklahoma, the running back rushed for 3,230 career yards and 120 touchdowns. Peterson played for seven different teams throughout a 15-year career, spending a decade with the Vikings. He led the league in rushing three different times (2008, 2012, 2015). The 2012 season saw him rush for 2,097 yards plus 12 touchdowns, while Peterson was awarded as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.