"It's modern-day slavery, you know?" Peterson told Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports last Friday. "People kind of laugh at that, but there are people working at regular jobs who get treated the same way, too. With all the money ... the owners are trying to get a different percentage, and bring in more money."
Now, one of our own is piggy-backing the ridiculous statement. Fullback Leonard Weaver went on CSNPhilly to talk to Derrick Gunn about the lockout and found a way to compare the situation to slavery.
"We as players want to make a statement that you know what, we love playing for you all, we love your owners, you know?" Weaver told Gunn. "We love you guys very much, but at the same time we need to see some equal opportunity here and stop treating us basically like Adrian Peterson said, like slaves..."
Weaver is not a dumb guy. In fact, in the brief amount of time I've had to speak with him, he came across as very bright. This, however, is not a shining moment.
Comparing anything to slavery is immediately going to turn people off to anything you're saying. It's an absolutely ludicrous statement for guys who are making millions of dollars to play a game, or for anyone who isn't actually a slave for that matter.
If we ever discover the secret of time travel and a slave from the early 1800's could make his way to this very second, I'm doubting he would see the similarities Peterson and Weaver see. In fact, if their situation is modern-day slavery, then sign me up.
I'm not going to bash Weaver too much because this would appear to just be a lapse of judgment from an otherwise intelligent guy. However, it is at least worth pointing out the severe disconnect that even the most intelligent and well-intentioned players have from the fans and the rest of the real world.
