What Made Adrian Peterson Great?

Kenny Mossman

Adrian Peterson lived up to the hype. Billed as one of the greatest running backs in the storied history of Texas high school football, A.D., fulfilled the wild expectations and also became one of the greatest at a school that has perhaps rushed the football better than any other, Oklahoma.

The memory of his many notable runs is still fresh enough that making a list of his attributes is easy. But someday, someone will ask, “What was it that made Peterson so great?”

For me, that answer will be just as simple 20 years from now as it is today.

Many will say “speed.” Almost as many will say “power.” Some will point to his vision and still others will reflect on the elusiveness of his spin move.

All are good answers, but none are mine. To me, the thing that set Adrian apart was his effort, and to be more precise, his effort when meshed with all of that natural ability.

Peterson Headed to NFL | Photo Gallery | Bio & Stats

I once heard a coach say that if your best player is also your hardest worker, your team has a chance to achieve greatness. Don't think for a minute that Oklahoma's success during Peterson's tenure was somehow unrelated to the example he set.

Bob Stoops has often said that he's “not much into comparisons” so I'll resist the temptation to label Peterson with the “est” tag, but I don't think this program had any one who played harder on game day or worked harder in the off-season during the same time frame.

Fortunately, he had the physical resources to put forth such effort. He was one of the few that could walk away from a Jerry Schmidt workout still capable of more.

But Adrian never rested on that fact, even though it would have been easy for him to do so. He understood the value of hard work and had a drive that most of us can only dream about.

Because he was a great worker in the summer, he was a great player in the fall.

And what an irrepressible player he was.

We all remember him jogging to the locker room at Texas A&M with a separated shoulder. After having the joint adjusted by team physicians, he returned to spur a game-winning drive.

We cannot forget the Holiday Bowl game when a freak, but potentially dangerous accident bloodied him on the sideline. During a moment of celebration, a teammate caught him with a helmet square to the forehead opening a gash that left him groggy and horizontal.

Moments later he was back on the field, carrying out a physical, 14-yard run that, for my money, will go down as the most memorable of his career simply because of the circumstances.

Indeed, Adrian's approach to the game and running style were that of an unbroken stallion, which leads to this for a closing.

When the greatest race horse of all-time, Secretariat, died, veterinarians learned that his heart weighed somewhere between 21 and 22 pounds. The normal thoroughbred has a heart that weighs between eight and nine pounds.

My guess is that Adrian Peterson is similarly built. Yes, the speed is blinding. Yes, the power is overwhelming.

Still, it is the heart behind those attributes that I will remember most, and it was that heart, in my humble opinion, that made him a Sooner legend at the age of 21.

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Kenny Mossman, Associate Athletics Director for Communications, provides his perspective on OU Athletics in his regular column on SoonerSports.com. Read more in the Mossman Prophecies Archive.