non-Conference Room events

Adrian Peterson,
Running Back, Washington Redskins

Adrian Peterson is considered one of the finest running backs in the history of the sport. Peterson dedicated himself to football at a young age and was nicknamed “All Day” by his father for his relentlessness as a child. Peterson was considered one of the top high-school prospects in the US. He accepted a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, where in 2004 he established a national Division I-A freshman rushing record by running for 1,925 yards, as well as scoring 15 touchdowns. Although he missed time in each of the two following seasons because of injuries, he nevertheless was the most-coveted running back of the 2007 NFL draft class after he decided to forgo his college senior season. Peterson was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the seventh overall pick. He made an outstanding impression in his first season, rushing for 1,341 yards and 12 touchdowns and setting an NFL single-game rushing record of 296 yards. During Minnesota’s penultimate game of the 2011–12 season, however, Peterson suffered tears to the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee, an injury that is often career-threatening, particularly for running backs. He underwent surgery on December 30, 2011, and—despite the fact that full recovery from that type of knee injury usually takes a full year—Peterson returned for Minnesota’s season opener on September 9, 2012, and rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns. That game was just the first in an outstanding season in which he rushed for 2,097 yards (just eight short of Eric Dickerson’s single-season record of 2,105 yards) and 12 touchdowns en route to earning both NFL Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year honors. After ten seasons in Minnesota, Peterson had brief spells with the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals, before joining the Washington Redskins at the start of the 2018 season. With Washington, he rushed for an impressive 1,042 yards and 7 touchdowns that season.