Following his guilty plea for having 2 pounds of marijuana shipped to his home last September, Simpson was sentenced to 15 “terrible” days in jail (along with three years probation), an experience he urges all people, especially young, to do their best to avoid.

“Those 15 days I spent in jail, it was terrible. It sucked,” Simpson told the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. “Any kids out there, that’s a place you don’t want to be. Somebody tells you when to wake up, when to make your bed, when to take a shower, when you can have a snack. That’s an obstacle you don’t want to face. I want all kids to learn not to go down that path and to learn from me.”

However, the time in the clink was a necessary evil of sorts; it gave the 26-year-old Simpson time to reflect on his life, ultimately making him a “better” person going forward.

“Things happen for a reason. The man upstairs wanted me to change. It sucked I had to go through it that way. It made me a stronger, better person,” Simpson said.

Simpson, who you know best from this unbelievable play, signed a one-year contract with the Vikings in April, and hopes to turn over a new leaf after doing his time.

“I paid my debt to society. I want to help people not make the same decision I made,” said Simpson. “One of my goals is to help people not go down that path like I did.”

Per the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Vikings running back Caleb King was arrested early Saturday morning on suspicion of assault in the third-degree after allegedly beating a 22-year-old man, who suffered serious injuries.

As the story goes, King was attending a birthday party Friday night when the man supposedly teased him about his resemblance to a celebrity. Shortly after, he followed the man to his car, hit him in the face, and then pulled him out of the car, continuously striking him in the face and head before finally tossing him to the ground.

After the beating, the victim was hospitalized with skull and facial fractures, and needed more than 50 stitches to close other wounds. The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office says the assault may have even caused a severe brain injury.

King, who has yet to be formally charged, denied the accusations, saying the man “fell to the ground” when he was talking to him. Nonetheless, he remains in custody at the Anoka County jail.

The Vikings, aware of the incident, are “collecting and gathering information.”

King, undrafted in 2011, was promoted to Minnesota’s 53-man roster for the last game of the season, but didn’t see the field.

It’s safe to say he won’t any time soon, either.

[Photo: Anoka County jail]

You can definitely count Vikings punter Chris Kluwe into the latter category.

Upon hearing the now-infamous footage, Kluwe did what any level-headed athlete does these days: Took to his Twitter account and let ‘er rip, quoting Williams in the process.

“The way you earn respect is through fear”. Are you fucking kidding me? What kind of neanderthal message does that send.

— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) April 5, 2012

Potty mouth.

Kluwe continued …

No wonder this world’s so messed up if people think that’s an appropriate way to act and are willing to defend that kind of behavior.

— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) April 5, 2012

90% of what he said was standard rah rah motivational stuff. Hit guys hard, get him going sideways, etc.; all fine and heard before.

— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) April 6, 2012

The part that is an issue is the other 10%, where he specifically talks about targeting ACL’s, twisting guys’ ankles in the pile, and

— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) April 6, 2012

trying to hit a concussion victim in the head again. That’s why Goodell has to come down so hard on this; you don’t want that spreading.

— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) April 6, 2012

To put the cherry on top of his tweeting tirade, Kluwe, in response to former teammate Visanthe Shiancoe, called the disgraced defensive coordinator a “jerk,” before Shiancoe acknowledged “we could have a ring right now.”

Shiancoe, of course, is referring to the 2009 NFC Championship game between the Vikings and Saints, in which New Orleans’ defense relentlessly and viciously pounded Brett Favre in what would be the first of many bounties to come.

Despite playing a position that avoided Williams’ wrath (or so we think), it’s not surprising that Kluwe decided to speak up … again. Last month, he urged the NFL to issue lifetime bans to both Williams and linebacker Jonathan Vilma, which seems like more of a possibility now with the audio going viral.

[H/T the St. Paul Pioneer-Press]

Per the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Chantel Baker, Cook’s former girlfriend of 10 months, admitted that she lied about what went on the night the Vikings cornerback was arrested and charged with two domestic assault felonies.

Baker testified that Cook never choked her or placed his hands around her neck, as she originally claimed. There was a red mark on her neck, which originally supported her accusation, but it’s actually a hickey that Cook gave to her.

The original story was that Cook got enraged after discovering text messages from ex-boyfriends of Baker, who was already peeved at Cook for receiving a lap dance during a night out on the town together in Minneapolis. A fight ensued, and initially she said her eardrum was “walloped” by Cook, before the defense countered that he was simply defending himself from an “angry drunk.”

It was later in the proceedings that Baker admitted she “deliberately lied” in initial conversations with police.

So, why concoct the fib, you ask? Well…

“At that time, that night, I wanted him to go to jail,” she testified.

Her plan succeeded, as Cook was held without bail at the Hennepin County Jail, causing him to miss a Week 7 contest against the Packers.

Things soon got worse for the 25-year-old, who was suspended without pay by the Vikings, and facing up to five years in prison for the charges.

Cook is certainly no lock to remain with the Vikes — despite the fact that he’s presumably innocent — but this could help sway commissioner Roger Goodell from levying additional league discipline.

[Photo: AP/The Star Tribune, Brian Peterson]

On Monday, NFL Network was expected to replay the 2009 NFC Championship game between the Vikings and Saints.

Instead, when viewers tuned in at 3 p.m., they were surprised to see the Cowboys and 49ers duel it out in the 1992 NFC Championship.

Why? Well, it turns out the network decided to postpone airing New Orleans’ NFC title win, the Sporting News reports (via ProFootballTalk.com).

The game is notable because it reportedly birthed the bounty program, as multiple Saints defenders, on orders from former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, sought out to batter then-Vikings quarterback Brett Favre.

The end result? A 31-28 victory for the Saints, and a badly injured Favre, who never truly recovered from the beating he took.

NFL Network, however, still plans on showing the game at “a future date.”

“Since last Friday, NFL Network has extensively aired video clips of plays related to the Saints bounty investigation on NFL Total Access and during other news reports that are available on NFL.com,” a NFL Network spokesperson said in a statement released to PFT. “At this time, we decided not to air the complete three-hour game and will reschedule the program for a future date.”

NFL.com reports (via Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times) that Page attended an open tryout for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.

While it’s a decision straight out of left field — see what I did there? — Page is all too familiar with Bay Area baseball, playing at UCLA for one year (2004-05) before the Dodgers drafted — but not signed — him.

(Oh, and in case you’re wondering, he drove in three home-runs and 19 RBI in 120 plate appearances for the Bruins.)

When that avenue eventually flamed out, Page turned his attention back to the gridiron.

A seventh-round selection of the Chiefs in 2006, he’s since become a journeyman, bouncing from the Patriots to the Eagles to, most recently, Minnesota, where he recorded just one tackle in five games.

But then, after a hit by ‘Skins safety DeJon Gomes, Peterson fell awkwardly to the ground, proceeding to writhe around in pain on the FedEx Field turf. This feeling was not so familiar.

Both live and on replay, it looked bad. Real bad. The prognosis, which came just minutes later, was worse: A ruptured ACL and torn MCL in his left knee.

Peterson was devastated, and who could blame him? Scoring touchdowns one minute, IR’ed the next. He was also facing a lengthy recovery period, which is likely to spill over into the beginning of next season.

Now, two weeks after undergoing reconstructive surgery, AP has shed some of the initial frustration, and is focusing all of his energy on a Week 1 return.

“I’m not really stressing about anything,” Peterson said. “The goal is to, my personal goal, is to be back for the first game of the season. We’ve got this game plan that is laid out and just making sure that I’m executing it. It’s going to help me accomplish that goal.”

Vikings head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman, who accompanied Peterson in a meeting with reporters Friday, said the All-Pro running back is well on his way to making his goal a reality.

“I’ll say that the last three days have been really awesome,” Sugarman said. “He’s been riding the stationary bike, he has great motion in his knee with extension and flexion, his quadricep fires really well. Just doing everything that we would expect and then some as we move forward.”

Peterson said the knee was hurting bad in the days following the surgery, but eventually subsided. He’s since felt better, and is ready to enter Phase 4 of the rehab — jogging in a pool — next week.

The progress has Peterson encouraged, at least enough for him to make a prediction that should warm the heart of every fan in the Twin Cities area.

“I feel like I’m going to come back better than before. I know people might laugh at that or think otherwise, but you know what? It doesn’t matter what they think or how they feel about it. The only thing that matters is how I feel about it and what I believe. I’ve been able to just go through the sacrifices and whatever it takes to get to that. I’ve already started that.”

Though it wouldn’t be a stunner if Peterson, one of the most physically gifted players in the NFL, indeed returned to elite form, he still has a long road ahead of him, and is almost certain to miss the team’s offseason workouts and minicamps.

The most probable outcome is Peterson beginning the 2012 campaign on the PUP list, forcing him to sit out the first six games. Yes, all you fantasy football fanatics, that means it’d be wise to look elsewhere in the first round of your drafts this summer.

However, we should have a better pulse on this situation in the coming months, when AP and his trusty trainer hit dry land for the first time.

Per the Associated Press, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson feels the Saints were purposely attempting to re-injure his left ankle, which caused him to miss the last three games, during Minnesota’s 42-20 loss on Sunday.

Even though Peterson anticipated his ankle being a target for the opposition, he says it “kind of got overboard” after cornerback Jabari Greer twisted it in a pile up, leading to a brief confrontation between the two.

Luckily, AP escaped the contest without further injury, but this has become somewhat of a disturbing trend for the Saints.

Last week, the Titans accused them of blowing a whistle from the bench area late in the game, causing confusion on the field. Tennessee receiver Nate Washington also ripped Saints safety Roman Harper for being a “dirty player.”

Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams likes to employ a physical and intense style of defense, and it’s generally pretty successful. However, both he and head coach Sean Payton would be wise to address the supposed guilty parties before Big Brother begins to keep a watchful eye out.

According to the Associated Press, the Vikes officially ruled out Adrian Peterson for Sunday’s matchup against the Falcons.

After suffering a high-ankle sprain versus the Raiders in Week 11, Peterson was in a walking boot shortly after and, despite his efforts, was unable to get a single practice in this week.

“The trouble he had was when he got up on his toes to plant or make a cut, that’s where he had trouble,” coach Leslie Frazier said Friday.

Toby Gerhart is expected to start in place of Peterson, the league’s sixth-leading rusher and co-leader in rushing touchdowns.

Being able to plant and cut are obviously paramount abilities, so it’s no surprise Frazier is having his $100 million man sit this one out. Unfortunately, this type of injury is usually a dreaded one for running backs, especially those that run as violently as Peterson.

Gerhart might have to get comfortable in the starting lineup, because A.P. returning in Week 13 will be anything but a sure thing.

During the first quarter of Sunday’s Raiders-Vikings game, running back Adrian Peterson had his left ankle bent awkwardly on a tackle, causing the All-Pro to gingerly limp off the field in obvious pain.

Peterson, who started hot, rushing for 26 yards and a score, was carted to the locker room for further examination.

Although it looked as if Peterson could move the ankle when prompted by trainers, there has been no update on his status.

Toby Gerhart took his place in the backfield as Minnesota currently trails 10-7.

UPDATE: Peterson was seen on the sideline in the second half, though without a helmet. He’s done for the afternoon. Fortunately, x-rays on the ankle came back negative, meaning he avoided a fracture or other serious injury. It appears to be a routine sprain. Feel free to exhale now, Vikings nation.

UPDATE #2: After the game, coach Leslie Frazier confirmed it’s a left ankle sprain for Peterson, who will undergo an MRI on Monday. It appears his Week 12 status won’t be in serious jeopardy.