Washington running back Adrian Peterson has defied the conventional age norms for his position.
And he credits former teammate Brett Favre for the inspiration.
During an interview with Favre on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Peterson said the former Vikings (and well, OK Packers) quarterback showed him what it meant to put in the time to prepare as an older man in a young man’s game.
“You know what it takes,” Peterson told Favre, via Scott Allen of the Washington Post. “I had the opportunity to play with you in 2009, and still to this day, I haven’t felt wind go by my ear from any other passer. That was at 40 years old; at practice you threw the ball so hard, wind went by as the receiver was coming by to catch the ball. That season you had was just spectacular and amazing. Being around you, too, even motivated me more to know that I could play this game as long as I felt I could, and not allowing people to box me in. . . .
“You are a great example, so for me, that was something that I wanted to continue to do throughout my career. Coming in and watching you be the professional that you were at your age, the way that you practiced.”
In that 2009 season with the Vikings, Favre had his last good year, throwing for 4,202 yards, 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions, leading them to the NFC Championship Game. Peterson ran for 1,383 yards and 18 touchdowns that season.
Peterson’s still running well for Washington, and the 33-year-old is on pace to top 1,000 yards (923 through 14 games). That’s made him think he can keep doing it well into the future, having seen how that works well into the future.
