Realistically, Adrian Peterson may move up to third on the NFL’s all-time rushing list, but he won’t catch Emmitt Smith’s record for career rushing yards, and he knows it.
In fact, he has already come to terms with it. But Peterson hasn’t thrown in the towel on his career yet, telling Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he hopes the team gives him one last chance to play in 2023.
“Mentally, I haven’t officially hung it up,” Peterson said. “We’ll see what happens. My way of thinking is, God willing, maybe there will be an opportunity, and maybe it will happen this season. I’ll go from there. But nothing happens this season. Sure, I’ll hang it up.”
Peterson, 38, did not play during the 2022 season, appearing in four games in 2021 with the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks.
His 14,918 career rushing yards ranks fifth all-time. At one point, he was a safe bet to surpass Smith’s record of 18,355 career yards. Peterson amassed 11,675 rushing yards over his first nine seasons (1,297 in a season), and he’s on pace to surpass Smith’s record heading into the 2021 season.