So sad. More light has been shed on the loss Adrian Peterson suffered when his son, 2, died on Friday, Oct. 11, after the boy was allegedly abused by his mother's new boyfriend. It turns out, the NFL star reportedly didn't know the 2-year-old boy was his son until very recently, and the first time he met him was in the hospital while he was on life support.

According to TMZ, the Vikings running back and the boy's mom had a sexual encounter several years ago, and when he previously heard he may be the father, he asked how he could help. As for when he recently learned of the 2-year-old's alleged attack, he quickly rushed to be by his side. He has never met the suspect in the case, Joey Patterson.

"Thank you to my family, my fans and fans of other teams for their support," Peterson, 28, wrote via Twitter on Oct. 11. "The NFL is a fraternity of brothers and I am thankful for the tweets, phone calls and text messages from my fellow players. God Bless everyone and thank u so much."

He added on Oct. 12, "My son Adrian Jr. who lives w/me is healthy. Appreciate the concern. We respectfully ask to stop tweeting his pics. We are currently not posting photos of my son who passed away. Thank u for your understanding."

Prior to his son's death, Peterson told reporters he was still planning to play in the Sunday game against the Carolina Panthers at the Metrodome. As of now, the athlete has yet to announce whether he has changed those plans.