SHAKOPEE, Minn. — The members of the band agreed unanimously.

Adrian Peterson would play the drums if he was part of Whiskey Myers. Tour manager Chris Alexander quipped he "might be a good backup dancer," as well, after remembering him on Dancing with the Stars.

"That was great entertainment," said Alexander, a friend poking fun at someone he's known forever.

Hanging out on a plush couch inside of the artist greenroom at Mystic Lake Amphitheater, a half hour before the band's July 28 show (part of its Southern Hospitality Tour with The Black Crowes), Alexander took a trip in the time machine.

"Adrian and I went to first grade together quite a long time ago," he said.

Lead guitarist John Jeffers, whose relationship with Peterson also traces to their childhood, was sitting beside Alexander and teased him, "I'm glad you made it out; he almost didn't get out of the first grade."

The scene on this summer evening was uncanny. Rockstars, including lead vocalist Cody Cannon, who kept on sunglasses that soon thereafter shaded his eyes from the Shakopee sunset, hung out to talk about the only person more famous than them in Palestine, Texas — the Vikings all-time leading rusher and newest member of the franchise's Ring of Honor, who will be inducted at halftime on Monday night.

"It's always a sense of pride for a lot of folks when there's somebody from where you grew up that goes on to do great things," Cannon said of their mutual East Texas roots.

"Especially from a small town," Jeffers added. "We're all from these little bitty towns around each other — Palestine ain't a big town, either, so it can be pretty inspiring whenever something like that happens."

Aware of the significance and fond of their overlapping journeys from humble beginnings to the pinnacles of their professions, Jeffers decided to honor Peterson, a friend to this day and a former high school football teammate, by strumming the National Anthem before Minnesota's game against Buffalo.

"I always say, pretty much the two coolest things that ever happened to me [is being part of] WM (Whiskey Myers) and getting to play with Adrian (in high school)," Alexander said. "I mean, that was pretty wild. Other than having kids and family and stuff, that was — yeah, two coolest things ever."

Jeffers explained: "We're just happy to be a small part of some sort of success that's come out of that town. And East Texas is such a — we always feel like we're just kind of different from everybody.

"East Texas is just — we're proud of it, and I know Adrian is, too," Jeffers determined.

No. 51 Chris Alexander and No. 11 John Jeffers pose next to Adrian Peterson for their senior football photo at Palestine High School.

Then & Now

While Peterson ascended at Palestine High School into the No. 1 prospect in the nation, Alexander blocked for him on the offensive line and Jeffers played receiver, but he primarily blocked for him, too.

Alexander described his role as "scary" because Peterson hit the hole so quickly that unless he got out of the way "he was going to hit you in the back." Jeffers added, "That's about all I did — get out of the way.

"There was no reason to throw it, not whenever you had him back there," Jeffers said, recalling that he had zero catches as a senior when Peterson rushed for close to 3,000 yards. "He was the greatest, man."

"I still go back and watch highlights," he continued. "I'll run across them, or Chris will send them — somebody sends them into a group text — and [we] just watch all the high school highlights, which will lead to college highlights, and before you know it, we're just watching an entire reel of highlights."

There definitely is no shortage of breathtaking stats or memories, despite then-Palestine head coach Jeff Harrell sometimes hiding Peterson’s helmet during blowout games to prevent him from possibly getting hurt. (The coach knew Peterson possessed the skill and the mindset to make it to the NFL if he stayed healthy.)

One of Alexander's favorite performances by A.D. happened late on the football schedule in 2003.

"We played Athens, and we hated Athens," Alexander said with disdain you could feel. "They were our biggest rivals, and Adrian had 324 yards rushing and six touchdowns and did not play in the second half."

He added, "He was all there. He was a man among boys. Everybody was pretty much in awe at all times."

Jeffers expressed a viewpoint discussed by would-be tacklers: "I just remember him always running the same. He always had that horse-run with his neck. And he still ran that way until he retired."

Peterson's prowess exploded into attention from college programs in every corner of the country. His pals recalled seeing stacks of recruiting mail with Peterson's name. Once, Alexander shot baskets with former USC Trojans Head Coach Pete Carroll just because he was around. "It was nuts," Alexander said.

"Every day it was somebody," Jeffers noted about doting coaches. "College after another college, somebody was there. Sometimes the other guys would think those colleges were scouting them, and we'd have to kind of tell them to calm down. 'They're not here to watch me block as a wide receiver.' "

One time, Alexander experienced what it was like to be in Peterson's shoes.

"It was our senior year. My locker was right next to his, and for whatever reason we were timing the 40 [yard dash] that week," Alexander recalled. "He had gone on an official visit. I think he was in California.

"Don't laugh at me," Alexander interrupted his storytelling to reorient friends who clearly heard it previously. "I was sitting there, and Adrian and I both wore the same size cleats, and he always had some rad cleats, you know, he'd have white cleats, and we'd all just have regular black Nikes. And I was like, 'Those are going to make me run faster.' I put them on and ran the best 40 I ever ran in my life."

How fast? The room asked in unison.

"Five (seconds) flat," Alexander said proudly.

In addition to wowing his peers on the field, Alexander shared that "Adrian was fun to watch play basketball. He could jump out of the gym. It was unbelievable." Likewise — and more — A.D. made a name for himself on the track. As a junior, he placed second at the state meet in the 100-meter dash.

"There's a picture of him and the guy that won, and the guy that won was like 160 pounds, like a little sprinter — and Adrian looks jacked over there running next to him," Alexander reminisced. "That guy was a senior … and Adrian was a shoo-in to win his senior year, [but] he scratched at the district meet.

"I was so upset about that — still upset about it to this day," Alexander added. "He was a specimen."

Peterson supposedly was not "a natural" in every sport, though. Jeffers chimed in that "he tried to come join us in baseball a little bit, but we got him (beat) on the baseball. … He didn't want none over there."

Sticking to the gridiron turned out all right for Peterson, and so did leaning into music for the band members. When Adrian left for OU (Oklahoma), the fellas "went to Honkytonk U," Cannon said, paying homage to seven-time Grammy nominated country music star Toby Keith's 2005 song and album.

Along the way, the friends kept tabs on Peterson's exploits. Jeffers even pointed out fellow guitarist Cody Tate is a "huge Sooners fan, so he was extremely into it" when Peterson became a college celebrity.

Coincidentally, the player and group turned pro, if you will, at the same time. Whiskey Myers was founded in 2007 — Peterson's rookie season in the NFL — and they released their debut studio album, Road of Life, the next year. Jeffers said Peterson pops up at concerts randomly nowadays, noting the first one he attended was in Atlanta during the week of Super Bowl LIII between the Patriots and Rams.

Peterson sat on stage, and "everybody was freaking out that he was up there," Jeffers said.

"He told me in the back lounge that day, he's like, 'What are we doing back here talking?' I'm like, 'Oh, we're trying to give you some privacy. There's a bunch of industry people out there.' He's like, 'No, let's go tackle it. Let's go get that knocked out. I'll go with you. Let's go get it knocked out, and then we can come back and hang,' " Jeffers recalled their 2019 show in Atlanta, and Peterson's insistence on making himself available to kids and families and strangers he treated kindly. "So, we went out there and did the whole meeting and greeting and shaking hands, and then we went back and did our thing."

Jeffers portrayed Peterson in the most country manner, calling him a "good dude," and Alexander avowed, "I'm biased, but he's the best to ever do it." (Biased or not, many people believe that is true.)

"We're really happy for him, going into the Ring of Honor," Jeffers said. "The Hall of Fame is next."

View the Vikings 2026 Schedule.

See future opponents for the Vikings.

Buy single game tickets.

Download the official Vikings App.

See more about the 2028 NFL Draft in Minnesota.