If you listen closely to him and his lawyer you would think Adrian Peterson was a victim.

They talk as if it’s the All-Pro running back who has had wrong done to him.

How dare them.

Peterson the victim, are you serious?

You wonder if his 4-year-old son thought of his father as a victim when he was being whipped with a stick in what Peterson called old-fashioned discipline.

It is a parent’s right to punish their child in a way they best see fit, but leaving cuts and bruises on their body is going way beyond acceptable behavior.

It is barbaric and criminal and Peterson has paid and is paying off his debt to society. Now the Minnesota Vikings star wants a clean slate.

Meanwhile, the NFL is trying to undo the public relations debacle that is the Ray Rice fiasco. Rice is the running back who cold cocked his wife-to-be in a casino elevator.

At first league Commissioner Roger Goodell went too soft on Rice and a public outrage followed. You would have thought by the reaction of folks it was Goodell on the video decking Rice’s fiancée.

Since then Rice has been suspended indefinitely, an amount he sees as too long.

Enter Peterson, who has been sent away from the league for the rest of this season. He will have to wait until April 15 before he finds out if that is the end.

Too much, say Peterson backers — many of whom jumped straight into Goodell’s face when he first sent Rice home for only two weeks.

No question the Rice mess was considered by Goodell when he handed down his decision on Peterson. It should be.

The NFL is a business and sometimes businesses react to the public backlash too fast, or go too far to please the masses.

Better to please many customers than one running back.

By showing he is becoming tougher on crime, Goodell is proving he does listen to the public and not just players and owners. He did what was right for the league’s image, not Peterson’s bank account.

Now it is up to the players’ union to react. Already having lost an appeal in front of an arbitrator, Peterson seems to be taking his case to the public and his union. Rice is doing the same thing.

It is an even tougher spot for the union and other players who are being asked to back a couple of guys who clearly have done wrong and now want ultimate forgiveness.

Imagine being a player and trying to tell your wife you have to support an admitted child abuser or proven woman beater. I don’t think that is the public image football players want to send out.

So Goodell did more than just the right thing in coming down hard on Peterson, he did the smart thing. He gets to play the good guy while letting the union, players and their lawyers wear the black hats.

As for even trying to play the role of victim, Peterson should be ashamed.

What he did was wrong. He went too far and now must pay the price.

Yes, we are a country of second chances and there is no question that some NFL team will give Peterson another shot at running the football for their franchise and the big dollars that come with it.

However, that decision will come with a price and a public reaction.

There is no question that talent will win out here, but maybe, just maybe, some good will come from this.

Perhaps the next person who thinks it is a good way to punish a child by brute force will think better thanks to what Peterson has lost.

If that is the case, then Goodell will come out of this a stronger leader.

As for Peterson, he can never be considered a victim.

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Jim Gazzolo is managing sports editor. Email him at jgazzolo@americanpress.comMinnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (AP Photo)

Billy Smith II