The personal airplane was principally quiet. There was a nervous power for the three Oklahoma soccer coaches onboard. They’d by no means completed what they have been about to do.
It was Sunday, Dec. 1, 2002, the primary day coaches have been allowed to go to highschool juniors for recruitment. A day earlier, these coaches had been on the sideline as Oklahoma misplaced to in-state rival Oklahoma State, successfully dashing their hopes of showing within the BCS nationwide title recreation. However on this one-hour flight, they’d different issues.
Because the airplane neared Texarkana, an appropriately named border city sandwiched between Texas and Arkansas, they talked about the truth that none had by no means been to a jail earlier than for a recruiting go to. “All I may relate it to was what I noticed on TV and within the films,” mentioned Cale Gundy, Oklahoma’s operating backs coach on the time. “We simply didn’t know what it might be like.”
Additionally they talked in regards to the participant who had them flying to go to a federal jail. He was ok, they thought, to alter an already profitable program. However he would require a recruitment in contrast to any they’d ever skilled. Nonetheless, Adrian Peterson was value it. Thus, the coaches headed to the federal jail the place Adrian’s dad, Nelson, was incarcerated.
That flight marked the beginning of one of many wildest recruitments ever, a whirlwind two years the place the highest faculty applications battled for Peterson’s dedication and included a short interval when it was thought Peterson would possibly skip faculty altogether and go straight to the NFL.
Peterson would finally make it there and play 15 seasons. He was named NFL MVP in 2012 after an unbelievable comeback from an ACL tear. In 2014, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor cost of recklessly assaulting his son; he had used a “change” to self-discipline the 4-year-old. He was placed on probation, fined $4,000 and required to do 80 hours of neighborhood service. The NFL suspended him, however he returned in 2015 and received his third dashing title.
However earlier than that, he was a coveted highschool standout who arrived simply as recruiting rankings have been rising in recognition. Now, these rankings are obsessed over, adopted and debated for years earlier than gamers even commit to a college, evidenced by the hype round Wednesday’s opening of the early signing interval. However Peterson was arguably the primary true can’t-miss No. 1 prospect within the trendy recruiting period, drawing coaches to the small city of Palestine in East Texas and one federal jail.
Stated Gundy: “We knew it was going to be a battle all the way in which for him.”
Jeff Harrell got here to Palestine Excessive because the defensive coordinator and head observe coach when Peterson was a sophomore. Peterson wasn’t on the varsity soccer crew that 12 months as a result of he was academically ineligible. So Harrell didn’t work with Peterson till the observe season that spring. Peterson’s mother, Bonita, was a former observe star; his dad was a former faculty basketball participant.
After the varsity’s first observe exercise, Harrell determined to have Peterson run on the crew’s 4×100-meter relay crew along with the 100- and 200-meter particular person occasions. However Harrell encountered an issue. Harrell taught relay runners to face 15 steps behind their beginning mark to permit time to collect the baton from the earlier runner whereas getting as much as prime velocity. However when Peterson began operating, the sprinters behind him with the baton couldn’t catch him. So Harrell had Peterson transfer as much as 10 steps behind the beginning mark. Then 5.
“That didn’t work,” Harrell mentioned.
So Peterson was informed to face on the beginning mark till he obtained the baton. Harrell feared a collision. However every time, Peterson grabbed the baton and sprinted away so quick that, someway, it labored.
“I bear in mind going residence day by day and telling my spouse, ‘I’ve bought this child and I’ve by no means seen something like him in my life,’” Harrell mentioned.
Peterson ran a ten.6-second 100-meter sprint that 12 months. He set a private better of 10.26 seconds two years later, a time so quick that if it weren’t for soccer, Harrell believes Peterson may’ve grow to be an Olympic sprinter.
Peterson performed on either side of the ball as a sophomore on the JV crew, taking part in operating again and outdoors linebacker, however as a junior on the varsity crew, Harrell, by then the pinnacle coach, put an finish to that. Harrell didn’t wish to be the coach who bought the nation’s finest soccer recruit damage whereas taking part in out of place as a linebacker.
Peterson ran for five,011 yards in his two varsity seasons. He averaged 11.7 yards per carry as a senior. He had 32 touchdowns. And he hardly ever performed after halftime as a result of his crew was so dominant.
“I didn’t let him play any greater than we wanted and didn’t let him return any kicks or play protection,” Harrell mentioned.
When Peterson’s highschool profession lastly got here to an finish throughout a playoff loss his senior 12 months, Harrell was crammed with reduction greater than disappointment. “I simply thought: Thank God I bought via this and he didn’t get damage,” Harrell mentioned.
In East Texas, Petersons’ exploits have been well-known. Some members of opposing groups hung across the discipline after video games in full uniform, sharpies in hand, ready for Peterson to emerge from the locker room so they might get an autograph. However Harrell didn’t get a full grasp of Peterson’s movie star till a visit collectively to Ohio after the season, the place Peterson was going to be named the nationwide offensive participant of the 12 months. As they waited collectively within the safety line on the Dallas-Fort Value airport, a TSA agent referred to as them over.
“Earlier than he exhibits an ID or something, the person says, ‘Oh, you’re Adrian Peterson,’” Harrell mentioned. “That was one of many first instances it hit me that, ‘Oh man, all people is aware of this child.’”
On the Federal Correctional Establishment Texarkana, guards requested the visiting Oklahoma coaches for his or her IDs and had them stroll via a steel detector. They then guided the coaches to a picnic desk in an unlimited courtyard. A water tower within the distance was the one obstruction towards the huge East Texas sky.
Nelson got here out and was joined by Bonita, Adrian and certainly one of Adrian’s youthful brothers. They talked about teachers at Oklahoma (Nelson at one level had been dedicated to play basketball there) and the soccer program. Other than the situation, it was a standard recruiting go to.
“We sat out at that picnic desk within the facility for a few hours,” Bob Stoops mentioned. “They have been unbelievable to be with and go to with.”
Adrian informed a couple of faculties how necessary it was to make sure his dad, who was incarcerated when Adrian was 13 after being convicted on federal prices of laundering cash acquired from the distribution of crack cocaine, was concerned within the recruiting course of.
“We had gone via every kind of crimson tape for a pair months main as much as being allowed to get in and go to with them,” Stoops mentioned. “So after that, different individuals tried. However due to all of the logistics these individuals needed to coordinate, (the opposite recruiters) mentioned to heck with this, we’re not doing this anymore.”
USC had tried unsuccessfully to satisfy with Nelson. And whereas Peterson favored coach Pete Carroll and assistant coach Ed Orgeron, he wished his dad to have the ability to watch his faculty video games, which might’ve been powerful if he selected USC. So Orgeron bought resourceful.
“I attempted to get the man transferred to (a jail in) Los Angeles,” Orgeron mentioned on “The Dan Patrick Present” final 12 months. “Yeah, I attempted. Couldn’t get it completed, however I competed.”
Since Peterson didn’t play as a highschool sophomore, some faculties wished to see him in individual earlier than believing the hype. When a Texas A&M assistant was led into the varsity and launched to Peterson — 6-foot-1 and 210 kilos — sporting a sleeveless shirt and seemingly having muscle tissues atop his muscle tissues, Harrell mentioned the coach uttered: “God almighty.”
Texas A&M supplied Peterson a scholarship the subsequent day.
Harrell suggested Peterson to be well mannered and accommodating to each faculty coach who walked via the door. Someday, the Oklahoma coaches visited the highschool and had hassle finding Peterson. Ultimately, he was present in an empty classroom with coaches from Texas A&M-Kingsville, a Division II faculty.
“He was being as good as he may very well be, doing precisely what I informed him,” Harrell mentioned with fun.
Within the spring of 2003, Peterson visited Oklahoma for the primary time. The Sooners have been two years faraway from a nationwide championship and have been coming off a win within the Rose Bowl. They’d no motive to alter their shotgun offense that had resulted in a lot success. However earlier than the spring observe that Peterson attended, Gundy, the operating backs coach, went over to offensive coordinator Chuck Lengthy and informed him: There’s this recruit, and he must see us operating out of the I-formation. That’s his specialty.
“Effectively, we didn’t have any I-formation stuff,” Lengthy mentioned.
However he shortly put in a couple of new performs they might run in entrance of Peterson.
The Sooners have been of their crew lodge in New Orleans on Jan. 3, 2004. It was the evening earlier than their BCS nationwide championship recreation towards LSU. They have been wrapping up a crew assembly when quarterback Jason White noticed the teaching employees celebrating. Peterson had simply dedicated to Oklahoma on nationwide TV.
“I’lI always remember seeing coach Gundy so excited leaping up and down,” White mentioned. “And I used to be considering to myself, ‘What simply occurred?’ After which I appeared on the TV and I noticed what was occurring. So at that time, I used to be like, ‘Wow, this man should be actually, actually good for coach Gundy to behave like that proper earlier than the nationwide title recreation.’”
On Oct. 29, 2003, Peterson watched LeBron James make his extremely anticipated NBA debut, dropping 25 factors as an 18-year-old. Two nights later, Peterson, who’s three months youthful than James, ran for 305 yards and 6 touchdowns on 17 carries in a house win over the Athens Hornets. He had landing runs of 46, 50 and 61 yards. Two days after that, Peterson was on the sideline for a Dallas Cowboys recreation, a visitor of security Roy Williams. “I’m having a good time,” Peterson informed the Fort Value Star-Telegram.
That September, Maurice Clarett sued the NFL over its rule that gamers aren’t eligible for the draft till they’ve been out of highschool for 3 years. The go well with, mixed with James’ standing as an 18-year-old within the NBA, opened the door for an apparent dialogue: If Clarett wins his case, if there’s no age restrict to enter the NFL, may Peterson make the bounce straight to the league?
“Bodily, there’s little question he may’ve,” Gundy mentioned.
“Completely he may have,” Stoops mentioned. “You take a look at him bodily, he’s each bit any of them (within the NFL) even at 19 … However he’s a complete outlier in comparison with all people else. And that’s the place once you open these sorts of guidelines up, now you’re going to have 1000’s of children making dangerous selections and it not understanding for them. So simply because one man can do it doesn’t imply even 10 different guys may. They couldn’t.”
Peterson averted the controversy whereas in highschool however later conceded he considered making the bounce. Whereas he was with the Minnesota Vikings in 2015 (on his approach to a 3rd NFL dashing title), Peterson said in a convention name with reporters: “To not sound cocky or something, however yeah, I do really feel like I may have come out my senior 12 months of highschool and performed within the NFL.”
As an alternative, Peterson arrived at Oklahoma in 2004. The primary day of fall camp was used for bodily testing and conditioning earlier than placing pads on and working towards on the second day. Coaches put Peterson in a bunch with White, the quarterback coming off a Heisman Trophy-winning season.
“Adrian walks in, and he’s in these tight biker shorts and a cutoff shirt,” White mentioned. “And we’re all like, ‘Oh, that should be a juco switch.’ I imply, the dude appeared like he’d already performed in faculty for 4 years.”
The testing began with down-and-backs, 100 yards to the alternative finish zone, then again. On the primary run, Peterson completed in entrance by 20 yards. The second, it was 30 yards. Upperclassmen began getting mad that the true freshman was displaying them up.
“I can bear in mind seeing (power coach) Jerry Schmidt within the locker room that day saying that AD measured in at 6-foot-2, 216 kilos, and ran a 4.38 (40-yard sprint),” Gundy mentioned. “That bought all people’s consideration — particularly the older guys.”
The upperclassmen figured he’d decelerate when pads got here on the subsequent day. That’s the way it often went for freshmen. As an alternative, Peterson took his first carry for a landing, the beginning of a dominating observe. “We knew proper then we had a celebrity,” Lengthy mentioned.
That freshman season for Peterson was White’s sixth at Oklahoma. He had simply received the Heisman. Nonetheless, he must modify to the proficient freshman now sharing the backfield. White dreaded a couple of play calls — 18 stretch and 19 stretch. They have been rushes out vast off the sort out. White needed to dash out of his stance simply to get the ball in Peterson’s arms.
“I used to cringe as a result of my greatest concern was I wasn’t going to have the ability to get him the ball as a result of he was so quick,” White mentioned. “I most likely gave the play away each time we ran it as a result of I felt like I needed to get in a particular stance underneath heart simply to have the ability to get to Adrian.”
Oklahoma initially taught their operating backs to face 7.5 yards behind the ball. However Peterson reached the road too shortly. He was operating into his linemen earlier than they’d an opportunity to achieve their blocks. So, coaches informed Peterson to face 9 yards behind the ball.
“That and move safety are the 2 issues that I labored the toughest with him on for 3 years,” Gundy mentioned. “Like, I do know what you do once you get the ball. However you’ve bought to need to study to have some tempo and issues will get even simpler for you.”
Nonetheless, Peterson’s 2004 season is taken into account one of many best ever by a real freshman. He ran for 1,925 yards in 13 video games that season. He averaged greater than a landing per recreation (15 complete) and 5.7 yards per carry. He notched greater than 100 dashing yards in every of his first 9 collegiate video games. He completed second in Heisman voting whereas presumably splitting votes with White, who completed third. (USC’s Matt Leinart received.)
“That’s why his daddy named him AD — All Day,” Gundy mentioned. “Every little thing that he did, he was the easiest.”
Peterson was a star once more in 2005, dashing for 1,104 yards and 14 touchdowns. A 12 months later, as a Heisman front-runner, Peterson opened the season as one of many nation’s prime rushers, gaining 100 yards or extra in every of the primary 5 video games. Earlier than the sixth recreation, Nelson Peterson was launched from an Oklahoma Metropolis midway home. Peterson referred to as it “a real big deal” to get to play in entrance of his dad for the primary time since he was 12.
Towards Iowa State together with his dad within the stands, Peterson totaled 228 yards of offense and two touchdowns. However on his final carry, a 53-yard landing run, Peterson broke his collarbone diving into the top zone, ending his common season and leaving him simply shy of Oklahoma’s all-time dashing document held by Billy Sims.
Peterson was the seventh decide within the 2007 draft. He led the league in dashing thrice, and his 14,918 all-time dashing yards are the fourth most in league historical past. He hasn’t formally retired, however he hasn’t performed in a recreation for the reason that 2021 season ended.
Earlier this 12 months, he despatched an extended video to Harrell. He thanked him for all their work collectively. The 2 linked and chatted about these loopy days in highschool with opponents asking for autographs and faculty coaches lining up outdoors the varsity. Additionally they recalled all of the video games Peterson exited early, discussing how massive the legend of Adrian Peterson may need been had Harrell let him play extra.
Stated Harrell: “I informed him, you may’ve set data that will be there perpetually.”
(Illustration: Sean Reilly / The Athletic; photographs: Ronald Martinez, Joe Robbins / Getty Photographs; Mike Ehrmann / WireImage)
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