Judge tosses suspension of Vikings' Peterson; NFL to appeal

Updated 5:20 p.m. | Posted 11:42 a.m.

A federal judge Thursday overturned an arbitrator's decision in the suspension of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, ruling the arbitrator exceeded his authority.

The decision was a victory for Peterson, although it's still not clear when the star player will be fully reinstated to the NFL and playing again.

The NFL late Thursday said it strongly believed the judge's decision was wrong and plans to take the case to federal appeals court.

In the interim, the NFL said Peterson will be returned to the "commissioner exempt list," which means he's still barred from the Vikings.

The Vikings late Thursday said Peterson remains an "important member" of the team "and our focus remains on welcoming him back when he is able to rejoin our organization."

In November, the league suspended Peterson without pay through the end of the season after he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of reckless assault for using a wooden switch to discipline his 4-year-old son.

Peterson and the NFL Players Association appealed the NFL's move.

In December, an arbitrator, a former NFL executive, concluded that Peterson had not demonstrated that he was treated unfairly and that there was no basis to overturn the suspension.

The decision made Peterson ineligible to return to the NFL before April 15.

The union took its case to federal court. On Thursday, Doty ruled for Peterson and the players' association, throwing out the arbitration decision and sending the case back to the NFL and players' association.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge David Doty wrote that the personal conduct policy in place when Peterson disciplined his son stipulated that a first-time domestic violence offender faced a likely maximum suspension of two games. But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and then-arbitrator Harold Henderson applied a new policy to Peterson, even though the league enacted it after he used the switch on his son.

Because the league retroactively applied the new policy to Peterson's case, the judge wrote, the arbitrator disregarded applicable law and in doing so failed to meet his duty under the league's collective bargaining agreement with players.

The players' union called the decision "a victory for the rule of law, due process and fairness. Our collective bargaining agreement has rules for implementation of the personal conduct policy and when those rules are violated, our union always stands up to protect our players' rights."