Adrian Peterson and the Power of Cookies and Cream
Epic desserts may have fueled Adrian Peterson's hall-of-fame career. | Image: Patrick Smith/Getty Images/AFP
Thursday night’s game between the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings is not an enticing matchup. On paper, it looks the Vikings should roll over the Redskins with ease. If they don’t, it will likely be because of one man—a former Viking and one of the greatest running backs in NFL history.
I’m talking about current Redskins running back Adrian Peterson.
While his greatness is without question, most fans are likely not aware of what he has used to fuel his body as he runs through opposing defenses—cookies and ice cream.
The Power of Sweets
When you look at Adrian Peterson, the last thing you expect to hear about him eating is a lot of desserts. He is an impressive physical specimen—which is not common for those who love and enjoy sweets like he has been known to. According to some of his former teammates, that is exactly what powered him back in 2007 when he ran for a record 296 yards in a single game against the then-San Diego Chargers.
Several of them shared into Peterson and his sweet tooth The Athletic’s Chad Graff :
Chad Greenway, linebacker: Adrian always had these epic desserts the night before games. After meetings, we’d all go and get a snack and what whatever college football game was on and hang out. Before the Chargers game, he had this ridiculous dessert from a restaurant, but then he also added a bunch of ice cream to it…
Jim Kleinsasser, tight end: He could eat cake and it would come out as pure awesomeness.
Greenway: On that day, I know ice cream and cookies were involved.
Tarvaris Jackson, quarterback: He was a big sweets guy. He always was going to have something sweet. But when you’re built like that and look like that, I guess you can eat whatever you want.
When you hear about this, it makes sense that he would have trouble with the walking part of a ‘walk-through.’ The man was always on some kind of a sugar rush.
Adrian Peterson Still One of the Greats
He is not the same guy that ran for 11,747 yards and 97 touchdowns during his time with the Vikings. But he still has some gas in the tank and has proven that in recent weeks rushing for 199 total yards. It, of course, helps that the Redskins have decided to put an emphasis on establishing the run.
Will Vikings fan cheer when he makes a good run? As long as it isn’t for a touchdown—probably. He didn’t leave the team on bad terms. The organization wanted to go younger and he wanted to keep playing.
There was some concern over whether he would play Thursday night against the Vikings. Sunday, against the 49ers, he suffered a high and low ankle sprain. But the word is that he will indeed play barring an unforeseen setback prior to kickoff.
He may not be great right now, but he is still one of the Greatest Of All Time. Maybe Odell Beckham Jr. will gift him a pair of goat hair cleats, too.
