Adrian Peterson

Adrian Peterson
refer to caption
Peterson with the Vikings in 2011
No. 28, 23, 26, 8, 21
Position:Running back
Personal information
Born: (1985-03-21) March 21, 1985 (age 39)
Palestine, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:Palestine
College:Oklahoma (2004–2006)
NFL draft:2007 / round: 1 / pick: 7
Career history
Career highlights and awards
NFL record
  • Most rushing yards in a game: 296
Career NFL statistics
Rushing yards:14,918
Rushing average:4.6
Rushing touchdowns:120
Receptions:305
Receiving yards:2,474
Receiving touchdowns:6
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Adrian Lewis Peterson ( Brown;[1] born March 21, 1985) is an American professional football running back who played fifteen seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history. He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners, setting the freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards in 2004. Named a unanimous All-American that year, he became the first freshman to finish as a runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting. Peterson finished his college career as the Sooners' third all-time leading rusher.

He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings seventh overall in the 2007 NFL draft. As a rookie, he set an NFL record for the most rushing yards in a single game (296) and was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. He was then named the MVP for his performance in the Pro Bowl and became only the fifth player in NFL history to have more than 3,000 yards through his first two seasons. In 2010, he became the fifth-fastest player to run for 5,000 yards, doing so in his 51st game.

Peterson tore both his ACL and MCL in a game in late 2011. Despite that, he would return by the start of the 2012 season and end it with 2,097 rushing yards, just nine yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season record. For his efforts, he received the NFL MVP Award, among others. In 2013, Peterson became the third-fastest player to reach 10,000 rushing yards in NFL history.

In 2014, Peterson was indicted by a grand jury in Texas on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child that occurred earlier that year, and was suspended for the rest of the season. A free agent coming into the 2017 season, Peterson signed a two-year contract with the New Orleans Saints but was traded to the Arizona Cardinals mid-season before being released following the season's end. Since then, Peterson has played for the Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, and Seattle Seahawks.

  1. ^ @adrianpeterson (May 19, 2023). "My heart aches over the loss of Mr. Jim Brown". Retrieved June 16, 2024 – via Instagram.