MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — For as long as he’s been in the NFL, Adrian Peterson has been one of the most popular and most marketable stars in the league.

Now that he is facing a felony charge of child abuse for spanking his 4-year-old son with a wooden switch, the Minnesota Vikings star running back is facing criticism like he never has before. In the wake of the Vikings’ decision to allow Peterson to play while the legal process plays out, the Radisson hotel chain has suspended its sponsorship agreement with the team.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said on Tuesday that Peterson should remain suspended while his case unfolds. A sports apparel store at a suburban Minneapolis shopping mall has pulled all Peterson items from the shelves while the matter is under investigation.

Hall of Fame

Super Bowl-winning quarterback Kurt Warner and linebacker Junior Seau are among 15 first-year eligible modern-era candidates nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Also nominated for the class of 2015 in their first year of eligibility are receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, tackle Orlando Pace, and placekicker Jason Elam.

A total of 99 players and 14 coaches comprise the 113 nominees. A modern-era player or coach must be retired at least five consecutive seasons to be eligible.

The selection committee will choose 25 candidates as semifinalists in late November. That list will be reduced to 15 modern-era finalists in early January. The 2015 class will be voted on the day before the Super Bowl.

One senior committee nominee, former Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff, also will be on the ballot.

Between four and eight new members will be selected. Inductions will be in August at Canton, Ohio, site of the Hall of Fame.

Some other familiar names who have been nominated are running back Jerome Bettis, receivers Tim Brown and Marvin Harrison, guard Will Shields, defensive end/linebackers Charles Haley and Kevin Greene, safety John Lynch, and placekicker Morten Andersen. All were finalists in 2014.

Coaches Tony Dungy, a finalist last January, Bill Cowher, Don Coryell and Mike Holmgren also are among the 2015 nominees.

Jackson criticism

NEW YORK (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson criticized the NFL on Tuesday for not including any African- American women when it brought on three domestic violence experts as consultants.

The league said Monday that Lisa Friel, Jane Randel and Rita Smith would serve as “senior advisers.” NFL director of player engagement and education Deana Garner, who helps lead the league’s domestic violence programs, is African-American.

About two-thirds of NFL players are African-American, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.

“Where is the jury of your peers?” Jackson said.

The civil rights leader called the lack of diversity among the senior advisers a “shameful insensitivity” that “compounds the credibility crisis.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been under heavy criticism for his handling of the domestic abuse case involving star running back Ray Rice.

The league declined comment Tuesday on Jackson’s remarks.

Ray Rice

BALTIMORE (AP) — The NFL players’ union has appealed the league’s indefinite suspension of Ray Rice.

Rice was originally handed a two-game suspension in July under the NFL’s personal conduct policy after he was charged with assault following a Feb. 15 altercation with his then-fiancee in a casino elevator.

The Baltimore running back had already served the first game of that suspension when, on Sept. 8, a video surfaced showing Rice punching Janay Palmer, now his wife, in that elevator.

Within hours, the Ravens released Rice and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell extended the suspension to indefinite based on the “new evidence.”

Goodell and the Ravens say they never saw the video before Sept. 8.

The NFL Players Association had until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday to file the appeal.