Former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is no longer facing warrants for his arrest in Texas after Peterson recently made an online court appearance in one of his child-support cases, according to court records in Fort Bend County, Texas.
The warrants were issued in December when Peterson, 39, failed to appear in court for the cases. After he appeared for a court proceeding last week via Zoom, the court withdrew the “capias” warrants in two child-support cases. Both cases were resolved with qualified domestic relations orders (QDRO) that arranged for Peterson to pay the owed child support from his NFL retirement savings, according to records. The two cases listed women from Minnesota as the custodial parents.
“A capias was previously signed for Mr. Peterson when he did not appear in person at the last court date,” the court docket said. ‘OAG (Texas attorney general’s office) announced they are withdrawing the capias and an agreed Qdro will be submitted to the court.”
His publicist said in December the issue “related to a misunderstanding regarding Adrian’s court appearances as it relates to child support.”
This removes at least one of Peterson’s legal problems, with another big one still pending.
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How much debt does Adrian Peterson have?
Peterson earned more than $100 million in his NFL career from 2007 to 2021 and is considered a future Pro Football Hall of Famer. But he took a big risk in October 2016 that is still haunting him financially. He took out a $5.2 million loan that year from a Pennsylvania lending company and promised to pay it back in five months, in March 2017, at 12% interest.
An exhibit attached to the loan document in October 2016 indicated he was seeking an advance on an $18 million contract that he expected to come from the Vikings.
But Peterson was coming off a knee injury that year, and the Vikings declined to pick up the $18 million option in February 2017, turning Peterson into a free agent. His earnings fell dramatically after that, never exceeding $3.5 million a year. He hasn’t played in the NFL since 2021 and hasn’t paid back that loan, which has since swelled to more than $12 million in debt, including interest.
In September, a judge in Houston issued an order for him to turn over numerous assets to help pay that debt. A court-appointed receiver also has been trying to seize his assets and even intercepted an auction of his NFL trophies and clothes last year, according to court records. The auction was suspended as a result and is still on hold, according to the auction company.
Peterson has cast blame for the debt on his former financial advisor, who could not be reached by USA TODAY Sports.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com