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Vikings Notes: AD Edition

By Anthony Hall | February 9th, 2008

I’m working at a pediatrics oncology (read: cancer) floor in Honolulu right now. Every year, it’s a tradition for Pro Bowlers to come visit the kids. This year, only four of them came, and every single one of them was from the Viking. Adrian Peterson, Tony Richardson, Kevin Williams, and Pat Williams all took time out of their day to make the trip. It really brightened the days of the kids here, esp one 14 year old who lives for football, but can’t play because he has leukemia. He nearly fainted when he saw Adrian Peterson walking down the hall.

I wish stories like this would get more coverage–seems to me like these actions from NFL players don’t get the attention they deserve. Think about the differences between the community service aspects of the NBA and NFL…the NBA feels the need to advertise the services their players perform through their “NBA Cares” campaign, while the NFL doesn’t go to those lengths to portray their players in a positive light.

We’ve known for a while that Adrian’s a class act away from the field. I’ve heard a story from a Perkins waitress, who was waiting on Adrian and another Viking player one afternoon. Two other tables she was serving dined and dashed…this distracted her and caused her to forget to bring an item to the players. Adrian’s dining companion got annoyed with this, and was a jerk to the waitress. AD, meanwhile, apologized for this other player, while giving the waitress a hug and a big tip.

Of course, there are plenty of idiots in professional sports–but there are also plenty of genuinely good people. And it’s nice to know that four of these people are on our squad.

*Speaking of Adrian:

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson thinks he’ll produce a 2,000-yard season. In fact, he thinks he’ll do it in 2008.

“Oh, yeah, I set my bar high,” he said this week, one of just four rookies (Patrick Willis, Joe Thomas and Nick Folk are the others) appearing in the Pro Bowl. “That’s definitely where I’d like to start.”

As far as I’m concerned, only two things could prevent him from reaching 2,000 yards next season: Injuries and a struggling passing game. Obviously, the Vikings must also avoid overworking Adrian…but if those two factors hold up, I think he’ll be able to reach the 2,000-yard mark without receiving too many carries. It’s all about the big gainers…if he continues to break big runs on a consistent basis, he’ll reach 2,000 yards next season, without a doubt in my mind.

*Does anyone care about the Pro Bowl? I think I’ll probably Tivo it, and fast forward to Adrian’s carries. I have a hunch that he’ll make a highlight reel play at some point during the game.

*Continuing with the AD theme, here’s some frightening news: Adrian may be a likely candidate to appear on the cover of Madden 09. I believe I speak for all Vikings fans when I say: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, ADRIAN, DON’T DO IT. Friends, the Madden Curse has been well-documented…if he appears on the cover of next year’s Madden, something horrible is bound to happen. Besides, as fans of the Purple, we already know what the Madden Curse is capable of:

Former Minnesota Vikings star quarterback Daunte Culpepper appeared on the Madden NFL 2002 cover after throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 33 touchdowns while rushing for 470 yards and 7 more scores in the 2000 season. However, Culpepper struggled with turnovers in the first 11 games of the 2001 season, throwing 13 interceptions and only 14 touchdown passes. A back injury ended his season in the 11th game.

Adrian, I know you may want to be the guy who finally breaks the curse. But seriously, consider that the 10 players who have appeared on the game had combined to play in 39 Pro Bowls prior to being on the cover, but only made four Pro Bowl appearances afterward. That’s just creepy. I’m usually not superstitious, but I’ll make an exception for the Madden Curse.

*The Vikes plan to increase ticket prices by an average of three percent for next season. I’m not too crazy about the idea of raising prices considering that this team was on the brink of several blackouts last year, but then again, their increases are below the NFL average. It’s not a big jump–from a PR standpoint, though, it’s a questionable move. Again, raising prices after narrowly avoiding blackouts is sure to leave quite a few fans scratching their heads.

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