As Adrian Peterson Enters 14th Season, His Legacy Goes Beyond Records Broken, To Athletes Touched

As Adrian Peterson enters his 14th year of playing professional football, the word “legacy” gets thrown around often. The emphasis has shifted from what he can accomplish in his future to the successes of his past.

Peterson knows that that legacy is cemented by numbers. He has eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark eight times throughout his career, including in 2012 when he rushed for a career-high, 2,097 yards. That year, Peterson became only the seventh NFL player to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season and he was just nine yards shy of breaking the single-season rushing record held by Eric Dickerson. He has recorded 111 career rushing touchdowns and scored at least 10 touchdowns in each of his first seven seasons in the league. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl seven times and was named the 2012 NFL MVP. Peterson is also fifth on the all-time rushing list with 14,216 yards.

The former Oklahoma sooner spent 10 years with the Minnesota Vikings, jumped around between the Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints for one year in 2017 before landing with the Washington Redskins. In his first season in Washington, Peterson rushed for 1,042 yards and seven touchdowns - his highest recorded rushing yards since 2015. Last year, he ran for 898 yards and five touchdowns.

Despite Peterson’s success, the Redskins have continued to grow their running back group. They signed free agents Peyton Barber and J.D. McKissic this past offseason and drafted wide receiver/running back Antonio Gibson in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Derrius Guice and Bryce Love, both of whom are recovering from knee injuries, also remain on the roster. 

As the running back room grows in Washington, Peterson’s place in it has been highly debated. But at 35 years old, Peterson’s measure of success is not only based on his performance, but on the performance of his younger teammates.

“I had the opportunity to talk to the young guys, a couple weeks ago,” Peterson said to the media via Zoom last week. “I told them, it still stands, anything I can help you with, here’s my number, call me, and once you get back to playing football it’s going to be the same thing. I want to see those guys prosper, I want to see those guys take their game to the max, to their potential, to reach their full potential. I’m not that guy that’s going to withhold something, to get myself an edge. A lot of these guys look up to me and still do at a young age. I’m going to do my part.”

Barber, McKissic, Gibson, Guice, and Love have a combined total of 10 years of NFL experience. Peterson has 13. In an effort to put those numbers in perspective, let’s take a look back at where Peterson was in his career when he was the same age as his teammates.

J.D. McKissic, 26 years old, four years in the NFL

McKissic spent the 2019 season with the Detroit Lions after playing his first three years in the league with the Seattle Seahawks. In his career, McKissic has 402 rushing yards and one touchdown. He is primarily a third-down back and recorded 205 rushing yards last season - the highest of his career.

When Peterson was 26 years old, the year was 2011 and he had begun his fifth season with the Vikings. He would record  208 rushing attempts for 970 yards and 12 touchdowns in what was a disappointing 3-13 season for Minnesota.

One of those wins came in the final game of the season - a game that most Vikings fans remember less for the victory than for Peterson’s ACL injury. Before leaving, Peterson still managed to score one touchdown in the game to help the Vikings defeat the Redskins, 33-26.

Peyton Barber, 25 years old, four years in the NFL

Barber has spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has played in 63 games with 28 starts, racking up a career 1,987 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. When he turned 25 years old last season, Barber rushed for 470 yards and six touchdowns.

When Peterson was 25 back in 2011, he was in the process of putting together his fourth-straight 1,000-plus yard season. He was only just beginning though.

Mark Chichester of Pro Football Focus broke down the numbers and discovered that Peterson joined Tom Brady and others as an owner of the best three-year stretch at his respective position.

“A reign that ended in MVP honors in 2012, Adrian Peterson’s three-year stretch as a runner from 2010-12 is unlikely to ever be seen again. He earned overall grades of 86.5, 83.7 and 92.4 in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively, and he led the league in yards after contact (2580) and yards after contact per attempt (3.4) over that span.”

Derrius Guice and Bryce Love, 22 years old, one year each in the NFL

Guice and Love have only just completed their rookie year in the NFL. Guice played in five games for Washington last season, recording 245 yards and two touchdowns. Love has yet to play a snap for the Redskins as he spent his rookie campaign recovering from an ACL injury that he suffered in his final collegiate game.

When Peterson was a rookie, he was fresh off breaking NCAA records at Oklahoma. He did not record more than 36 yards in a game or any touchdowns in his first couple of matchups. But by Week 5, Peterson recorded his first 100-plus yard game and appeared to be trending upward.

Then came the game against the San Diego Chargers on November 4. Peterson outran Chargers legendary running back LaDainian Tomlinson for the single-game NFL rushing record in his eighth career start. Peterson exploded for three touchdowns and his 296 rushing yards at the Metrodome remains unmatched.

“I’ll never forget my rookie year, playing the Chargers in Minnesota and just talking to [Tomlinson] after the game,” Peterson said. “I was so wired up to meet him and to play against him. What he told me was hey, just continue to put in the work that you have put in, you can always be respectful to your peers but, in order to be the best you have to think and put the work in to be the best.”

Antonio Gibson, 21 years old, drafted in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft

Gibson is coming off of his final season at Memphis in which he caught 44 passes and also averaged 11.2 yards per carry on 33 rushes to help lead the Tigers to a 12-2 overall record. He was drafted in the third round by the Redskins in the 2020 NFL Draft with the No. 66 overall pick.

When Peterson was 21 years old, he was fresh off his final season with the Sooners - a season in which he recorded 1,012 yards and 12 touchdowns to help lead Oklahoma to an 11-3 record. It was his third-straight 1,000-plus yard season. He would go on to be drafted by the Vikings with the No. 7 overall pick in the first round. He was the first running back selected in the 2007 NFL Draft.

Every player starts somewhere and Peterson’s legacy has transcended beyond records broken to athletes touched.

“There’s nothing wrong with respecting me or other running backs that you might look up to,” Peterson said. “But you want to have in your mindset that you are going to be the best to play the game. You can’t just think about that you obviously have to put the work in as well. It feels good to be that guy that’s delivering that message to a lot of young guys now.”