And yes, he should be a first-ballot lock
With Jared Allen’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend, the Minnesota Vikings now have 22 members of its franchise in Canton. The wait for #23 should be a relatively short one.
The Class of 2027 should feature several players who will make the Hall of Fame on their first attempt, including former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. The one that fans of the purple will care about, however, is running back Adrian Peterson, who spent the bulk of his career carrying the ball for the Vikings.
The Vikings drafted Peterson with the seventh overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, and he immediately made a huge impact on the Vikings and the NFL. He picked up Rookie of the Year honors in 2007 and is still the last non-quarterback in the league to be named Most Valuable Player, winning the award in 2012 when he came up just short of setting a new single-season rushing record.
Peterson still holds the single-game rushing record with his 297-yard performance against the San Diego Chargers in 2007 and his six 200-yard rushing games in his career is tied for the most in league history. In his ten seasons with Minnesota, he went over the 1,000-yard mark eight times and found the end zone for 102 touchdowns, 97 of which came on the ground.
Though Peterson has not officially retired from the National Football League yet, he’s been out of the league since 2021, having last played for the Seattle Seahawks. He also had stops with the New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, Washington Redskins. . .yes, they were the Redskins when Peterson played there. . .Detroit Lions, and Tennessee Titans. But, obviously, the team that everyone is going to identify Peterson with is the Vikings.
Peterson currently has the fifth-most rushing yards in the history of the NFL with 14,918. He trails only Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, Frank Gore, and Barry Sanders in that category. His 120 career rushing touchdowns currently puts him in fourth in NFL history, behind only Smith, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Marcus Allen. If there was a guy at the running back position who should be a lock first ballot Hall of Famer, it’s Peterson.
The Class of 2026 likely isn’t going to feature anyone with a real, solid connection to the Vikings, but purple fans can gear up for the Class of 2027. . .a class that should feature Adrian Peterson among its members.
