Even after 14 seasons in the NFL, running back Adrian Peterson still feels “young.” The veteran has yet to land a deal, but he’s still intent on playing in 2021. has plans to play a 15th season in the NFL. He’s just waiting for the right opportunity. 
With less than two weeks until training camps begin, Peterson updated his status on finding his next team. Peterson still hopes to play for a Super Bowl contender, but is taking his time until a team comes around.
“The training is going well and I’m going to control the things that I can control right now, and, when that time comes, somebody will give me a call,” Peterson said (via Aaron Wilson of SportsTalk 790). “That’s all I’m asking for. My body feels good. I came out healthy from last season. My body feels strong. I still feel young. I still feel good. I’m ready to play ball.”
Peterson, 36, previously expressed interest in re-signing with the Lions, but we haven’t heard much on that frnt lately.Signed to a veteran-minimum deal, Peterson made 10 starts for the Lions and gained 604 yards on the ground (3.9 per carry). He has added seven touchdowns with Detroit, increasing his 14-year total to 124.
Now, he’s just 180 rushing yards shy of 15,000 for his career. Currently, only Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, Frank Gore and Barry Sanders reside in the 15,000-yard club. And, with another ~500 yards, he’ll eclipse Sanders for fourth all time. Meanwhile, with another six rushing touchdowns, he’ll top Marcus Allen for third on the list.
“The training is going well and I’m going to control the things that I can control right now, and, when that time comes, somebody will give me a call,” Peterson said. “That’s all I’m asking for. My body feels good. I came out healthy from last season. My body feels strong. I still feel young. I still feel good. I’m ready to play ball.”
“Adrian Peterson plans to play in 2021” just not professional football in the NFL.
Ehhh, Peterson can still contribute to the right team, just obviously not as a starting back. I know that’s counter to his playstyle as a volume ball carrier, but there are teams (like his old team in Washington) who could could use a reliable insurance policy to spell a younger starter. I would be hardly surprised to see Peterson get a look one teams figure out where they stand immediately prior to the season. Peterson is certainly past his prime, but for a cheap deal with a young starter already semi-in place, why not bring in a top ten rusher all time to contribute? As long as Peterson isn’t relied upon to shoulder a team, he has the experience and pedigree to help tutor a younger running back room along.
I hope he gets that opportunity to top 15 K and then grind on to surpass the great Barry Sanders (yards) and Marcus Allen (TDs), the latter of which should make OJ Simpson happy. If AD had not lost a season to injury and then behavior, he’d likely would finish as the second all-time leading rusher.
He had a realistic shot at catching Emmitt. Considering his production his first 4 seasons and his last 3, and the fact that he has played 14 seasons, it is easy to imagine him with another 3,000 yards by now. He would be very close. Nobody else has had a chance since Emmitt set the record and it might never be broken. The only ones on the radar now are Zeke Elliott and Derrick Henry and they have a long way to go.
Just wait for preseason games….somebody will go down and he’ll get signed.
As great as these other running backs mentioned are or were, Barry Sanders was so much better than any of them. Unreal talent.
I still consider Jim Brown the best. If you look at those old grainy black and white highlights you see how completely he dominated and demoralized defenders. Many times you can see opponents just quit on plays knowing they had no hope of stopping him.
There is a valid argument that the defenders Brown played against were slower and much smaller than the ones Sanders played against. Brown was as big as most of the guys trying to tackle him. I have the all-time top-3 Sanders, Payton, Brown.
The counter argument is of course that players back then did have the technology or financial resources to build their bodies the way they do now. It all scales, of course. Backs like Christian Okoye, Brandon Jacobs, or Ferome Bettina never carried guys the way Jim Brown did, and they were much larger (especially in Okoye’s or Jacobs’ case) than most people trying to bring them down. Marion Motley, an all time great back who was also huge, was not as dominant as Brown in that era either. So it was not a simple matter of size for Brown. He was a load to be sure, but he also made his yards through whatever other factors made him great. Sanders was a ghost, Emmitt was a machine, Brown was a sledgehammer.
Of coarse he wants to play…’The idiots flat broke.
Million dollar athlete with a nickel brain.
He’s made countless millions more than me in his life and I have more net worth in my money clip than he has in his entire estate.
By all means, continue patting yourself on the back for being amazing and judging someone else’s finances. It totally doesn’t reek of professional jealousy or anything.
I bet he’s had more fun than you, you jackass.
Hey, easy guys, easy. We don’t know the size of his money clip yet.
And yes forwhomjoshbelltolled……Barry was amazing!!
We were lucky to have seen him play!!
Plus he did leave early. Sanders could have played longer.
yea RIP to a great one
Easy, he’s not dead yet.
He can’t suit up for Detroit again AND eclipse Barry. That would be sacrilegious.