Oklahoma RB Legend Adrian Peterson Stopped for Excessive Speed, Arrested for DWI

Former Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson found himself in legal trouble early Friday morning.

According to an incident report from the Minnesota State Patrol, the former Minnesota Vikings running back was allegedly driving 83 mph — 28 mph over the speed limit — when he was pulled over after attending the Vikings’ NFL Draft party on Thursday night.

At 3:20 a.m. CT, Peterson was stopped for excessive speed, and the arresting trooper reporting that he suspected Peterson was intoxicated while driving over the speed limit.

According to the incident report, Peterson’s breathalyzer test registered a blood alcohol level of 0.14, which is almost double the legal limit in Minnesota.

Peterson was arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired and was booked into the Hennepin County Jail at 5:16 a.m. Friday and released at 7:31 a.m. His bail was set at $4,000.

In Minnesota, a fourth-degree DWI is a misdemeanor, according to MinnesotaVikingsOnSI.com. Peterson has a court date set for 9 a.m. on May 9.

According to the state patrol, Peterson was driving an Audi Q5 southbound on Highway 77 in Richfield, MN, when he was stopped by a trooper near 66th Street near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport — roughly six miles south of U.S. Bank Stadium, where Peterson and other former Vikings attended the team’s NFL Draft party.

Peterson, 40, took part in the draft celebration with a local radio station broadcasting from the party, according to Vikings On SI.

Minnesota-based Bring Me The News reports that a fourth-degree DWI is typically reserved for first-time offenders and those who posted a blood-alcohol concentration of less than 0.16.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Peterson was a high school superhero at Palestine, TX, and is the top-rated recruit in OU history, according to the 247Sports database.

As a freshman at OU in 2004, Peterson helped lead the Sooners to an undefeated season, a Big 12 championship and a trip to the national title game, where they were blown out by USC.

He rushed for 1,925 yards that season, an NCAA freshman record, and surpassed 100 yards in 11 of his 13 games, including another freshman record nine in a row.

The hard-running Peterson battled an ankle injury for much of his sophomore season and missed half of his junior year with a broken collarbone, and yet still finished with 4,045 rushing yards, which was third all-time in OU annals (he’s fourth now behind Samaje Perine, Billy Sims and Joe Washington, just 45 yards from Perine’s three-year total.

Peterson was the sixth overall pick of the Vikings in the 2007 NFL Draft, and rushed for 11,747 yards and 97 touchdowns in 10 seasons with Minnesota.

Peterson went on two play two seasons with Washington, one with Detroit, and then played 14 games with Arizona, New Orleans, Tennessee and Seattle as he finished his NFL career hampered by a series of injuries.

Peterson was the NFL MVP in 2012, when he returned from major knee surgery and nearly broke Eric Dickerson’s 1984 NFL rushing record of 2,105 yards. Peterson finished with 2,097 yards, just nine yards short of breaking Dickerson’s mark.

Peterson played in seven Pro Bowls and ranks fifth in NFL history with 14,918 yards, and is fourth all-time with 120 rushing touchdowns. He’s also sixth in league history with 3,230 rushing attempts, and he’s 11th all-time with 17,392 yards from scrimmage.

Peterson was suspended for the entire 2014 season after being charged with felony child abuse for using a switch to spank his then-4-year-old son.

Peterson eventually pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of misdemeanor reckless assault, according to an ABC News report. In addition to a two-year probation period, he was fined $4,000 and performed 80 hours of community service.

In 2022, the morning after a pre-Super Bowl party, Peterson was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport for what airport officials called a domestic violence case. Los Angeles Airport Police received a call around 8:30 a.m. about possible domestic violence on board an aircraft bound for Houston. Police responded to “a verbal and physical altercation between a male suspect and a female victim.”

Peterson was booked at the Los Angeles Police Department Pacific Division on $50,000 bail and bonded out the next morning. Peterson later said he was “literally mindblown that they took me to jail” after his wife sustained a scratch on her finger.

The LA County District Attorney’s Office quickly decided not to file charges.

“Adrian and I had a verbal argument," Ashley Peterson wrote in an Instagram post. “Unfortunately, it was on an airplane. At no point did Adrian hit or strike me.”