When Vikings running back Adrian Peterson reported to training camp last summer, everyone was curious to see how his torn ACL would hold up on the field.
By now, you know that Peterson’s knee was just fine as the back came within nine yards of setting a new single-season rushing record. What you probably don’t know is that the knee wasn’t the only health obstacle Peterson had to deal with last year. It might not have even wound up being the biggest one.
Peterson told Jim Corbett of USA Today that a bowl of gumbo almost threw a major wrench into his 2012 season. Peterson ate the gumbo, which included shrimp among its ingredients, and a short time later started having trouble breathing because of a previously unknown allergy that threw Peterson into anaphylactic shock.
“I thought I was Superman until I experienced that life-changing anaphylactic shock,’' Peterson said. “I was eating lunch and gobbled down a couple of bowls of gumbo. Then, 15 minutes later, I’m in my dorm room resting up. My eyes started itching and my throat was swelling up. I could barely breathe.”
Peterson called Vikings trainer Eric Sugarman, who injected him with an EpiPen before Peterson went to the hospital. Peterson now carries two EpiPens with him at all times should he have another attack, although he’s doing his best to avoid them by avoiding the shellfish that had been his favorite food. Anyone who enjoys seafood knows how tough that must be, but it’s a small price to pay given the potentially fatal outcome from indulging in a lobster roll on a summer evening.
The good news for the Vikings and Peterson is that this is unlikely to affect him on the field unless a defensive coordinator decides to replace his players’ helmets with lobster shells.