Reggie Bush backs Adrian Peterson, suggests he'll 'whoop' his own daughter

Because Ray Rice punched his wife unconcious in an elevator and Adrian Peterson admittedly "whooped" his 4-year-old son with a tree branch, NFL personnel now face questions from the media in an effort to advance the story, as if players are leading experts on these matters.

Given this scenario, some players are bound to say something stupid — frankly, it's surprising it doesn't happen more often — and Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush fell into that trap Tuesday.

In an interview on WFAN's "Boomer and Carton" show, Bush backed Peterson, believing the Minnesota Vikings star should remain active for Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints and seemingly suggesting he would discipline his own 1-year-old daughter in a similar manner.

“I definitely will try to — will obviously not leave bruises or anything like that on her. But I definitely will discipline her harshly depending on what the situation is. ...

"I would possibly consider (using a switch), depending on what she did."

In the same interview, Bush admitted he and "a lot of the guys I played with" received "whoopings" similar to the one Peterson allegedly administered to his child. Later with "Boomer and Carton," Bush bactracked a bit, clarifying, "I said spanking. Spanking is different than a branch or a stick."

Then, he took to Twitter to clarify his clarification, as is the custom these days.

Pressed again on the subject at Wednesday's practice, Bush told reporters, "I think the way I discipline my children, my daughter, is private, and I should have kept it private, and I think obviously some of the words got taken out of context, and that’s fine. That happens all the time.”

He then joined another radio show in Detroit, since that's been going so well for him in the past 24 hours, and gleefully clarified his clarification of his clarification, according to CBS Detroit.

“We called them whoopins. We didn’t call them spankings,” Bush said with a chuckle. “My mom was a police officer, so she had the thick belts … but you know what, I deserved it every time I got it. I never — obviously I was mad and embarrassed, but I deserved it every time.”

In Bush's world, apparently, a thick belt is better than a tree branch, and a child can somehow "deserve" one or the other, which seems a tad uninformed, since there's significant evidence that even spanking without the use of an object can lead to more aggressive behavior in later years.

Perhaps some NFL players are leading experts on this matter after all.

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