14 games/9 starts
Comes to the Vikings as the 10th RB selected by the team in the 1st round...The only RBs selcted as high or higher than Peterson were Tommy Mason (#1, 1961), Clinton Jones (#2, 1967) and Darrin Nelson (#7, 1982)...The lone OU Sooner drafted by the Vikings in the 1st round...Teammates at OU with Rufus Alexander.
• SELECTED TO 2007 ASSOCIATED PRESS ALL-PRO 2ND TEAM. • EARNED A TRIP TO THE PRO BOWL, ONLY THE 2ND ROOKIE RB IN TEAM HISTORY TO BE HONORED.• NAMED ASSOCIATED PRESS OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR IN 2007, the 4th Vikings player to be honored and the 2nd Vikings RB to claim the honor. • Selected as a finalist for the 2007 Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Year and 2007 FedEx Ground Player of the Year awards to be presented during Super Bowl XXLII in Arizona. • Led the NFC and ranked 2nd in the NFL with 1,341 rushing yards in 2007. • Helped the 2007 Vikings rank #1 in the NFL in rushing offense with 2,634 yards and set a Vikings team rushing record. • Tied for 2nd in the NFL with 12 rushing TDs in 2007. • Teamed with fellow RB Chester Taylor to set a team record with most combined rushing yardage in a season with 2,185 (Peterson-1,341; Taylor-844). • Had the 2nd-best rushing season in Vikings history, trailing Robert Smith’s 1,521 yards set in 2000. • Has the top 2 single-game rushing totals in the NFL during 2007 with 296 and 224 yards. • Set new NFL record with 296 rushing yards vs. San Diego (11/4), breaking former Baltimore Raven Jamal Lewis’ mark of 295 set in 2003. • Tied the Vikings record with his 2nd 3-TD rushing day of the season vs. San Diego (11/4). Chuck Foreman is the only other Viking that has run for 3 TDs more than once.• Broke the 100-yard mark 6 times during the 2007 season, tied for 2nd-best in Vikings history. • Shattered all Vikings rookie rushing records. • Became the 7th Vikings player to rush for 1,000+ yards in a season. • Matched a Vikings record with 7 plays of 50+ yards on the season (4 rushes, 2 KO returns, 1 reception). • Set a Vikings record with 4 rushes of 50+ yards in a season. • Named NFC Offensive Player of the Week and FedEx Ground Player of the Week for game vs. San Diego (11/4), earning Fairview University Children’s Hospital a $5,000 donation from FedEx.• Named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for performance @ Chicago (10/14) and was tabbed as the FedEx Ground Player of the Week, an award that earned Fairview University Children’s Hospital a $5,000 donation. • Shattered team records @ Chicago (10/14) had 361 combined yards (224 rushing, 9 receiving, 128 kickoff returns), tied a team record with 3 rushing TDs and became the 1st Vikings player with 2 rushes of 50+ yards in a game. • Earned NFL Rookie of the Month for September 2007 and October 2007, the 4th Vikings player to earn Rookie of the Month honors and 1st on offense since 1998. • Exploded onto the NFL scene in his 1st career game when he ran for 103 yards and took his 1st career catch 60 yards for a TD vs. Atlanta (9/9) in the season opener.
A 3-time All-Big 12 1st-Team honoree...A 2004 Associated Press 1st-Team All-America, the 1st OU true freshman to earn the honor and the 1st true freshman on the team since 1996 (Dre Bly)...Leaves OU ranked among the top Sooner RBs in school history despite playing only 31 games over 3 seasons...Set the school record with 1,925 yards as a freshman in 2004, breaking Billy Sims’ record of 1,896 in 1978...Broke Ron Dayne’s NCAA freshman rushing record he set at Wisconsin when coached by Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress...Tied NCAA freshman record for fewest games to reach 1,000 yards with 7, matching Emmitt Smith and Marshall Faulk...Ranks 3rd in OU history with 4,045 yards and 4th with 41 rushing TDs...Finished as 2004 Heisman Trophy runner-up...The only OU rushers with more career yardage are Billy Sims (4,118) and Joe Washington (4,071)...Broke the 100-yard mark in 22 career games of his 31 contests, 1 shy of the school record...Ran for 200+ yards in 6 career games.
2006 Earned 1st-Team All-Big 12 honors...Semifinalist for Doak Walker and Maxwell Awards...Broke the 100-yard mark in 6 of the opening 7 games of the season...Missed 7 games after injuring collarbone against Iowa State...Returned for thrilling Fiesta Bowl game vs. Boise State for his final collegiate game...Ran for season-high 211 yards on 34 attempts at Oregon.
2005 Tabbed an All-Big 12 choice and ranked 2nd in Big 12 rushing despite missing time in 4 games...Rattled off career-long 84-yard TD run vs. Oklahoma State en route to a 237-yard day...Team topped Oregon in Holiday Bowl.
2004 Finished as runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting, the highest by a freshman in the history of the award...Finalist for Doak Walker Award as nation’s top RB...Set an NCAA record for freshman rushing with 1,925 yards...Was a consensus All-America, including being recognized by Associated Press as a 1st-Team honoree...Was the 1st OU freshman to be recognized as a 1st-Team AP All-America...Set Sooners single-season record with 1,925 yards...Broke the 100-yard mark 11 times and set NCAA freshman record with 9 straight...Set NCAA freshman mark with 339 attempts.
Comes from an athletic family as mother, Bonita Jackson, was a track and field star and father, Nelson Peterson, was a collegiate basketball player at Idaho State...His uncle, Ivory Lee Brown, was an NFL player and suited up for the Vikings in 1993...Endured the tragic loss of his brother as a youth and his stepbrother the night before the NFL Scouting Combine...Superstitous about always praying in pregame moments and the fit of his shoes...Majored in sociology...Has a daughter, Adeja.