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Adrian Peterson Says 'I Have a Lot More in Me'

Before Washington released Peterson on Friday, he told SI Sooners he intends to keep playing for years: "The body can do some amazing things if you put in the work."
John E. Hoover|
Adrian Peterson Says 'I Have a Lot More in Me'
Adrian Peterson Says 'I Have a Lot More in Me'

Adrian Peterson, who ranks No. 5 in NFL history in rushing yards and No. 4 in rushing touchdowns, was released by the Washington Football Club on Friday.

Peterson, the former Oklahoma Sooner who rushed for more than 4,000 yards in just 2 1/2 seasons at OU, is 35 years old.

NFL reporter Josina Anderson tweeted that Peterson told her he was blindsided by new coach Ron Rivera’s decision to move in a different direction.

“It caught me by surprise,” Peterson told Anderson. “I was having a strong camp. It was showing up on film, taking (starter) reps all the way to this week. I just got notified by the running backs coach yesterday that they wanted to give these young guys some reps, but I didn’t know I was going to get cut, there was no indication.”

Peterson went on to tell Anderson that this was not the end for him,.

“Trust me, I still have a lot more in me, more to strive for and do again even when there’s doubt. I’ll do it again.”

Peterson has played 13 NFL seasons, although several were truncated. His 14,216 career rushing yards ranks fifth all-time, and he expressed an interest this offseason in moving up that chart. He’s also rushed for 111 touchdowns, which ranks fourth in NFL history.

Peterson was the No. 7 overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2007 NFL Draft, and has eight 1,000-yard seasons on his ledger despite being one of the most physically punishing runners to ever play in the league.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Peterson was already one of the league’s all-time elite talents, but his 2012 return from a severe knee injury will go down as one of the NFL’s most unlikely and astounding accomplishments.

Just seven months after reconstructive surgery, Peterson nearly broke Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record (2,105 yards) by rushing for 2,097 yards and winning both the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award and the MVP.

He’s a three-time rushing champ (1,760 yards in 2008, 2,097 in 2012 and 1,485 in 2015), and he’s been to seven Pro Bowls and made four All-Pro first teams.

ADRIAN PETERSON'S NFL STATS

In 2018, his first year with Washington, Peterson became the third-oldest running back in NFL history to surpass 1,000 yards when he ran for 1,042 yards. He ran for 898 last season and might have had a chance to pass 1,000 again, but was inexplicably deactivated from the opening day lineup.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports that Peterson has drawn interest from “a couple teams” and says Jacksonville, Kansas City, New England, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle could be in the market for Peterson’s services.

“It comes as a surprise,” Peterson told ESPN. “I didn’t feel I showed anything that would warrant being released. Without a doubt … I definitely want to play (in 2020).”

Peterson’s 3,306 NFL carries ranks eighth in league history, but he believes a strict offseason training routine has helped him stay ahead of retirement.

It also matters that Peterson’s years of service were interrupted by long periods of inactivity.

In 2014, he played just one game before a season-ending league suspension following felony child abuse charges (he later pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of misdemeanor reckless assault).

In 2016, he suffered a torn meniscus in his knee and only played three games.

And in 2017, he played a combined 10 games for Arizona and New Orleans after the Cardinals placed him on injured reserve with a neck injury.

As a Sooner freshman out of Palestine, TX, Peterson rushed for an NCAA freshman record 1,925 yards and scored 15 touchdowns in leading Oklahoma to a 12-0 record and Big 12 Championship in 2004.

ADRIAN PETERSON'S COLLEGE STATS

But his 2005 and 2006 seasons were cut short by injury, first by a severe ankle sprain, then by a broken collarbone. He still rushed for 1,104 yards and 14 TDs and 1,012 yards and 12 TDs in those respective seasons.

He finished his college career with 4,041 rushing yards (third in school history at the time behind Billy Sims and Joe Washington) and scored 41 touchdowns. He was just the second player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards three times before he declared early for the NFL Draft.

In June, Peterson told SI Sooners that he was nowhere near finished.

“My body has held up,” Peterson said. “I’ve been battered and broken up a little bit, but ultimately I’ve snapped back and still been able to perform at a high level. So I think it’s all a mindset and how your body responds.

“I’ve always been a big believer in anything that attacks us on earth, the earth actually has a cure for it or can heal it. I believe in that,” he said. “So I did a lot of work with some holistic doctors as well through that process, and I feel like they helped with my recovery, helped me get stronger and faster sooner.”

ADRIAN PETERSON: No. 1 NFL Sooner of the last 20 years

Peterson told SI Sooners that it was “my mission” to dispel the notion that running backs can’t be great past the age of 30, and said “it boils me over” to see NFL teams devalue the position with lesser contracts and premature releases.

“You have to have somebody come through and break that and let you know, hey, if you take care of your body, you put the right things in your body, you’re conscious of that at all times, and you put in the work when it’s time to work, your body will show up. The body can do some amazing things if you put in the work.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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