If all goes well for Adrian Peterson in his Washington debut on Sunday, he will likely pass Jim Brown for 10th place on the NFL’s career rushing yards list.
Peterson is 37 yards away from Brown and he said during an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio that it is a “blessing” to have the opportunity to do that after being unemployed for most of the offseason. Now that he has a chance to play in 2018, Peterson is shutting the door on climbing even higher up the all-time list.
Peterson is 6,079 yards away from Emmitt Smith’s all-time record of 18,355 rushing yards and said that he still thinks of passing Smith as a goal.
“Who knows? I’ve seen crazier things happen,” Peterson said. “In my mind, that’s a goal I’d still like to reach. I know it would take a heckuva feat to do that especially how the NFL treats older backs. God willing, I’m able to continue to change that view and have opportunities to come out and play.”
It’s not a particularly realistic thought that a 33-year-old back who has played one full season since 2013 is going to put up those kinds of numbers, but as long as Peterson holds onto a job he’s free to use even unrealistic goals as motivation.
