Jim Brown is a harsh critic when it comes to judging running backs, so if you receive a compliment from him, you know you’ve done something really special. And Adrian Peterson definitely has earned the respect of arguably the greatest running back of all time.
Brown spoke with the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson for a phone interview and said he believes Peterson can break Emmitt Smith’s career rushing record of 18,355 yards.
“If he wants that and he dedicates himself and he has good fortune, that’s a great possibility,” Brown told Tomasson.
“He’s a great football player,” Brown said of Peterson. “He’s always been a real fine gentleman and a great worker. His running style and the effort he puts in is unbelievable. I have the greatest respect for him. … I like his attitude as a runner. I like the fact that God gave him a body that’s big enough and he’s fast enough.”
Brown held the career rushing record record from 1963-1984, which is longer than anyone in league history. Walter Payton broke his record, and then Emmitt has been the new holder since 2002.
We’ve already seen Peterson rush for 2,097 yards in a single season, so it’s not a stretch to believe that he could set the career mark as he enters his eighth season in the league. Peterson has 10,115 career yards and this will be his last season before turning the dreadful 30. The good news is he reached 10,000 career yards faster than all but two people in history, so his pace should keep him in contention.
Brown believes Peterson has a shot at the career rushing record and so do we. With the way AD returned for the 2012 season following major knee surgery, we’ve learned to never doubt the talented back.
