Adrian Peterson, American football player
Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards during the 2004 season. Named a unanimous All-American that year, he became the first freshman to finish as a runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting. Peterson finished his college football career as the Sooners' third all-time leading rusher. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history.
He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings seventh overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he set an NFL record for the most rushing yards in a single game (296) and was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. He was then named the MVP for his performance in the Pro Bowl and became only the fifth player in NFL history to have more than 3,000 yards through his first two seasons. In 2010, he became the fifth-fastest player to run for 5,000 yards, doing so in his 51st game.
Peterson tore both his ACL and MCL in a game in late 2011. Despite that, he would return by the start of the 2012 season and end it with 2,097 rushing yards, just nine yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season record. For his efforts, he received the NFL MVP Award, among others. In 2013, Peterson became the third-fastest player to reach 10,000 rushing yards in NFL history. In 2015, Peterson became the oldest running back to be named first-team All-Pro at 30.
In 2014, Peterson was indicted by a grand jury in Texas on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child that occurred earlier that year, and was suspended for the rest of the season. A free agent coming into the 2017 season, Peterson signed a two-year contract with the New Orleans Saints but was traded to the Arizona Cardinals mid-season before being released following the season's end. Since then, Peterson has played for the Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, and Seattle Seahawks.