The Pro Bowl is over and now next up is Saturday February 2nd in which major football awards will be handed out. The time of all the talk and speculation will finally be over and the person that has been voted for will be accepting their award.
The last time a Vikings player was MVP of the league I was 10 years old. Fran Tarkenton was league MVP in 1975 and 4 years before that Alan Page was MVP.
The stats that Adrian produced were mind boggling. He is laying on Fed Ex Field in Washington D.C. on Christmas Eve in 2011 and then 2012 we all saw him come within 9 yards of breaking Eric Dickerson’s record. I for one fully believe we will see this record come down yet.
I am going to list 9 stats of just what he did to remind you all of just how great he was during the 2012 season. It seems each week we saw records fall so to look at a compiled list for the year is easier to take in and say wow a million times. These are not in any order.
1) Peterson is the first Vikings running back to lead the NFL in rushing twice (2008 and 2012.) It is unbelievable with the thought he had to beat at the minimum of 31 other running backs and the names he topped these seasons even more awesome.
2) Peterson has 2- 82 yard runs which are his career long with the first one at Green Bay on Dec 2nd and two weeks later at St. Louis. There are guys who are lucky to get 82 yards in a game let alone in one run. The thing on this stat is they were both done on the road.
3) The stat of 7 runs of 50 yard runs in one season tying Barry Sanders. The thought on this is all defenses were keying on Adrian with 8 to 9 in the box and yet he still gets 50 or more.
4) The stat of from Week 7 to Week 15 Peterson had 1313 yards. This is the most yards rushing by a player in a span of 8 weeks. The thought here is the NFL is a violent game with guys wearing down as the season goes. This gets thrown out the window as Adrian did this from mid-season to 2 weeks from the end of the season. It just makes this stat even more eye opening of when the record occurred.
5) A stat that runs of the same period of time Week 7-15 Peterson set a team record with 8 straight 100 yard games.
6) Adrian came in as rookie in 2007 and now in 2012 he has scored at least 10 touchdowns in each of his 6 seasons. He keeps on making fantasy owners smile with his yardage and touchdowns. This season he seemed to have dropped because of the fear of the injury he suffered. He showed the world a lot of hard work and determination can go a long ways and now possibly MVP.
7) The stat of 2097 is awesome but even more is the next guy behind him by almost 500 yards with 484 to be exact. Washington’s Alfred Morris finished second. Peterson also led the league in total scrimmage yards with 2314. Detroit Lion’s Calvin Johnson had a NFL record breaking year yet he too fell short of AP by 350 yards.
8) Peterson reached 8000 yards for his career this season. He is the 45th player to do so but the 6th fastest to reach it in just 85 games. If this guy can stay healthy each year will bring Vikings fans more to talk about and wonder can this guy be human.
9) The last stat is he averaged 131 yards per game which comes first in team history beating his old record in 2008 by 21 yards.
The man did everything a team needed and more. He is a breath of fresh air with his attitude. The money these players get paid is insane but if they are going to give it out Peterson deserves every cent.
The involvement in the community he does is so nice to see a guy help people less fortunate than him.
I know Peyton Manning has much going for him but with Peterson he more than helped a team go from 3-13 to 10-6 with so much of his ground game fighting the odds of defenses stacking the box. The yardage numbers were huge and the fumbles were down with all those hands ripping away at the ball.
I believe we have the league MVP but also will take it one step further as he is my choice for comeback player of the year. I believe he will need help carrying the awards to his vehicle after the show.
Saturday is coming soon and I cannot wait to see the smile coming onto the stage when he accepts the award.
His resume goes like this in 2007 Rookie of the Year and 2012 MVP
MVP can stand for NFL voters join Minnesota votes Peterson
Thanks for reading
Purplestick
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