A somber Adrian Peterson returned to practice for the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, just hours after attending the funeral of his two-year-old-son.
Tyrese Robert Ruffin was laid to rest less than a week after succumbing to injuries he suffered in an alleged aggravated assault that occurred in his South Dakota home. Police have since charged Joseph Robert Patterson, his mother's 27-year-old boyfriend, and he is being held on $750,000 bond.
The NFL's reigning MVP told ESPN he was supporting the boy's mother financially and had been in contact with her to make arrangements to meet his son for the first time. Peterson only learned the boy was his biological child several months ago.
"I was planning on seeing him," he told ESPN. "I had a talk with his mom and we got some things together as far as financially helping her. It's devastating. A lot of people won't ever understand the situation that I'm in and see it the way I'm seeing the situation. It's tough, but I'm able to deal with that and got a good supporting cast around me that's been supporting me through this tough time."
When he was just 7, Peterson's teenage brother was struck and killed by a drunken driver and in 2007 another brother was shot and killed in Houston the night before Peterson was to take part part in the NFL combine.
Lincoln County District Attorney Tom Wollman says he anticipates charges against Patterson being upgraded in light of the boy's death.
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