The Adrian I never knew
Published: 6/23/2007 4:31 PM
Last Modified: 6/23/2007 4:31 PM
It's Adrian Peterson Day in Palestine, Texas. Parade, speeches, key to the city, that type of thing. I wish I was there, not to bask in the celebration but simply to observe. Maybe then I could get a better feel for the man behind his three remarkable years at OU.
Peterson joins the Minnesota Vikings somewhat of an enigma to me, as mysterious a player as I've covered in my six years on the Sooners beat. I could count the number of one-on-one interviews I had with him on one hand, mostly because it was impossible to steal a moment like that with one of the most sought-after players in recent Sooner history.
The media wanted him, or fans wanted him, or charities wanted him. And the pull seemed terribly uncomfortable for a player who once conducted a post-practice interview with his helmet on, Ricky Williams-style.
Peterson was always gracious and humble, he just didn't have a natural ease among crowds. So he kept his answers, and therefore any personal insight, rather brief. (It's telling on many levels that the best interview he ever gave me was when I asked him about close friend Marcus Walker).
It was left for coaches, teammates, old friends from Palestine and his father, Nelson, to provide some color to his life. Peterson let his ball-carrying do the talking.
Of course, I suppose that three years of that left more than enough stories to tell, or write about. And if I couldn't peel back even the first layer of Peterson's personality, the privilege of watching him run was more than an adequate trade-off.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
