As Vikings great Adrian Peterson enters Ring of Honor, reflecting on his career

As Vikings great Adrian Peterson enters Ring of Honor, reflecting on his career By KSTP Adrian Peterson enters the Ring of Honor Adrian Peterson joined the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor after a decade that made him one of the franchise’s most productive players ever. Peterson received the honor at halftime of Monday night’s game after a 10-year run with the Vikings that included nearly 12,000 rushing yards, almost 100 touchdowns and the NFL MVP award in 2012. “It’s amazing, man. You know, like, yeah, I played this game to, to be the best to ever do it and to inspire people. I couldn’t have been drafted by a better organization and, better fan base,” Peterson said. MORE: Minnesota Vikings Coverage Peterson set an early mark in his fifth NFL game, when he broke the team record with 224 rushing yards in a win in Chicago. Three weeks later in 2007, he set the NFL single-game rushing record with 296 yards in a win over the Chargers at the Metrodome. “It was kind of fun to do it at the Chargers because they had LaDainian Tomlinson at the time. Norv Turner was the coach who’s always had a very big respect for the run game when he was at the Cowboys with Emmitt Smith, so doing it against them was kind of special,” former head coach Brad Childress said. His 2012 season added another milestone. Peterson tore his left ACL on Christmas Eve late in the 2011 season, then returned in 9 months for Week 1 and won the NFL MVP award. “Some guys are better on turf, some guys are better on grass, but it didn’t matter the surface with Adrian. It just didn’t matter. Whatever surface you put him on, he was gonna be the best player on the, on the field,” former coach Leslie Frazier said. Peterson finished his Vikings career with 123 games, 11,747 yards and 97 touchdowns. He remains the last non-quarterback to win the NFL MVP award. Hall of Fame next? “My rookie year, so it was— became normal for me to watch him run for 100, 200 yards a game. The way that he ran was— it was— he kind of had everything,” former teammate Harrison Smith said. “I’m sure there’s another ring, another honor coming for him, when that Hall of Fame calls, because that day will come as well,” Frazier said. Peterson should learn in February whether he will enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio as soon as next summer.