His dad is a Ga. Southern legend, but he aims to make his own name in Statesboro
Aaden Peterson was in elementary school when he first saw his dad’s college highlights.
While in Chicago as his dad, Adrian Peterson, played eight seasons with the Bears, Aaden watched videos of the elder Peterson dominating as a running back at Georgia Southern. His favorite? It’s an iconic highlight where Peterson blew through most of the Youngstown State defense for a 58-yard run known simply as “The Run.”
When Aaden was 9 years old, he moved to South Georgia, where the legend of his father was created. Aaden went to Southeast Bulloch High, just nine miles from Georgia Southern’s Paulson Stadium.
Aaden has been to more Georgia Southern games than he can even remember, both in Statesboro and on road trips. For the last eight years, his dad has been on the Eagles’ staff in an administrative role.
“Honestly, I don’t even think I could count,” Peterson said of his trips to Paulson. “I mean, it’s a lot, a whole lot.”
Beginning next fall, Peterson will have the opportunity to finally play in the Georgia Southern games he’s spent so much time attending, as he committed to the Eagles on Oct. 1. The Southeast Bulloch senior will play safety in college after playing in all three phases for the Yellow Jackets.
He chose Georgia Southern and coach Clay Helton over offers from Army and Georgia State, among others.
“My recruitment was a little bit up and down because I didn’t know if I wanted to stay near home or go somewhere farther,” Peterson said. “Just talking to coach Helton, and he was explaining to me how staying here, staying near home, and being at Georgia Southern would develop me more than just a player, but more of a person.”
He’s spent so much time at Paulson Stadium and in the Ted Smith Family Football Center, a building that is filled with Adrian Peterson’s legacy. There are two Division I-AA national championship trophies that Peterson played a big part in earning. Peterson’s honors from the Southern Conference and his 1999 Walter Payton Award (given to the best player at the FCS level) are on display. And the No. 3 that he rushed for 7,590 and 93 touchdowns while wearing has been retired by the program.
Adrian Peterson will again be honored in Statesboro on Saturday with the unveiling of a bust just outside Paulson Stadium. His statue will be alongside those of fellow College Football Hall of Famers in former quarterback Tracy Ham and former head coach Paul Johnson, next to a statue of legendary head coach Erk Russell.
“It’s an amazing honor, and I’ve gotta give credit to the university and the athletic staff,” Peterson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week. “My name and image is going to be on showcase forever, and that just shows all that our teams accomplished in my five years at Georgia Southern.”
Peterson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017 and broke numerous NCAA, SoCon and school records during his time with the Eagles. He redshirted his freshman season in 1997 before breaking onto the scene in 1998.
The Eagles won back-to-back national championships in 1999 and 2000.
“We had enough grit and enough discipline and strength to make it back and win it in ’99 and 2000,” Peterson said. “It’s just a process. I even share that with my own kids and other student-athletes and people in general. It’s all about the process.”
Seeing his dad’s legacy in Statesboro is something that has inspired Aaden throughout his playing career. He’s listened to his dad about staying focused on the little things, on and off the field.
And while there might be high expectations, given his last name is the same as one of the best players to ever wear the blue and white, Aaden is ready for the challenge.
“I wouldn’t say there (isn’t) any pressure at all,” he said. “It really excites me. I just want everybody to know that Georgia Southern is getting somebody who shows up every day, works, listens to coaching, and does whatever the team needs. I understand that commitment means more than just saying I want to be there.”
Since his son has been playing football, Adrian and his wife Angela have never forced Aaden to play one position like he did. Aaden plays receiver and defensive back, while also competing for the basketball team and winning the GHSA 3A triple-jump state championship.
He wants his kids to be versatile and prepared for anything, in sports or in life. Those are lessons that his coach Paul Johnson taught him more than 25 years ago in Statesboro.
“There were no special ingredients,” Adrian Peterson said. “I think in this era now, man, I think everybody’s seeking instant gratification, instant celebration, when you kind of forget and lose that life is itself a process.
“I mean, when a baby is born, she doesn’t come out running and jumping. It looks. It sits. It holds (its) head up. It sits up. It inches. It crawls. It stumbles. It falls. It walks. It runs. And you know, I just think that’s life in sports also.”
The slow process paid off for Peterson, who went from riding the bench to winning plenty of honors and becoming a sixth-round NFL Draft pick. It’s paying off for the younger Peterson, too.
“I expect to just be a great person,” Aaden said. “I want to make a name for myself, my own legacy.”