Brandon Marshall: Players want NFL integrity in Peterson case

After being arrested for spanking his 4-year-old with a switch and being suspended without pay for the rest of the season, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is unfairly being judged against the NFL’s new personal conduct rules, Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall said Tuesday.

Speaking on his weekly Showtime “Inside the NFL” appearance, Marshall said that we “have an obligation to use this platform to set the standard, but not to be above it. And at times like this you see people attaching themselves to the NFL and the players trying to … basically hold us to a higher standard.”

Players want the NFL to act with integrity, he said.

“There’s too much gray going on right now,” he said. “But, Adrian Peterson, just staying on this case, Adrian Peterson, his actions were under the old conduct policy. But now he’s being chastised and disciplined under the new one and that’s where the confusion is and that’s why you hear the NFLPA and the players saying it’s unfair.

“What the players are saying is that … we all know that the NFL’s job is to protect the shield with integrity. And sometimes it doesn’t feel like it’s being done with integrity.

“So, that’s where you see a lot of the griping and complaining in the locker room. Guys are like, [if] we are going to talk about integrity, let’s do it with integrity.”