Former Vikings RB Adrian Peterson Surpasses Legend in Seahawks’ Win

Adrian Peterson

Getty Adrian Peterson has found a new home in the NFL.

Former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson squared up with an NFL legend on Sunday.

Peterson has hopped around the league the last five years and is currently carrying the football for the banged up Seattle Seahawks. After signing with the team just five days before, the 36-year-old took the field against the San Francisco 49ers as part of a backfield by committee. He garnered the most carries on the day with 11, gaining only 16 yards for an abysmal average of 1.5 per attempt.

But that was not the story. That Peterson found the end zone on one of those rushes was.

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The running back’s touchdown mattered for two reasons. First, and less importantly to a fading 4-8 Seahawks squad that has almost no chance of making a playoff appearance, 7 points was the margin of victory in a game Seattle needed to win to hold onto a desperate hope of salvaging its season. Second, and far more historically relevant, was that Peterson’s score brought him to 126 total TDs for his career.

Why does that matter? Beyond being a staggering total indicative of career longevity almost unheard of in the NFL, let alone at the running back position, the tally of 126 scores puts Peterson among the league’s top 10 most productive offensive players of all time.

The former Vikings great pulled even with Hall-of-Fame running back Jim Brown in a tie for 10th on the prestigious list.


Peterson did Most of his Damage in Purple and White

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson

GettyAdrian Peterson is still getting it done in the NFL at the age of 36.

Brown scored all of his TDs for the Cleveland Browns, while Peterson got the lion’s share of his work done in a Vikings uniform.

During Peterson’s 10 seasons in Minnesota, he amassed 11,747 rushing yards. The running back holds the franchise record in that category by nearly 5,000 yards over the next player, Robert Smith. Peterson appeared in a total of 123 games for the Vikings, scoring 102 total touchdowns, including 97 on the ground.

After leaving Minnesota, Peterson carried the ball for both the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints in 2017. He then started for the Washington Football Team for two seasons before joining up with the Detroit Lions in 2020.

All told, it took Peterson six teams and 184 games to pull even with Brown. That’s more than four full seasons longer on a football field than it took Brown to amass a TD total worthy of top 10, as he scored his 126 touchdowns in 118 games.


Peterson Already Passed Several Greats and is Gaining on a few More

Getty ImagesAdrian Peterson.

Prior to Sunday’s victory over the 49ers, Peterson was tied with Chicago Bears great Walter Payton at 125 TDs. In 9th place on the list is former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison, with 128 TDs. Another all-time Vikings great, Cris Carter, occupies the 8th position with 130 scores — both of whom Peterson could theoretically catch this season, though Carter seems like a long shot with just five games yet to play. The all-time leader in NFL touchdowns is former 49ers wideout Jerry Rice, with 208 TDs.

A popular narrative around Peterson among members of Vikings Nation is that the running back is done and ought to hang his cleats up already. In fairness, Peterson’s three game stint with the Tennessee Titans that ended in 27 rushes for 82 yards and 1 TD, coupled with his singular appearance to date in Seattle, do not collectively prove that narrative wrong.

But watching Peterson score touchdowns still feels some kind of right, regardless of the uniform.

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