Bearing Down with Bears Running Back Adrian Peterson

By Ken Payne
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''Adrian does a great job in practice, and it just carried over,'' running backs coach Tim Spencer said. ''He's a good, solid back we can win with.''

Adrian Peterson is a good solid back a lot of teams can win with.

At 5’10” the former Georgian Southern running back led the Bears with 28 special teams tackles in 2004, showing his strong athletic ability. 28 tackles by a Bears special teams player is the highest since the stat was first tracked in 1995. Peterson has been in the shadows of the Bears first-string running backs in his four years with the Bears since being drafted in the sixth round in 2002, but is very capable of starting and has done so when asked. Truth is; Peterson could be a starting running back on a good handful of NFL teams today. The proof’s in the numbers. Last year Peterson carried the ball 76 times for nearly 400 yards averaging a whopping 5.1 yards per carry.

He began to make a name for himself back in his college days. While attending and playing for Georgia Southern, Peterson was a four-time consensus All-America and All-Southern Conference pick. He broke a school record rushing for over 100 yards in 36 straight games. Peterson set the NCAA scoring record with 524 career points and his 40 career 100-yard regular season performances set an NCAA all-division record.

Athletics always came easy for Peterson. In high school, besides football, Peterson excelled at track, weightlifting and basketball. His brother, Michael, is also a gifted athlete and currently plays linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

As the Bears are just beginning their 2006-07 season, Peterson once again stands on the sidelines as a back up running back to Thomas Jones and an apparently healthy Cedric Benson. But the Bears can rest assured that Peterson can get the job done when his bell rings.


Buzz S&E – How do you think the offense is going so far this season?

Adrian Peterson – I think it’s going good – real good. We’re going to try and carry it over into the rest of the season and start out fast – get it going.

Buzz – Ever since your big 2005 preseason, you seem to have more of a burst. Is that something you worked on?

Adrian – Yes. It’s something I work hard on all the time. I workout hard with the weights but also stretch so I don’t pull any muscles. I try to eat right too since my body is my tool.

Buzz – You guys must have a renewed confidence in Rex Grossman as your starting quarterback after watching him perform in the first couple games.

Adrian – Oh yeah, I would say so. It’s more of a team game so a single person can’t win a game by themselves, but we’re going to give him as much support as humanly possible.

Buzz – Is Thomas Jones somebody that you often talk to as far as game situations or advice? Do you feel you work well together?

Adrian – Oh absolutely. His style of running and my style of running are very similar so we have a lot in common and a lot to talk about.

Buzz – Are there any teams that have surprised you so far this season?

Adrian – No. Well what I mean is, we’re not going to concentrate on what other teams are doing. We’re just going to focus on what we need to do, how we can get better.

Buzz – How about you? Do you have any personal goals you’d like to fulfill this season?

Adrian – Just to do my absolute best. I just need to step up and be ready for whatever is asked of me. It’s a long, tough season and you never know what’s going to happen. So I need to be ready for anything at all times.

Peterson not only has heart on the football field but off as well, as shown when he established the Adrian Peterson Foundation. Peterson’s foundation has created “A.P.’s Day Out in the Boro”, a program that offers a free youth football camp.