Adrian Peterson hopes to play through 2023

Posted by Mike Florio on June 24, 2020, 6:28 AM EDT
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There’s someone else in Washington hoping for four more years.

Running back Adrian Peterson, who entered the league in 2007 as a first-round pick of the Vikings, told TMZ that he hopes to play through 2023.

“Man, why not four more years?” Peterson said. “Why not?”

Peterson ultimately wants to have no regrets.

“I don’t want to ever be in a position where I look back and say, ‘Man, I should have played two more years, I should of played another year.’ I want to enjoy it. I’m still chasing a championship. You know, I can still play the game at a high level.”

Peterson has 14,216 career rushing yards, 4,139 behind Emmitt Smith for the all-time record. And so Peterson needs to average 1,035 yards per year to catch Emmitt.

Don’t bet against him. Peterson rushed for 898 yards in 2019, and 1,042 in 2018. Besides, if he’s close after 2023, maybe he’ll come back for one more season.

That said, he’s now 35 years old. The biggest challenge will be to find a team that will give him a chance to be on the team and to get sufficient opportunities to run the ball in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

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36 responses to “Adrian Peterson hopes to play through 2023”

  2. Regrets? How could one have regrets if you’re paid to take two years off and return to a huge raise?

  4. I watched Frank Gore in Buffalo at that age. The heart just can’t make the legs go like before.

  6. The real question is will he be productive or just in desperate need of a paycheck?

  9. For as great as he is, I pray he doesn’t regret that he did not quit three years ago, or what ever that number is. No one wants to see another Mike Webster…

  12. He could easily play 10 more seasons if he got to play the hapless packer defense twice a season again.

  13. I believe he has the genetics for the longevity and productivity.
    But he just will not get enough touches on a team with many other talented, younger, quicker backs to be able to gain very much yardage.

    That being said, if there is anyone I would NOT bet against, it’s a guy who tore his ACL and came back the next season to only miss breaking the all time season rushing record by 9 yards… and only because he ran out of time at the end of the last game.

  14. I was going to write a snarky comment until I realized the man has a goal and plan to reach it. That is a key to success in life. He may not hit his target, but kudos for putting himself on record as willing to try.

  15. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

    When there’s a need for cash flow, 96 Pete will play.

  16. Putting aside the fact that it’s Adrian Peterson saying this, an athlete has every right to play for as long as an owner is willing to write him a check and a coach is willing to put him on the field. Even if the fans at home are laughing at him and the fans in the stadium are heckling him, it’s his livelihood, and his family he’s working hard for. These athletes are able to change the entire fortune of their families and blood-line with their talent, may as well milk it for every last second you can.

  18. Thank you and good points 2ruefan and 12brichandfamous. Exactly, having watched AP his entire Vikings career (obviously) we saw a lot of ups and downs. But I’ll tell you one thing we learned time and time again – you do NOT bet against Adrian Peterson. He is honestly the only player in the league who when he says I can do this, I believe it.

    He’s had a broken collarbone, broken legs, ankles, it doesn’t matter. He heals freakishly fast and then that injury is never an issue again, doesn’t slow him down at all. I’m not sure he can pass Emmitt, but he can definitely jump a few more spots up.

  19. shemp63 says:
    June 24, 2020 at 7:19 am
    I watched Frank Gore in Buffalo at that age. The heart just can’t make the legs go like before.
    <
    <
    As great of a career as Gore has had, he is just not the physical specimen that Peterson is.

  20. Peterson has mentioned before that his Dad and uncle’s are still ripped with 6pack abs in their 50’s and 60’s. His lack of pass catching/blocking ability is the only thing that will hold him back from getting the opportunities to have big roles on teams going forward.

  21. As I Redskins fan, I was skeptical when he first signed here. But AP has been one of their most productive players on offense.

    Last year, I expected him to lose a step. He really didn’t.

    No, he’s not the same AP from 7 or 8 years ago, but he’s still very good. He is in great shape and fights for every yard.

    I don’t see him playing 4 years more, but he’ll definitely still be productive for another 2 years or so.

  22. Funny to see a bunch of fans think they have a right to tell someone to ‘give up’, ‘hang up the cleats’ and ‘pack it in’. Probably the same people who gave up on their dreams at the first notion of criticism, and now think watching sports and drinking beer on their couch is living “the good life”.

  23. I have watched AD closely since her first game in the league. He has lost nothing. Last year he was juking guys, powering past guys, out running guys. He is the one guy in Washington who deserves four more years.

  24. Well he does have plenty of outstanding debt. I firmly believe he’ll play through 2023 out of necessity, not desire.

  25. Brobokil says:
    June 24, 2020 at 9:28 am
    Thank you and good points 2ruefan and 12brichandfamous. Exactly, having watched AP his entire Vikings career (obviously) we saw a lot of ups and downs. But I’ll tell you one thing we learned time and time again – you do NOT bet against Adrian Peterson. He is honestly the only player in the league who when he says I can do this, I believe it.

    He’s had a broken collarbone, broken legs, ankles, it doesn’t matter. He heals freakishly fast and then that injury is never an issue again, doesn’t slow him down at all. I’m not sure he can pass Emmitt, but he can definitely jump a few more spots up.
    —————–
    All that is true, but he is also the guy who with the biggest games on the line he will let you down every time. After also watching his whole carrer he is the one that cost the vikings a trip to the Super Bowl with about 5 fumbles in that game. Nobody would be talking about Blair Walsh’s miss had he held onto the ball a drive or two earlier. He’s great, just not in the biggest moments, those he will let you down every time.

  26. if he wanted a championship he woulda bit the bullet and played his role on that 2017 Saints team. He had talent and couldve helped us win games as the change up power back. But 10 touches a game was not enough for him and he had to try and fight the coaches. By the playoffs we were sorely lacking runningbacks and couldve used him.

  27. He is a freak of nature. Watching him in MN those first few years was something — incredible combination of vision, size, strength and speed. Age always wins though, and the RBs that last well into their 30’s usually have more receiving and pass protection skills than AP. The ones that last also are usually willing to be used less and accept lesser non-starting roles, and AP hasn’t been too good with that in the past (ie, the Saints). Nonetheless, I wish him luck.

  28. toothfairyretributionmanifesto says:
    June 24, 2020 at 9:34 am
    Peterson has mentioned before that his Dad and uncle’s are still ripped with 6pack abs in their 50’s and 60’s. His lack of pass catching/blocking ability is the only thing that will hold him back from getting the opportunities to have big roles on teams going forward.

    —–

    You would think with Peterson’s size that he would be a punishing blocker

  31. Makes you really appreciate the nfl rushing record and what guys like Walter Payton and emmitt smith endured to get it.

  32. Prime vs Prime the only other running back in history better than AP is Jim Brown. I hope he does keep playing. He’s got the heart, if the body will hold up.

  33. Wondering how much closer he’d be to the rushing record if the league hadn’t suspended him for the entire 2014 season.

  34. From a talent perspective, I’m surprised he’s still playing. From a financial perspective, I’m not surprised at all. He’s chasing dollars, since he has managed to save nothing along the way. What a great example of financial irresponsibility.

  35. I’d love it if AP came back to the Vikings to play one last season as a backup, change of pace back.

  36. Somebody can double-check if they’d like, but as good as Peterson played against the Packers when they regularly played twice per year from 2007 through 2015, the Vikings’ record against the Packers during that time was 4-13-1.

    Scoreboard.

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