Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is 27 years old and 294 yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson’s NFL single season rushing record. He said today at Winter Park where he and the Vikings are preparing for their last two regular season games of the year that if he maintains his health and passion he might play pro football until he is 40.
“I think I can perform at this level for a long time,” Peterson said. “It depends how long God bless me to play, 35, 36. …”
Peterson is the cover story for this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated. “I feel like I can play 10, 12 more years,” he told the magazine.
The amazing Peterson, who is having his best season despite tearing his ACL about 12 months ago, is full of self-confidence. That is obvious by his dramatic recovery from ACL surgery, and the mindset with which he approaches his future.
Peterson doesn’t seem to put limitations on what he can do. He told S.I. he wants to run the 400 meters for the United States in the 2016 Olympics, and is interested in becoming a “socially conscious entrepreneur.”
Peterson was asked today if he could break Dickerson’s record on Sunday against the Texans, and not need the season finale against the Packers on December 30. Peterson didn’t refute the possibility. “That’s how I am looking at it. Just get it done. Get it out of the way.”
At this point in the 16 game NFL schedule most players have injuries. Peterson has groin and abdominal issues but he minimized their importance. “Normal wear and tear. …I’ll be ready to roll,” he said.
Not a surprising answer from the man who is regarded as the best running back of his era and is seen as super human by some fans. “God watches over me,” Peterson said. “My spirit man be out there doing the things that I do on the field. It’s beyond me.”
U Needs Big Ten Attendance Boost
The Gophers men’s basketball team ranked ninth among Big Ten Conference schools in home attendance averages through games of last week, according to figures from the league office. Minnesota is averaging 10,501 fans per game for seven nonconference games.
That announced figure of 10,501 is larger than actual fans in attendance, with some games probably having 6,000 to 7,000 patrons inside Williams Arena. The arena’s capacity is 14,625 and during recent seasons the Gophers typically haven’t come close to filling the building for nonconference games, while Big Ten games may sell out.
But this fall’s no-shows by season ticket holders and minimal interest among single game buyers has been startling. To see so many empty seats despite having an exciting nationally ranked top 20 team to watch isn’t a good sign for a program that historically was among the Big Ten leaders in largest home attendances and gross ticket receipts.
New Gophers athletic director Norwood Teague talked with Sports Headliners about the lack of interest this fall, and also included the ticket selling challenges of home football games in the conversation. “In the offseason I want to do some real research in finding out where we are with the tickets for football and basketball,” he said. “I’ve only been here five months so I am trying to figure it out, but the offseason will be a time when we can take a step back and really look at it, football and basketball.”
The Gophers sold 7,136 public season tickets and 1,182 student season tickets for this season, according to a story in yesterday’s Star Tribune by Mike Kaszuba. The combined total of 8,318 was the lowest shown on a season tickets graphic dating back to 2007.
Some public customers didn’t renew their tickets because of the new preferred seating charges placed on tickets. Other fans may have not renewed because of seven consecutive second division finishes during Big Ten seasons (ninth and 10th the last two years). And certainly an unattractive schedule of home games that included American, North Florida and Lafayette didn’t entice potential buyers for either season tickets or single game tickets. “I agree we need to add quality opponents best we can,” Teague said.
The Gophers finish their nonconference schedule with a game on Saturday night at home against Lafayette. Then it’s all Big Ten games including a much anticipated league opener at Williams Arena on December 31 against Michigan State. Teague said single game ticket interest “going forward has been phenomenal,” referring to conference opponents coming here.
Starting with the Michigan State game the Gophers will be announcing attendances much closer to the numbers of fans in the building than was true this fall. The Gophers, though, averaged 12,723 in Big Ten games last season, the first time that figure was under 13,758 since 2006-2007. In all home games Minnesota averaged 11,794 last season, the lowest since 10,974 in 2006-2007.
If the Gophers fulfill predictions of being a Big Ten title contender, Minnesota won’t have a problem besting last season’s attendance numbers. And a winning season will likely boost offseason ticket sales and announced attendances next fall during nonconference games.
Worth Noting
As of Monday, the 11-1 Gophers’ RPI rating was 11, while 10-2 Michigan State was 53. The Gophers are ranked No. 13 in the country by the Associated Press while the Spartans are No. 20.
The Vikings will use TCF Bank Stadium during part of the construction process for their new downtown stadium. Teague told Sports Headliners expansion of seating in TCF Bank Stadium’s west end will increase capacity from 50,805 to about 60,000.
The Gophers continued practicing this week on campus for their December 28 Meineke Car Care Bowl game. Coach Jerry Kill said on WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” Sunday that senior quarterback-wide receiver MarQueis Gray is the healthiest he’s been in awhile.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Gray starts the bowl game against Texas Tech at quarterback instead of first team freshman Philip Nelson. A switch to the strong running Gray could give the underdog Gophers an advantage, and provide a final game reward to the senior who likely would have been the starting quarterback all season if not for injury.
In Houston the McDonald’s Family Pack promotion for the game costs $99 and offers four game tickets, hot dogs, sodas, and four McDonald’s coffee vouchers and four ice cream vouchers (www.meinekecarcarebowloftexas.com).
Vikings rookie kicker Blair Walsh was selected yesterday as the NFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week for his five field goals performance against the Rams last Sunday. Walsh joins Adrian Peterson and Randy Moss as the only rookies in franchise history to win the Player of the Week Award multiple times in their first NFL seasons. Walsh has set the Vikings’ rookie scoring record with 117 points after surpassing Moss’ 106 points in 1998.
Peterson has been rounding up tickets for Sunday’s game in his native Texas for some time. He said over “100 family members” will attend the game against the Texans in Houston.
Minneapolis native and Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr. is tweeting to his fans about guessing what his favorite Christmas movie is. For those who guess correctly, Fitzgerald will do a random drawing and award the winner a pair of signed game gloves (used).
The Timberwolves are in the midst of a three game schedule against the better teams in the NBA. Tuesday night they lost to the Heat, the team with the second best record, 16-6, in the Eastern Conference. Tonight the Wolves play at home against the 21-4 Thunder, the team with the best record in the Western Conference. Then Sunday the Wolves are in New York to play the Knicks with an Eastern Conference leading 19-6 record.
The Wolves are making only .294 percent of their three point attempts, a 30-team league low. Outside shooting is an issue because of injuries to Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Brandon Roy and Chase Budinger. Defenses can crowd interior space close to the basket because of the Wolves’ outside shooting problems.
Tonight’s game, a 6 p.m. start because of the national broadcast by TNT, is only the second game between the Wolves and Thunder since March 23 when the two teams played a news-making double overtime in Oklahoma City. The Thunder won 149-140, combining for 289 points—the fifth highest total in an NBA game in over 15 years. Love scored 51 points.
The St. Thomas men’s team, ranked No. 4 nationally by D3hoops.com, plays at home tomorrow night against No. 5 UW-Stevens Point, three times an NCAA champion in the last 10 years. Admission is free with tipoff at 7:30 p.m. Both teams are undefeated this fall.
The Tommies’ wins include an overtime victory over Bethany Lutheran, 94-91. St. Thomas sent the game into overtime after trailing by five points with 6.6 seconds remaining. Coach John Tauer has an experienced team with four senior captains starting, Will DeBerg, Tommy Hannon, Noah Kaiser and John Nance.
