NFL Football
Too Good To Fumble
By Eric D. Graham, BASN Staff Reporter
Feb 1, 2010

NORTH CAROLINA (BASN) -- Minnesota Vikings Adrian Peterson is known as the god of the gridiron. His gruesome ground attack puts fear in the hearts of some defensive backs as he bulldozes his way down the field.

His running style has been described as violent.

Many say he reminds them of Detroit Lions’ Barry Sanders because of the way he makes those quick cuts against the grain at a drop of a dime and gets up field.

Others, however say he reminds them of O.J. Simpson with a twist of Eric Dickerson the way he glides through the arms of “would be” tacklers and gallops down field.

This past season, Peterson, the 6-foot-1, 217 pound running back in his third season in the NFL had 1,383 yards on 314 attempts with 18 touchdowns.

Despite his impressive numbers, many people think Peterson may have tarnished his young career with his three fumble performance against the New Orleans Saints in the  NFC Championship game last Sunday in which the Vikings lost in overtime.

Even though stat wise Peterson rushed for 122 yards on 25 carries with three touchdowns and wasn’t officially charged with a fumble during the NFC Championship game.

He unfortunately did put the football on the ground three times which led Viking head coach Brad Childress to bench him momentarily during the contest.

Peterson who has fumbled 20 times in his three year career in the league has been compared to former New Yprk Giant Tiki Barber, who in a four-year span fumbled 35 times in his outstanding career.

Surprisingly, Chicago Bear Hall of Famer Walter Payton, who also had a fumbling problem, coughed the ball up 30 times in a three-year span of his career.

With that said, Peterson's name is amongst two of the greatest running backs in the history of the NFL. All he has to do now is to learn how to protect the “rock” and keep running between tackles.

If he does that, next year he could find himself in the Super Bowl and not standing on the sidelines.