Everything is super for Ex-Eagle Adrian Peterson

Everything is super for Ex-Eagle Adrian Peterson

Former GSU running back makes Bears? special teams extra special.

My last question probably should have been the first. Do you feel like you've had a pretty good year?

Without hesitation, Adrian Peterson came back at me as if I was an opposing special teams player during a kickoff return.

"I've had a great year," Adrian Peterson said.

Let's see. You're 27 years old, playing football for the Chicago Bears, making approximately a half million dollars a year. You just got engaged, and today you'll be playing in the Super Bowl.

That is a great year.

His busy schedule cleared up Friday afternoon so he returned my phone call from his Miami hotel. Adrian Peterson knows about the down time, waiting for championship games. He had been through three with Georgia Southern.

"I'm excited, ready for the game to come," Adrian Peterson said. "This is what you've been dreaming about since you were a kid."

The Bears concluded their final preparations for the Indianapolis Colts Friday morning. Later that night, Adrian Peterson's friends and family arrived in Miami and came to the hotel.

He had 13 tickets to the game: Nine went to his family and friends and four went to teammates who needed some extras.

He's five years and three head coaches removed from Georgia Southern, and yet Adrian Peterson doesn't seem much different. Before he talked about the biggest game of his life, he asked about GSU. He reads newspaper accounts of the Eagles on the Internet. Of course, there's been a lot to read lately.

"I don't care if they run the option. I'm a diehard. I just want to see them win," he said.

Before Adrian Peterson talked about the biggest media circus he's ever seen, he mentioned his delight to see two Statesboro media members, Nate Hirsch and Josh Aubrey, who covered every one of his games as an Eagle.

"I don't know if I've ever seen Adrian Peterson as physically fit," Hirsch said. "He's so appreciative to be with the Bears. He's very understanding of his role and obviously embraces it and works hard at it."

Hirsch drove 500 miles to attend Monday's Super Bowl Media Day in Miami. Along with seeing Adrian Peterson, he had a chance to talk to Adrian's teammate. defensive back Ricky Manning.

"We call (Peterson) 'The Legend,'" Manning told Hirsch. "You ever see his (collegiate) statistics?"

Actually, Hirsch and the rest of us have seen a lot more. Like that cold afternoon in Chattanooga, when Peterson broke tackle after tackle during a 58-yard run, finally finishing the Popeye cartoon-like jaunt by taking his free arm and throwing a potential tackler out of bounds.

Adrian Peterson finished four amazing years as an Eagle by rushing for a Division I record 6,559 yards. Despite defenses lining up to stop him, he ran for more than 100 yards in 38 straight regular-season games.

Adrian Peterson, a sixth-round NFL draft pick in 2002, hasn't earned the same chances with the Bears. Talented tailback Thomas Jones and first-round pick Cedric Benson are ahead of him on the depth chart and offensive chances are limited.

"I'm still in (the Bears' running back mix)," Adrian Peterson said. "You never know what's going to happen. (Playing special teams) is my job. You have to adapt to your situation."

But it hardly surprises anyone to see Adrian Peterson make big plays when he receives opportunities.

Last season, with Benson hurt, Adrian Peterson ran for 120 yards against San Francisco.

This season, Adrian Peterson had a 32-yard run with a screen pass against St. Louis. He had a key 11-yard run to set up a short field goal in overtime against Tampa Bay.

But mostly his action comes on special teams. He's had 46 tackles on kickoffs and punt returns the last two years.

Two weeks ago in the NFC Championship. Adrian Peterson stripped the ball away from New Orleans returner Michael Lewis to set up the Bears' second field goal.

The Saints challenged the official's ruling on the field and lost.

Peterson said he didn't think there was any doubt it was a fumble.

"The ball was loose," Adrian Peterson said. "You have to have it solidly and it was coming out. I just helped get it away (from Lewis)."

Today the Bears are a seven-point underdog against the Colts. Many onlookers say the difference is in the teams' quarterbacks. But Peterson said his teammates are solidly behind Rex Grossman.

"We've lost three games with (Grossman) all year," Adrian Peterson said. "In this league, any time you go through a season and only lose three games, you have a great team."

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