In pro football circles, there is a school of thought that the featured running back is about to become extinct.
Some contend that when Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson hangs up his cleats it will be the end of the era, with so many teams converted to a running backs-by-committee approach in the pass-first NFL.
So, when the Falcons (6-4) face the Vikings (7-3) at 1 p.m. Sunday, it will offer a chance to see one of the last great featured running backs.
Peterson hopes that’s not the case, but he recognizes the trend around the league.
“I try to inspire backs to be better than me,” Peterson said. “You know, to be great. I hope there is a 5- or 6-year-old kid watching now that’s saying, I want to be just like Peterson. I want to better than Peterson. In the future we’ll see another back like me.”
Peterson has rushed for 11,196 yards since he was drafted in 2007 out of Oklahoma. He has 1,006 through 10 games this season after missing 15 games in 2014 because of a suspension coming out of a child-abuse case.
The past year has been rough for Peterson, who considered retiring and pursuing another career. But he decided to come back to football and try to keep setting the standard at his position.
Peterson acknowledges that it was tough living through the suspension and having a lot of personal dirty laundry aired in public.
“Just the desire and will, in my mind, to be the best to ever play,” Peterson said, when asked why he came back. “Just realizing the talent that God blessed me with. The same thing that has got me to where I’m at now on through high school, college and now. There were times where I wavered and I wanted to get into track and things like that, but that didn’t keep me from working on my body and making sure that my body was prepared for whatever I was going to take on.”
The Vikings are elated to have him back.
“He’s good,” Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said. “He’s running the ball with violence. He has great vision. Anytime you get a guy with his ability that can add to the things you can do offensively. It’s really been a great thing for us, our football team and our organization.”
It was a rough year for Zimmer, too. He was in his first season as Minnesota’s coach and lost his top running back to off-the-field issues. Despite the loss, the Vikings compiled a 7-9 record.
“Like everything in the NFL, you try to move on and get going,” Zimmer said. “We’ve had our things this year as well. It’s just part of the NFL football season. But yeah, it’s nice to have him back. The players love him. I love him. So, it’s good to have him.”
When Peterson looks at the Falcons, he sees promising young backs in Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. At one point Freeman led the league in rushing this season, but Peterson has since taken the lead.
With Freeman in the league’s concussion protocol, Coleman and backup Terron Ward are expected to carry the rushing load against the Vikings.
“I do like them,” said Peterson of Freeman and Coleman. “They are definitely on (ESPN’s) “SportsCenter” a lot. Those guys are doing incredible jobs. They are young guys as well. I’m always rooting for guys, especially at the running back position, especially when they are doing big things.”
Peterson, 30, doesn’t appear to be slowing at the age when most running backs start to show signs of wear and tear. He’ll likely have to play at a high level for three more years to catch Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, with 18,355 yards.
Like the Falcons, the Vikings are trying to rebound from a tough loss. They were beaten by their rival Green Bay last week, 30-13.
“We just have to realize that we have those guys again,” Peterson said. “Swallow that pill, which is always tough. But we just have to focus on Atlanta right now.”
Peterson doesn’t expect his yards to come easily against the Falcons.
“One thing that I’ve noticed is that they are a fast-flowing defense,” Peterson said. “Those guys run to the ball. They like to bring pressure. The play fast and physical. They like to rip at the ball a lot.
“They are good. They are real good. I just get excited to play against a defense like the one that will be present.”
Falcons coach Dan Quinn, who played with the hard-charging Marshawn Lynch in Seattle, has a great deal of respect for Peterson.
“I have coached against him before, and you have to be really disciplined,” Quinn said. “He’s a really special player in our league and one that we hold in really high regard. As far as a better way, or a unique way to stop him, if there was a blueprint for that, it would have been spread all around the defenses in the league.
“I don’t think anyone has one of those. But I do know this, you better be really disciplined in your approach and how you play, because he’s able to take a run that goes inside or outside, or a 4-yard and turn it into a 40-yard run really fast. I don’t know if there’s a unique plan, but the discipline and gap control has to be on point.”
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