Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985 in
Palestine, Texas), nicknamed A.D. ("All Day") and
"Purple Jesus" is a professional American football
running back for the Minnesota Vikings of the
National Football League (NFL). He played college
football as a running back for three years at the
University of Oklahoma. At Oklahoma, Peterson set
the NCAA freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards as
a first team All-American, when he also set the
freshman record of runner-up in the Heisman Trophy
balloting, and finished as the school's third
all-time leading rusher.
Peterson was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with
the seventh overall pick in the first round of the
2007 NFL Draft. Coming into the league, he was known
as a tall, upright runner possessing an ultra-rare
combination of speed, strength, agility, size, and
vision, along with a highly aggressive attitude
towards contact. His rare talent as both a great
breakaway and power runner has often raised
comparisons to past legends, including Eric
Dickerson, O.J. Simpson, Gale Sayers, and Jim Brown.
As a rookie in the NFL, he has broken numerous
franchise and league records for rushing yardage,
foremost being the NFL single-game rushing record
when he ran for 296 yards on 30 carries on November
4, 2007, against the San Diego Chargers. Following
his stellar first pro season, Peterson was a
near-unanimous choice as the NFL Offensive Rookie of
the Year. In the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl, Peterson rushed
for 129 yards and two touchdowns, achieving the
second highest rushing total in Pro Bowl history.
Peterson was awarded the MVP award for his
performance in the Pro Bowl, which led to a 42-30
victory over the AFC.
Peterson comes from an athletic family; his father
was a college basketball player at Idaho State
University and his mother was a track and field
sprinter at the University of Houston. His uncle,
Ivory Lee Brown, played one season in the NFL for
the Phoenix Cardinals in 1992. Adrian Peterson has
dealt with family crisis throughout his life. He was
thirteen years old when his father was sentenced to
ten years in prison for money laundering in
connection with illegal drugs. Nelson Peterson
served nearly eight years of his prison sentence and
was released in October 2006. Adrian Peterson's
brother, Brian Peterson, was killed at the age of
nine by a drunk driver while riding a bicycle. His
stepbrother, Chris Paris, was shot and killed in
Houston, Texas, one day before Adrian's
participation in the 2007 NFL Scouting Combine.
He has one daughter, Adeja. He currently resides in
Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis,
Minnesota, with his brother, Derrick Peterson.
