Adrian Peterson, the NFL superstar whose two-year old son was allegedly beaten to death, said he plans to suit up for the Minnesota Vikings against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday despite the tragedy.
On Saturday, pictures of Peterson's son Adrian Peterson Jr. re-surfaced on the web from a training session back in July when the kid paid a visit to his father and wore a helmet touching the hearts of sports media. However, Deadspin reports the child in question is not Adrian Peterson Jr., but a "secret" love child the Minnesota Vikings star had with a woman who recently moved from Minnesota to Sioux Falls, maintaining little to no contact with Peterson.
Peterson's son died Friday morning. He had been in the hospital with head injuries since Wednesday.
According to TwinCities.com, the running back was excused from practice on Thursday but returned Friday and made an appeal to the media to respect his privacy and refrain from asking details of the issue.
"Football is something I will always fall back on," he said. "It gets me through tough times. Just being around the guys in here, that's what I need in my life, guys supporting me, and just being able to go out and play this game I love," he was quoted as saying.
He also thanked the Vikings organization and the NFL fans for supporting him through this ordeal.
Twitter was abuzz on Friday about the tragedy, and other athletes like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Tim Tebow and Kevin Love as well as entertainers like Adam Sandler and Josh Duhamel all tweeted their messages in support of Peterson.
Vikings players also threw their support to Peterson. Said Vikings defensive end Jared Alllen to TwinCities.com: ""Being a father is the most precious part of your life. You have to be there to support him. I know Adrian is a man of faith, and God has a plan. All we can do is pray for him and lend a shoulder, a word or whatever it is. "
The toddler, whose name was not released to the media, died at a hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota after having been hospitalized since Wednesday. The suspect, Joseph Robert Patterson, is said to be the boyfriend of the child's mother.
Thank you to my family, my fans and fans of other teams for their support.
— Adrian Peterson (@AdrianPeterson) October 11, 2013
Adrian Jr. visited his dad today at #VikingsCamp. pic.twitter.com/RU2DG3hSfB — Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) July 29, 2013
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