NFL, Fantasy, Player News / Analysis, Rumors, Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings, robert griffin iii, NFL Injuries
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is coming off of what many consider to be the most impressive season a running back has ever put together. Sure, Peterson's 2,097 rushing yards weren't quite enough to top Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record, but the adversity that Peterson overcame to become the seventh 2,000-yard rusher in NFL history is what makes his season so sensational.Peterson tore his ACL on December 24th, 2011, making him very questionable for the start of the 2012 season. Not only was Peterson ready to play in the 2012 opener, but he was ready to dominate, averaging 4.9 yards per carry with two touchdowns in his first game back.
How was Peterson able to make such a speedy recovery, then come back better than we've ever seen him? He attributes it to genetics.
"Look at my dad, and my mom's side," Peterson said. "My aunts and uncles, they're all ripped. At 50 years old they've got six-packs and eight-packs. My body just heals differently. I know it has a lot to do with rehabilitation and work ethic, but I really credit my genetics for my recovery as much as anything else."
Unfortunately, Peterson's secret to miraculous recovery can't exactly be shared with his fellow NFL players, unless those players have 50-year old aunts and uncles with eight-packs. Peterson crediting his genetics basically confirms what many of us already thought - the man is just a different breed of human. His miraculous recovery wasn't a result of special, unique workouts or medicine. He recovered quickly because that's just what his body does.
Another star recently went down with a devastating knee injury - Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins. After seeing Peterson come back so strong from similar knee surgery, some people are expecting RG3 to come back strong as well, but I'm not sure he has the same type of family tree as Peterson.
"That's not fair," Peterson said when asked about the comparison between he and Griffin's knee injuries. "Everybody's body heals differently. That's something nobody is going to understand."
Sad to say, he's right. As fans of the game, all we can do is hope that a player as electrifying as RG3 can return quickly as the same player he was before the injury, but that very well may not be the case. We're just going to have to wait and see. Not all players are fortunate enough to possess Adrian Peterson's secret to recovery.
