Governor defends Adrian Peterson, but says something stupid:  The idle period between OTAs and the start of training camp seems to be a time where NFL players have nothing to do and so how end up getting into trouble.  In Minnesota, it was the one and only Adrian Peterson getting arrested for resisting arrest.

“Idle time is the devil’s play,” Dayton told Minnesota Public Radio on Tuesday.

……

“It means that young males who are heavily armored and heavily psyched as necessary to carry out their job are probably more susceptible to be in bars at 2 o’clock in the morning and have problems, or DUIs. It doesn’t excuse it, it just says that it probably comes with it,” Dayton said.

He said he wishes they would hold themselves to higher standards.

“Obviously they’re falling considerably short of that now,” he said.

Football players aren’t ordinary citizens, he said, and compared the game to combat.

“It’s basically slightly civilized war, and then they take that into society, much as solders come back, and they’ve been in combat or the edge of it and then suddenly that adjustment back to civilian life is a real challenge,” Dayton said.

So the Governor, who played a key role in getting the Vikings a new stadium, compared playing football to being in the military. UT-OH!  Once the interview caught wind, Governor Dayton apologized.

“I regret my mistake, and I apologize for it,” Dayton said.

I don’t think NFL players are getting arrested because of the violence of the game, which sociology studies have proved it doesn’t correlate and that violence of football players isn’t greater than violence of non-players (YAY for learning, but not too much credit, I just finished my sport sociology class two weeks ago).

Arrests aren’t just common among NFL players, it happens in all sport leagues.  It’s just that NFL players have a shorter season which brings about a longer off-season.  Thanks to the new CBA, the players now have more off-time.  Players go back home with nothing to do and some how sometimes they end up doing something stupid.

SI grades team’s off-season: SI.com gave the Minnesota Vikings a C+ for all their 2012 off-season.  The grade takes into account their A grade SI.com awarded them for the 2012 Draft.

The Vikings’ 2012 off-season was a period for them to rebuild their team, in addition to getting younger.  They cut ties with numerous vets to do so.  The Vikings really have no shot at competing for a Super Bowl this coming season, which shouldn’t come as a shock, so they didn’t make any big splashes in free agency.  The rebuilding process doesn’t automatically bring about a Super Bowl-quality team. A “C+” grade means the Vikings had an average off-season, which goes back to rebuilding.