Adrian Peterson Returns-Sort Of

When asked how he would liked to be remembered, he told reporters: “Not just the greatest running back“.

Peterson needs 8,166 yards to get there.

Using the Pro-Football-Reference.com career player comparison tool, through eight NFL seasons, Peterson stacks up alongside Hall of Famers Eric Dickerson, Marcus Allen and Earl Campbell.

While Peterson is confident about the reception he will receive from Minnesota fans, he acknowledged it was hard to move past what people were saying about him.

“I’m going to be blunt and honest with you”, Peterson said. In an interview with the Star Tribune, Peterson said he’s already a “no-brainer” Hall of Fame player.

That supposes Peterson still has it, though, and the point here is to say whether or not that’s the case. That’s just the way I play anyway, but with that on top, I’ll definitely be out there with more energy and more excitement.

Peterson, a Palestine native who starred at the University of Oklahoma and makes his offseason home in The Woodlands, pleaded guilty last November to a charge of misdemeanor reckless assault after admitting to striking his his 4-year-old son with a switch, or small tree branch, during a discipline session. “I just realize it for what it is, because life is way bigger than football, the NFL, the Hall of Fame, things like that”.

“I did not technically run him over”.

Beyond that is the career rushing mark.

The steady Bridgewater might be able to buck that trend – and in fact the Vikings, even with an up-and-coming defense, will probably go only as far as Teddy will take them – all the while benefitting from Peterson’s place in the backfield. There’s the matter of how he’ll fit into the offense – he only played one regular season game under coordinator Norv Turner – as well as how good the offense’s prospects are to begin with. At 30 years old and coming off a year of controversy, the running back, who won’t play Sunday, feels he could retire today and be back in Canton to see his head cast in bronze.

Nobody knows how much Adrian Peterson has left in the tank, or how much longer his body will hold up. Peterson, though, said he’s not about to turn his off-field service into a spectacle.