King of Comebacks

Determination and ambition are two keys to accomplish almost anything you set your mind to, Adrian Peterson significantly proves that point. The seventh pick overall in the 2007 NFL draft, Adrian Peterson, set his own bar of success. Only being able to play two games during the 2014 season, Peterson had an obstacle to overcome. At the beginning of the season Peterson was charged with child abuse. Even though peterson avoided any type of jail time, Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, ruled that Peterson would be suspended for the rest of the season which came out to be 15 regular season games. Regardless, whether it was the right punishment or not, any athlete would take crucial self-punishment in not being able to participate in a sport in which they love. Was that the reason Adrian Peterson had another, yet unsurprising season?

Returning to the 2015-2016 season everybody questioned if Peterson could still bring such success and triumph to the Minnesota Vikings. Returning this year, Peterson had yet another remarkable season. Peterson ended the regular season with the most rushing yards with 1,485 yards combined. In 2012 Peterson had a similar obstacle to overcome, when he had an ACL injury. During the 2012 season peterson had a breakout year winning the MVP (most valuable player) of that season. Even though this season Peterson will come short of the MVP, he is still in the running for the comeback player of the year. Reflecting back on Adrian Peterson’s punishment, many fans and NFL followers disagree on the length and severity of the suspension. In a similar incident Ray Rice, another American football player, was caught physically abusing his wife in an elevator in Las Vegas. In this incident Ray Rice was only suspended for a total of two regular season games. Through the controversy between these two cases, many people think Adrian Peterson got the short end of the stick.

This is most likely because growing up Peterson was raised having the same discipline as he gave to his son. Peterson believed that giving discipline when raising a child will lead them to a great deal of success. This leads to the question of why Adrian Peterson almost got to eight times the amount of punishment as Ray Rice. Domestic violence, something that can have no positive outlook, should have more punishment than Adrian Peterson’s discipline strategies. Through Adrian Peterson’s career he proves he can overcome obstacles and miss multiple seasons, and still could end up being known as one of the best running backs during his time.