Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson rejoins the team after being away for nine months to answer domestic child abuse charges in his hometown Texas, according to ESPN's Ben Goessling.

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The 30-year old, eight-year veteran was placed by the Vikings on exempt/commissioner's permission list in September 2014 for allegedly hitting his four-year-old son with a "switch" (a slim wooden stick used for flagellation) as an act of discipline when the boy pushed his brother off a motorbike computer game. The beating resulted with the boy suffering from cuts and welts on his arms, back, legs, and backsides.

Nine months later, after answering to the child abuse charges, Peterson is now back in Minnesota to participate in the Viking's organized team activities.

For the former NFL MVP, this is a sigh of relief and a brand new start to a so far brilliant career that was suddenly halted by controversies, as per AP's Jon Krawczynski for Yahoo Sports.

"'I made a mistake,"' Peterson said in an interview with AP. "'I'm not taking it lightly at all. It's something I regret." He added that his son and all the people closest to him understood what he did. He claimed that they know his true character and the type of person he is, and that is what really matters to him moving forward.

Even so, the former Oklahoma standout had to go through therapy sessions, counseling, and a whole lot of court appearances just to be able to go back and play the game that he loves. He admitted that through the sessions he had learned other ways of disciplining children apart from hitting them such as "timeouts and taking toys away" when absolutely necessary.

Amidst all the turmoil, Minnesota's franchise running back almost had a letdown with the team, though. According to the New York Daily News' Manish Mehta, Peterson demanded a trade when he felt that the team's management was unsupportive of him during the case, especially Viking's COO Kevin Warren.

But because of his value to the team, the management and coaching staff was unwilling to trade him away. Just a week ago, Vikings' head coach Mike Zimmer told media that his star running back will not play for anybody else but for the team. Having Peterson back made Zimmer "welcome him with open arms."

"I've always supported him 100 percent," Zimmer said, "and I will continue to do so as long as he's with us. Hopefully, that's for a long, long time."

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