Adrian Peterson

Bio

One of the most decorated players in college football history, Adrian Peterson became the all-time leading rusher in Division I (FBS and FCS) history with 6,559 yards. The four-time First Team All-American is the second Georgia Southern player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The first sophomore to ever win the Walter Payton Award as the FCS Player of the Year, Peterson finished among the top three vote-getters for the award all four seasons of his career. The two-time Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year led the Eagles to three national championship appearances, winning back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000. Peterson holds virtually every rushing record in school and conference history, including career rushing yards (6,559), rush attempts (996), rushing touchdowns (84) and points (524), among many others. The four-time first team all-conference performer led Georgia Southern to four consecutive SoCon championships. In 1998, Peterson set the NCAA record for most-rushing yards by a freshman with 1,932, and he finished his career as Division I’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns, a record that lasted until 2015. A 14-time SoCon Player of the Week selection, he rushed for 100 or more yards in 48 consecutive games. Peterson is a member of the Georgia Southern and SoCon halls of fame, and Sporting News renamed its FCS Offensive Player of the Year Award in his honor in 2014. Drafted in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, Peterson played for the franchise from 2002-09 and participated in Super Bowl XLI with the team. Peterson is one of the founders and owners of All Pro Sports Performance in Illinois. He wrote a book titled, “Don’t Dis My Abilities,” regarding his struggles with a speech impediment and donated a portion of the proceeds to a scholarship fund at Georgia Southern. Honored as Georgia Southern’s “Champion of Life” at the GoDaddy Bowl in 2015, Peterson helps raise awareness for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, a rare, inoperable brainstem tumor of which his son died from in 2015.

Career Highlights

• 2001 All-Conference
• 2001 Conference MVP
• 2001 First Team All-America (FCS)
• 2000 All-Conference
• 2000 First Team All-America (FCS)
• 1999 All-Conference
• 1999 First Team All-America (FCS)
• 1999 Led nation in scoring (FCS)
• 1999 Walter Payton Award Winner
• 1998 All-Conference
• 1998 Conference MVP
• 1998 First Team All-America (FCS)