Tulsa World: Peterson's Norman conquest

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Peterson's Norman conquest

Former Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, now with the Minnesota Vikings, had more than 400 boys and girls attend his football camp. Associated Press

By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
Published: 6/28/2008 2:07 AM
Last Modified: 6/28/2008 2:33 AM

Former OU star returns to host a summer camp.

NORMAN — Adrian Peterson carried a football on the Oklahoma campus again Friday. He tucked it in his arm, crouched and juked with a sudden stutter-step to avoid a swarm of pursuers just like he did so many Saturdays at Owen Field from 2004-06.

Only now, the pursuers were a dozen giggling 10-year-olds in matching gray T-shirts. It wasn't Owen Field but the OU Intramural Fields, site of the first Adrian Peterson youth summer camp in Norman. And if the benefactors of Peterson's gifts weren't 85,000 Sooner fans but more than 400 boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 14, that seemed fine with everyone.

"He really enjoys it," said Nelson Peterson, who looked on as his son smiled for one team photo after another for nearly an hour. "He enjoys the kids."

Take the marathon photo shoot. Peterson spoke to the kids as they dutifully formed two rows, flipping a ball to one kid or teasing another about his hair, then slapped five with everyone after the cameras had clicked and it was time to rejoin the drills.

"To be out here and see how competitive these kids are, it puts things in perspective," he said. "They really look up to me."

That was obvious from the time everyone gathered to begin the three-hour morning. Camp director Jim Stoll asked the youngsters to name the leading receiver from the last Super Bowl, a designed tease for the day's special guest, New England Patriot Wes Welker.

Instead, the question was met with several shouts of, "Adrian Peterson!" Never mind Peterson's place as a running back or his Minnesota Vikings' spot outside the 2007 NFL playoffs.

In a few minutes, "Adrian Peterson!" himself strolled over to one of the camp breakouts and more or less took over. He showed kids the proper way to come out of a break when running an out route. as well as the proper way to hold one's hands before catching the pass. Then he started throwing the passes.

"He's phenomenal," said Gregg Darbyshire of ProCamps Ltd., the Cincinnati organization that directs Peterson's camp as well as several others nationwide. "He does an outstanding job. He jumps right in. Most of these guys in the NFL grew up in camps, so it's easy for them to feel comfortable in this setting. It's an easy way to give back to the community."

That's the push behind Peterson's camp. Darbyshire estimated a third of the 400-plus campers had their $199 registration fee underwritten by corporate sponsors connected to Peterson. There was even a cluster of campers bused up from Peterson's home town of Palestine, Texas.

"This takes me back to the time when Adrian was growing up and going to camps like this himself," Nelson Peterson said. "All these kids are special, but there's one out there that has something that the rest don't. There's always a diamond out there somewhere. You'll find that in a kid that is determined to work hard and has that mental toughness. They found that in Adrian."

So the benefits were potentially quite rich for the kids scurrying about the intramural fields. Still, it seemed the one getting the most out of Friday morning's camp was the Minnesota Vikings All-Pro in the crimson coach's shirt.

"Adrian recently did a camp donated to 10 underprivileged kids with his friend, Marcus Walker," Nelson Peterson said of the two onetime OU teammates. "They divided into two teams with Adrian and Marcus at quarterback. It got real competitive. They were like, 'He was out of bounds!' 'Nah, that's a touchdown!'

"But it was a lot of fun. It took him back to his childhood. That's what this does."

Guerin Emig 581-8355
guerin.emig@tulsaworld.com By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer

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