To be fair, Adrian Peterson most likely never knew of any pledged donation to save the football program at North Iowa Area Community College. But, that’s a far cry from the message Kevin Griffin, a former NIACC assistant coach, had relayed to head coach Steve LaLonde just two days ago.

Griffin led LaLonde to believe that Adrian Peterson, along with three other NFL players, had volunteered to keep the fledgling football program alive at a cost of $150,000. Naturally, LaLonde and the rest of NIACC were stoked; publicizing this miracle and the generosity of their heroes, AP and friends, to the media.

The only kink in this seemingly heart-warming tale of selflessness was that Griffin omitted a thing — or two. Like Peterson never committed to the donation. And Griffin never actually spoke to Peterson. And really, the whole thing was made-up.

“I made a mistake and anything that comes out of this falls on me,” said Griffin after admitting to fabricating the pledge. “Nothing ever came out of Adrian’s mouth. I should have said I’ll try to get the money from him and other people.”

That might have been a better way to go about it. Now, the program’s doomed to hell, you’re out of work one day into a job — even Lindsay Lohan lasts longer — and the excess of talented football players in Northern Iowa with average intelligence will be forced to attend Nebraska.