#64

 

ADRIAN PETERSON

If Adrian Peterson played in a different era, he might be the most celebrated player in football.

Peterson is the best running back playing in the game. He is a sensational combination of speed, power, instinct, and desire. When Peterson is on his game, he is like a relentless machine who chews up yardage on a non-stop basis.

However, Peterson plays in a time where it’s all about the passing game. Teams want a quarterback who can read defenses and throw the ball to multiple receivers so they can score quickly. They want big yardage after the catch and they want receivers who can leap over the defense to make plays.

The running game has become almost an afterthought for many teams. They want a running back who can convert first downs and touchdowns in short-yardage situations, and they also want to run the ball in the fourth quarter to keep the clock moving.

But the days of the bread-and-butter running attack appear to be over—for nearly every team but the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings certainly want to have the same kind of passing options that top competitors like the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears have at their disposal, but they have a long way to go in order to get there.

But the Vikings have Peterson, and he is capable of taking over any game. He has done that since his rookie season in 2007 when he ran for 1,341 yards, averaged 5.6 yards per carry, and scored 12 rushing touchdowns. The Vikings had made Peterson the seventh pick in the first round, and they were not about to ease him into the lineup.

Peterson’s ability to run over the strongest linebackers opened eyes all over the NFL, and it let Peterson know just what he was capable of doing against the best defensive players. “I couldn’t wait to get to the NFL because I wanted the challenge,” Peterson said. “I wanted to know how I would do when I had to play against the best. I had full confidence in my ability, but I still wanted to prove it.”

He was at his best in a Week Eight game against the San Diego Chargers. Peterson set the NFL record with 296 rushing yards, which included 253 yards in the second half. Peterson had three rushing touchdowns, including a 46-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter that went a long way toward clinching a 35-17 Minnesota victory.

Brad Childress was coaching the Vikings that season, and he was known as a coach who wanted to use the passing game to give his team a chance. However, once he had Peterson on his side, he changed his philosophy.

“That’s the way I like to play football,” coach Brad Childress said. “I do have a healthy respect for being able to run it and taking somebody’s will from them, and then playing off of that with play-action. If you’re looking for a benchmark, this is it.” As good as Peterson’s first year was, it proved to be an appetizer. His second year was just a superb example of the game’s best running back finding his top gear. Peterson ran the ball 363 times for 1,760 yards and he scored 10 touchdowns.

Peterson was just a workhorse that second season, as he averaged nearly 23 carries per game. Peterson simply wanted the ball every time he could get it, and he tried to carry the 10-6 Vikings on his back. Minnesota made the playoffs in 2008, but they were knocked out in the Wild-Card round by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Peterson was nearly as good the following season when he ran for 1,383 yards and an amazing 18 touchdowns that made him the lord of the manor for all of his fantasy football owners. He followed that season with a 1,298-yard season in 2010, and he also scored 12 touchdowns that year.

Disaster struck Peterson in 2011, as he had rushed for 970 yards and 12 touchdowns when he went down with an ACL injury in a 33-26 victory over the Washington Redskins in Week 16. The fact that the injury happened so late in the season appeared to be a major problem because it didn’t look like he would have a chance of being ready for the opening of the 2012 season.

Peterson told the Vikings and the media that he would be ready for the start of the season, and his conditioning and workout regimen at least gave him a puncher’s chance of being ready for the year. As the preseason moved along, few thought he would be ready, but Peterson was in the lineup for the opening game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and he ran for a very competent 84 yards and two touchdowns.

Peterson was not at his best for that game, but he would find his top gear in Week Seven when he ran for 153 yards against the Arizona Cardinals. That was the first of eight consecutive 100-plus-yard games for Peterson. He would run for 210 yards against the Packers in early December and 212 yards versus the Rams two weeks later. He would add 199 yards in the regular-season finale against Green Bay, and that would give him 2,097 yards for the year.

The Vikings would also earn a playoff spot that season even though they had one of the most inept passing attacks in the league. It didn’t matter, as Peterson simply carried his team on his shoulders even though he was coming off a brutal injury.

Peterson’s performance earned him the NFL’s MVP Award, the Bert Bell Award, and the Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year Award.

It was a season that few thought was possible even under the best of circumstances, let alone coming so soon after a major injury.

It was the kind of season that allowed Peterson to join company with the game’s best all-time running backs. He deserved to be mentioned with the likes of Earl Campbell, Gale Sayers, and Emmitt Smith, and perhaps just beneath Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, and Walter Payton.

Going into the 2014 season, Peterson has seven years under his belt. The history book says that running backs often start to lose their effectiveness after six, seven, or eight years.

If that’s the case, Peterson may no longer be the warhorse he has been. However, he’s so strong, fast, powerful, and skilled, that he just may break that trend and join the very best running backs that have ever played the game.