National Football League executives have had a difficult season regarding the off-field actions and subsequent legal troubles of several star players. In September, this editorial board asked that the United States legal system sentence and punish high-profile law breakers in the same way that they would the average American citizen, specifically in reference to Ray Rice and his domestic violence case.

Within a few days of that editorial being published, information regarding another domestic violence act — more specifically, child abuse — case involving NFL star Adrian Peterson surfaced. Peterson turned himself in and cooperated fully with the legal process which resulted in a plea agreement and no jail time. Although Peterson did not legally admit his guilt in the crime, his legal punishment has now been decided. Peterson will pay a $4,000 fine, attend parenting classes and serve 80 hours of community service.

While these judgments represent a metaphorical drop in the bucket for Peterson, who is currently signed to a seven-year contract for $96 million with the Minnesota Vikings. He has been receiving a paycheck even during his recent league-mandated inactivity.

As for the community service, Peterson’s own charity organization — the All Day Foundation — is caught up in a scandal all its own. However, the NFL already holds community involvement as a point of emphasis for every franchise and their players, so meeting the 80-hour requirement should be fairly easy to complete.

While justice may not have been served proportionally to Peterson, it does seem that the law has been applied equally. Now the focus has been moved from a courtroom to a board room as the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) has filed a grievance with the league for Peterson’s immediate reinstatement to the league.

The NFLPA cites “explicit language in a signed agreement” in their argument which stated that Peterson would be reinstated once the legal process had concluded. However, in light of recent public outcry regarding the NFL’s perceived failings to properly punish players charged with domestic violence crimes, the league established a protocol which mandates a six-game suspension for first-time domestic violence offenders.

If the NFL does not enforce the mandatory suspension for Peterson, then they will have very quickly retracted from what was a positive step for the both the NFL’s image and, more importantly, national awareness of domestic violence.

In any case, there is no guarantee that the Vikings would even welcome Peterson back. While he would obviously help their on-field endeavors, Peterson may be a poison to the franchise. When the allegations against Peterson first surfaced, the Vikings went back and forth on their initial decision of whether or not to suspend him, but when the Radisson Hotel pulled their sponsorship of the team the decision became much easier for team executives.

If Peterson is reinstated it would not be out of the question for similar sponsorship losses to occur, as Nike has already canceled their contract agreement with Peterson. Any reinstatement for Peterson could also establish precedent for the possible reinstatement of Ray Rice, arguing that the league has punished him twice for the same crime.

Players like Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice and the numerous others who have faced domestic violence charges this season are a persistent poison for the NFL. The league officials must stand by their decisions to punish these individuals and they must do so consistently.

First-time offenders should be reinstated and then the decisions regarding their eligibility should be left to the individual franchises that would become responsible for marketing them. All of this, of course, would follow their six-game suspensions.