If you think that the Adrian Peterson case is a simple matter of a parent being allowed to discipline a child, it isn’t. No matter what his new apology might say.

Even if you believe in spankings, there is no way you can agree with this:

"I am not a perfect man," says millionaire who left these scars on his 4 year old son http://t.co/ZXRcxFIvgj

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 15, 2014

Now imagine those cuts on the thighs and hands, plus bruising on lower back and bottom, of a 4 year old child.

And now the news is breaking that Peterson – who will not admit publicly to how many children he may have fathered (and only discovered that he was the father of a two-year-old shortly before that child was murdered by his mother’s current boyfriend) – is also accused of abusing and injuring ANOTHER one of his children.

The latest incident allegedly occurred last June, while the boy, who lives out of state, was visiting Peterson at his gated home in The Woodlands. A photo, allegedly texted by Peterson to the boy’s mother, shows a head wound to the boy covered by two bandages. Other photos, allegedly taken weeks later, reveal a scar over his right eye.

The NFL and the Minnesota Vikings re-activated Peterson this week after not allowing him to play last Sunday. Given the current state of the NFL’s PR goodwill, they had better reconsider this decision quickly. This is not a father trying to discipline his children. This is an adult inflicting physical pain and damage on children. And if someone without some shred of decency and responsibility doesn’t intervene soon, the next headline about Adrian Peterson could be much, much worse.