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By BILL COATS
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/10/2009
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops won't soon forget the day he first saw the rock-solid, laser-quick running back from Palestine (Texas) High on film.
"Your jaw hits the floor," Stoops said. "The guy's just so explosive and so powerful, plays so hard. All the positive adjectives you can think of, he was every one of them. It's just exciting to see a guy like that."
Adrian Peterson, the consensus national player of the year as a high school senior and a record-shattering All-American for Stoops at OU, continues to bring the excitement. On Sunday, his venue will be the Edwards Jones Dome, where the winless Rams meet the unbeaten Minnesota Vikings at noon. MORE RAMS
Containing the 6-foot-1, 217-pound Peterson will be the top priority for a defense ranking 24th in the 32-team NFL against the run. Defensive end Chris Long called Peterson "a once-in-a-generation back. ... (He's) going to be our biggest focus."
That was Green Bay's approach, too, on Monday night. It worked — sort of.
The Packers limited Peterson — whose 412 rushing yards are second in the league to the 434 amassed by Tennessee's Chris Johnson — to 55 yards on 22 carries. But quarterback Brett Favre exploited the openings on the outside left by the load-the-box scheme, passing for three touchdowns in a 30-23 victory.
"It's kind of a two-headed monster," Rams defensive coordinator Ken Flajole said. "I'm hoping one of those guys misses the team charter."
'A DIFFERENT BEAST'
College talent scouts swarmed to Palestine, a hardscrabble town of about 18,000 about 110 miles southeast of Dallas, to try to woo this high school phenom, this workout warrior, to their campus. The trek to the Peterson trailer outside of town was challenging.
"When I say I stayed out in the country, I'm talking about the regular street turns to gravel and that street turns to dirt," Peterson said in an interview with Muscle & Fitness magazine, which displayed his rippling physique on its cover.
Peterson built that body despite lacking the money to buy weights. He improvised, using water-filled jugs, jerry-rigged barbells, and doing countless runs up the steepest hill he could find nearby.
He developed his regimen by watching his father, Nelson Peterson, rise at 5:30 every morning to work out. Nelson played basketball at Idaho State; Adrian's mother, Bonita Jackson, was a sprinter at the University of Houston.
Peterson also was steeled by misfortune. He was just 7 when his bicycle-riding brother, 8, was killed by a drunk driver. Adrian witnessed the accident. His step-brother was shot to death. His father spent eight years in prison on a money-laundering conviction.
Still, Peterson kept rolling up yards and luring recruiters to the dusty trailer in the sticks.
After visits to such powerhouse programs as Southern California, Miami, Louisiana State and Texas, Peterson chose Oklahoma in large part because he was impressed with how hard Stoops' players trained.
His freshman year was his best. Peterson piled up a school-record 1,925 rushing yards in 2004, led the Sooners to a 12-0 regular-season record (they lost to USC in the national championship game), and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting. He became OU's first freshman All-American.
Former Nebraska linebacker Jay Moore, a member of the Rams' practice squad, recalled slamming into Peterson on a tackle attempt. "I thought I got him pretty good, and he barely moved," Moore said. "He's just a different beast, a different type of player."
Knee, ankle and collarbone injuries limited Peterson his sophomore and junior years. Still, he produced 4,045 yards in 31 games, averaging 5.4 years per carry, and 41 touchdowns after three seasons at Oklahoma, and decided to enter the NFL draft in 2007.
After the Vikings grabbed him with the seventh selection, Peterson delivered an ominous message to the six teams — Oakland, Detroit, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Arizona and Washington — that picked ahead of Minnesota.
"To all the teams that passed on me ... no hard feelings," he said. "But you're going to sit back one day and be like, 'Man, how did we let this kid go?'"
STRENGTH, CONFIDENCE
San Diego must have wondered that, too, after Peterson lit up the Chargers for an NFL-record 296 yards in just the eighth game of his rookie year. Despite missing two games, Peterson rushed for 1,341 yards, earned the league's rookie of the year award, and was selected for the Pro Bowl.
Last year, he topped the NFL with 1,760 yards on the ground, a Vikings record. He was named the Bert Bell Player of the Year and again spent a week in Hawaii with the league's all-stars.
Peterson is a rare combination of power, speed and instinct. Ken Kanavy, the Vikings' strength and conditioning coach, said Peterson has above-average upper-body strength but "through the roof" strength in his legs.
"I don't know if 'physical fitness nut' is the right expression, but he's a gym rat," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "He takes care of himself. He really works in the offseason."
Peterson, 24, is comfortable declaring himself the best player in the game.
"I play this game to be the best — not only the best back but the best player," he said. "If I looked at it any other way, I'd be cheating myself."
A burner who says he would give world-record sprinter Usain Bolt "a run for his money," Peterson slams into a hole without hesitation and punishes would-be tacklers.
"He just refuses to go down," said Rams defensive end C.J. Ah You, a former teammate at Oklahoma. "He's relentless."
Peterson explained that he enjoys "delivering the blow, setting the tempo. Then guys know what tempo the game is going to be. It's going to be a physical game, so ... get prepared for it."
Will the Rams be prepared for Peterson on Sunday? They certainly know what they're in for.
"He's got a mean stiff-arm, he does not want to come down, and he's going to find a hole somewhere," coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "I see big-time determination when he's running the football. ...
"He is one productive back."
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/10/2009
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops won't soon forget the day he first saw the rock-solid, laser-quick running back from Palestine (Texas) High on film.
"Your jaw hits the floor," Stoops said. "The guy's just so explosive and so powerful, plays so hard. All the positive adjectives you can think of, he was every one of them. It's just exciting to see a guy like that."
Adrian Peterson, the consensus national player of the year as a high school senior and a record-shattering All-American for Stoops at OU, continues to bring the excitement. On Sunday, his venue will be the Edwards Jones Dome, where the winless Rams meet the unbeaten Minnesota Vikings at noon. MORE RAMS
Containing the 6-foot-1, 217-pound Peterson will be the top priority for a defense ranking 24th in the 32-team NFL against the run. Defensive end Chris Long called Peterson "a once-in-a-generation back. ... (He's) going to be our biggest focus."
That was Green Bay's approach, too, on Monday night. It worked — sort of.
The Packers limited Peterson — whose 412 rushing yards are second in the league to the 434 amassed by Tennessee's Chris Johnson — to 55 yards on 22 carries. But quarterback Brett Favre exploited the openings on the outside left by the load-the-box scheme, passing for three touchdowns in a 30-23 victory.
"It's kind of a two-headed monster," Rams defensive coordinator Ken Flajole said. "I'm hoping one of those guys misses the team charter."
'A DIFFERENT BEAST'
College talent scouts swarmed to Palestine, a hardscrabble town of about 18,000 about 110 miles southeast of Dallas, to try to woo this high school phenom, this workout warrior, to their campus. The trek to the Peterson trailer outside of town was challenging.
"When I say I stayed out in the country, I'm talking about the regular street turns to gravel and that street turns to dirt," Peterson said in an interview with Muscle & Fitness magazine, which displayed his rippling physique on its cover.
Peterson built that body despite lacking the money to buy weights. He improvised, using water-filled jugs, jerry-rigged barbells, and doing countless runs up the steepest hill he could find nearby.
He developed his regimen by watching his father, Nelson Peterson, rise at 5:30 every morning to work out. Nelson played basketball at Idaho State; Adrian's mother, Bonita Jackson, was a sprinter at the University of Houston.
Peterson also was steeled by misfortune. He was just 7 when his bicycle-riding brother, 8, was killed by a drunk driver. Adrian witnessed the accident. His step-brother was shot to death. His father spent eight years in prison on a money-laundering conviction.
Still, Peterson kept rolling up yards and luring recruiters to the dusty trailer in the sticks.
After visits to such powerhouse programs as Southern California, Miami, Louisiana State and Texas, Peterson chose Oklahoma in large part because he was impressed with how hard Stoops' players trained.
His freshman year was his best. Peterson piled up a school-record 1,925 rushing yards in 2004, led the Sooners to a 12-0 regular-season record (they lost to USC in the national championship game), and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting. He became OU's first freshman All-American.
Former Nebraska linebacker Jay Moore, a member of the Rams' practice squad, recalled slamming into Peterson on a tackle attempt. "I thought I got him pretty good, and he barely moved," Moore said. "He's just a different beast, a different type of player."
Knee, ankle and collarbone injuries limited Peterson his sophomore and junior years. Still, he produced 4,045 yards in 31 games, averaging 5.4 years per carry, and 41 touchdowns after three seasons at Oklahoma, and decided to enter the NFL draft in 2007.
After the Vikings grabbed him with the seventh selection, Peterson delivered an ominous message to the six teams — Oakland, Detroit, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Arizona and Washington — that picked ahead of Minnesota.
"To all the teams that passed on me ... no hard feelings," he said. "But you're going to sit back one day and be like, 'Man, how did we let this kid go?'"
STRENGTH, CONFIDENCE
San Diego must have wondered that, too, after Peterson lit up the Chargers for an NFL-record 296 yards in just the eighth game of his rookie year. Despite missing two games, Peterson rushed for 1,341 yards, earned the league's rookie of the year award, and was selected for the Pro Bowl.
Last year, he topped the NFL with 1,760 yards on the ground, a Vikings record. He was named the Bert Bell Player of the Year and again spent a week in Hawaii with the league's all-stars.
Peterson is a rare combination of power, speed and instinct. Ken Kanavy, the Vikings' strength and conditioning coach, said Peterson has above-average upper-body strength but "through the roof" strength in his legs.
"I don't know if 'physical fitness nut' is the right expression, but he's a gym rat," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "He takes care of himself. He really works in the offseason."
Peterson, 24, is comfortable declaring himself the best player in the game.
"I play this game to be the best — not only the best back but the best player," he said. "If I looked at it any other way, I'd be cheating myself."
A burner who says he would give world-record sprinter Usain Bolt "a run for his money," Peterson slams into a hole without hesitation and punishes would-be tacklers.
"He just refuses to go down," said Rams defensive end C.J. Ah You, a former teammate at Oklahoma. "He's relentless."
Peterson explained that he enjoys "delivering the blow, setting the tempo. Then guys know what tempo the game is going to be. It's going to be a physical game, so ... get prepared for it."
Will the Rams be prepared for Peterson on Sunday? They certainly know what they're in for.
"He's got a mean stiff-arm, he does not want to come down, and he's going to find a hole somewhere," coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "I see big-time determination when he's running the football. ...
"He is one productive back."
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