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The news that Vikings running back Adrian Peterson taped discussions with NFL executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent has prompted speculation that Peterson may have broken the law, if (as it appears) Vincent didn’t know he was being recorded.

If (as it also appears) Peterson was in his home state of Texas at the time the discussions occurred, he’s in the clear. Texas law permits conversations to be recorded if at least one party to the communication (in this case, Peterson) is aware of it. Assuming that Vincent was in another state at the time, federal laws applicable to the interstate nature of the call also would allow a recording, since federal law likewise follows the one-party rule.

Legal or not, it’s often viewed as unseemly for someone to surreptitiously record a conversation. Of course, some would say it’s no more unseemly than failing to record an important disciplinary meeting and later reconstructing the discussion by claiming that someone said something he didn’t say.

For Peterson, who’s already dealing with the stigma of felony child abuse charges that were resolved with a no-contest plea to misdemeanor assault charges, protecting his employment interests by legally recording a conversation with a key NFL executive doesn’t apply a significant blow to his current public image.