Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson wants to run at the 2016 Olympics (Photo: Thomas Campbell, USA TODAY Sports) Tags - Minnesota Vikings
- Adrian Peterson
Adrian Peterson has another target in his sights beyond breaking Eric Dickerson and the NFL playoffs. His name is Usain Bolt.
The superstar Minnesota Vikings running back told In Depth with Graham Bensinger that he wants to start running track in an attempt to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
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"I feel like I can stand up to any challenge," Peterson said. "I know a lot of people laugh and be like 'come on, let's be real with yourself -- it's Usain Bolt,' but I feel like you can accomplish anything you put your mind to."
Peterson needs 208 yards in Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers to break Dickerson's single-season rushing mark. With 102 yards, he'll become the seventh man to ever exceed 2,000 yards in a season.
He told Bensinger that his plan is to compete in the Penn Relays as an unaffiliated runner and proceed from there. "I want to test the waters and see what I can do."
Peterson's ultimate goal is to run the 200 and/or 400 in Rio.
The track and NFL success of Bob Hayes, James Jett and Michael Bates could be inspirations to Peterson, but there are major differences between those Olympians and Peterson. They were all young men and fresh off college track careers when they competed in the Games. Their NFL future was still ahead of them. Peterson will be 31 years old in 2016 and hasn't run competitively since high school.
As a result, his Olympic dream will likely remain just that. If Peterson ever had a chance to become a world-class sprinter, that time has long past. Then again, no one thought a man coming back from an ACL injury could challenge the single-season rushing record just 12 months later.
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