Adrian Peterson: Players say crazier things than the n-word in NFL locker rooms
Adrian Peterson lets most things said in the locker room slide. (Otto Greule Jr./Getty Images)
Adrian Peterson isn't sure what all the fuss is about over the use of the n-word in NFL locker rooms.
He told FoxSports.com on Tuesday that players say much crazier things than that.
"You really got to understand the environment you're in," the 2012 MVP said in a telephone interview. "You are in the locker room with 60 alpha males. Sixty guys who are in the NFL, they are men. So, when I actually heard about the situation [in Miami], it was funny to me because I really couldn't believe it was taking place in the NFL locker room.
"There's so much that's said in the locker room that people would go crazy if they knew half of the things we say, but you know what, that's the world we live in. Half the time it'€™s nothing that's taken personally, and it's not really a word that's thrown out there a lot, especially by the opposite race."
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Peterson, who's fourth in the league with 851 rushing yards, said he's never taken offense to hearing the n-word in the locker room, but also said he "really doesn't use it at all."
"There's a couple guys — I could use myself as an example — that might throw that out there that's not African-American and I don't take it personally because I know where it comes from," Peterson said. "Not to say that the use of the word should be out there, but it is what it is. It's men. There's no other [place], not even basketball where there's so many guys in one space. Things like that happen. People say crazier things than just the n-word."
