Adrian Peterson (Chicago Bears)

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For the University of Oklahoma running back, see Adrian L. Peterson.

Adrian Peterson
Date of birth	July 1, 1979
Place of birth	Gainesville, Florida
Position(s)	Running back
College	Georgia Southern
NFL Draft	2002 / Round 6/ Pick 199
Statistics	NFL.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
2002-present	Chicago Bears

Adrian Peterson (born July 1, 1979 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American football running back. He currently plays for the Chicago Bears as the third string running back behind Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson. Peterson is known to some for his abilities to break tackles when playing at running back. He has also served as a special teams standout for the Chicago Bears the past few years.

Adrian Peterson was a two-time all-state, all-area selection and team MVP at Santa Fe High School in Alachua, Florida where he rushed for 4,949 yards during his prep career to earn All-America honors from ESPN and Blue Chip Illustrated. Peterson ran for 1,526 yards and 17 TDs on 185 carries (8.2 avg.) to earn Florida Class 4A Player-of-the-Year honors as a senior. He also lettered four times in track and two times each in weightlifting and basketball while in high school.

During the late 1990s, Peterson played for Georgia Southern University, one of the most successful NCAA Division I-AA football programs in the country. He finished his career with 6,559 rushing yards, a Division I football record, and won the Walter Payton Award in 1999. He was the first sophomore to win the award for most outstanding player in I-AA football. Peterson finished among the top three votegetters for the Walter Payton Award in all four of his college football seasons. He was selected in the sixth round (199th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears.

[edit] "The Run"

Peterson is well known for a particular play known to some as "The Run", in which he broke numerous tackles and even threw one defender to the ground during a 58 yard rushing play. "The Run" took place during the 1999 NCAA National Championship game versus Youngstown State University in which Georgia Southern won 59-24.

He is the younger brother of Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Mike Peterson.