Adrian Peterson's Jersey Rant

Nobody wants to hear a rich man whine, but this NFL star brings up a pretty good argument.

Adrian Peterson hatched what seemed like a good plan on Twitter to change his Minnesota Vikings uniform number from 28 to 23. That was last week. Now the star running back has changed his mind, blaming the power brokers behind pro football merchandise sales for spoiling his idea.

Peterson told his 212,000-plus Twitter followers that he "received a call" from an unnamed source informing him he'd have to buy all the jerseys that have been made with his No. 28 on them if he wanted to change his number. The Vikings star tweeted the amount of money "blew my mind!!!!!"

How much would it cost?

A cool $1,000,000 -- according to Peterson. 

That's when the franchise running back unloaded on what he feels is an injustice to star players. 

Pointing out to his cyber minions that he's among the leaders in NFL jersey sales, Peterson complained that he doesn't "even get paid a million dollars" from his individual Nike sponsorship deal. 

As of last April, NFL.com had Peterson's No. 28 jersey ranked 15th in NFL jersey sales, ahead of Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger among other notable stars.

The NFL jersey contract just ended with Reebok, and Nike takes over starting with the 2012 season. 

The Star Tribune points out that players who switched numbers in the past had to pay Reebok a refund for existing jerseys. It's unknown if that rule will continue with the Swoosh.

 

Peterson ended his Twitter rant by saying "You must be smoking something to thing (think) I'll waste that type of money just to change a number on my work uniform!" (Spell check isn't yet available on Twitter.)

Before you run to direct-message Peterson about being another spoiled athlete, somebody already beat you to the punch. The Vikings star responded to the microblogging critic: "Someone just hit me saying stop crying! Lol I'm sharing my thoughts! I thought that's what twitter was all about."

Peterson said he originally wanted No. 29 in high school to emulate childhood hero Eric Dickerson, but his high school didn't have it. 

http://www.thepostgame.com