Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Concord Hymn” coined the term “shot heard ‘round the world,” but Doug Farrar, of Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner, faced a similar situation in March.

In an interview with Minnesota Vikings’ star running back Adrian Peterson, the 25-year-old described the state of the NFL as “modern-day slavery.”

“It’s modern-day slavery, you know?” he told Farrar. “People kind of laugh at that, but there are people working at regular jobs who get treated the same way, too.

“With all the money … the owners are trying to get a different percentage, and bring in more money. I understand that; these are business-minded people. Of course this is what they are going to want to do.

“I understand that; it’s how they got to where they are now. But as players, we have to stand our ground and say, ‘Hey, without us, there’s no football.'”

Farrar pulled the quote out of his story shortly after it was posted online because he wanted to allow Peterson to explain the statement. He said that Peterson’s quote was “a real misstep.”

Allow me to siphon through the muddy situation for you. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Peterson earned $7.5 million last year and has key sponsorships with Nike and EA Sports. It’s been estimated that his endorsement deals are worth close to $600,000.

Peterson’s current contract states that he will earn more than $10 million in base salary next season, and that figure is pulled out of his $40 million deal that he signed in 2007 as a rookie.

Sounds like an incredible form of slavery to me. I’ll gladly be an NFL slave for that kind of money, pension, food, travel and expenses that are paid for.

Who does Adrian Peterson think he is? Actually, who do athletes think they are? I’m about to present you with some startling figures. In the most recent Wall Street Journal article I could find on the national deficit, it claimed that the national deficit was projected to be at $1.65 trillion.

Sports Illustrated recently did an article (“The Fortunate 50”) about the top 50 wealthiest athletes. By the time you get to number 34, you’ve just cracked one billion dollars.

There are sweatshops that still exist in America and overseas. There are organizations, like Faceless International, that struggle to fight the battle against human trafficking and slavery every day.

Who does Adrian Peterson think he is to claim that the NFL is like “modern-day slavery?” The fact that he is IN THE NFL is proof enough that he is definitely not a slave.

People think that the South is full of hatred, bigotry and racism. Peterson went to high school in Texas. Maybe he even experienced some of this first hand. As Southerners, we fight this stereotype every day.

We’ve all heard the horror stories of what slavery was like. We’ve all seen some form of the remnants of slavery in our lifetime, and I guarantee you that what Adrian Peterson is experiencing is not slavery.