At age 27, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is inching closer to what would be for most running backs the end of the road. But Peterson isn’t most running backs.
The man who has made it all the way back from a torn ACL in less than nine months and who rushed on Sunday for 153 yards said on Monday’s PFT Live that he plans to play until he’s ready to stop. And that apparently won’t be any time soon.
He mentioned guys like Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and Redskins linebacker London Fletcher, both of whom are still going at age 37. And given the punishment regularly absorbed by linebackers, there’s some correlation between the positions.
Still, few running backs continue to perform at a high level beyond their 30th birthday, much less beyond their 35th. With Peterson, however, it wouldn’t be wise to doubt him.
Then again, maybe it would. Doubting him serves only to push him to prove the doubters wrong.
And for those who think that the fact he’s nursing an ankle injury will make it harder for him to play on Thursday night against the Buccaneers, go ahead and doubt him on that, too.