In separate interviews Tuesday, Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush said the NFL should reinstate Ray Rice or levy the same suspension to all players associated with domestic violence, and said that Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson should be allowed to play.
"Well, basically just saying that you either suspend everybody the same or you got to reinstate Ray Rice," Bush said Tuesday on "SportsCenter."
"I wasn't specifically calling out anybody, but we just got to find a way to obviously make everything even playing field for everybody."
Also Tuesday, in an interview with New York sports radio station WFAN, Bush expressed his views on Peterson's situation.
"I know me and a lot of other guys who were born in the '80s and earlier were raised differently and disciplined differently, and I was one of those kids," Bush said on WFAN. "I got whuppings, with belts and stuff like that, so for me growing up it was normal, not to downplay the situation at all.
"If it was genuine ... he [Peterson] should be allowed to play football."
In the past two weeks, the NFL has had the video of Rice hitting his then-fiancée and now-wife, Janay Palmer, surface, leading to his indefinite suspension. It had the domestic violence case of Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy resurface from this summer, as the Panthers initially were going to let him play before deactivating him Sunday. And it had Peterson, who was indicted in Texas on Friday on accusations he abused his 4-year-old son, leading the Vikings to deactivate him for Week 2 before reinstating him Monday ahead of Week 3.
"Obviously it's been a tough week for the NFL," Bush said on "SportsCenter."
"The NFL has taken a big hit from the media world. It's on us now to find a way to be better leaders and find a way to just learn from these situations."
Bush said during the WFAN interview that he disciplines his 1-year-old daughter. He said he will continue to use his best judgment on how to discipline her but, if necessary, would "discipline her harshly again depending on what the situation is."
He did not say what that discipline would be but said spanking is different from using a branch or a stick. Later Tuesday, Bush took to Twitter to clarify his remarks.
Let's get one thing straight people, I believe in disciplining a child period! I believe in spanking a child (IF NEEDED) NOT beating them!
- Reggie Bush (@ReggieBush) September 16, 2014
So for those of you who took my words and tried to twist them up there's your clarification! 😊
- Reggie Bush (@ReggieBush) September 16, 2014
My parents didn't call it Spankings though they called it Whoopins!
- Reggie Bush (@ReggieBush) September 16, 2014
Bush has spoken out on this topic because he said he lived through domestic abuse during his childhood from his biological father. This experience shaped his current views.
"It's something that no kid should ever experience, and for me, I used it as motivation to never be like my biological father," Bush said during the "SportsCenter" interview. "That, I used it in a good way, but there are a lot of cases where kids are going to end up the opposite. So hopefully we can find a way to learn from this as NFL players and move forward."
Information from ESPN.com's Detroit Lions reporter Michael Rothstein contributed to this report.