Adrian Peterson to be inducted into Vikings Ring of Honor

MINNEAPOLIS — Months before he’s considered as a first-ballot candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Adrian Peterson will be the newest inductee to the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor.

The team announced Monday morning that it will make Peterson the 29th member of the Ring of Honor, officially recognizing him at a Vikings home game this fall. Peterson, who played five seasons for six teams after his last game with the Vikings in 2016, ranks fifth in NFL history in both rushing yards (14,918) and rushing touchdowns (120). He still holds the league’s single-game rushing record, having run for 296 yards against the Chargers as a rookie, and his 2012 NFL MVP award is still the most recent one given to a non-quarterback.

“From the moment we selected Adrian in the 2007 NFL Draft, he proved to be a transformational player for the Minnesota Vikings,” Vikings co-owner Mark Wilf said in a statement. “His historic 2012 MVP season will be rightfully remembered by fans, but Adrian’s consistent production over 10 seasons in Minnesota is what firmly established him as an all-time Viking and one of the greatest to ever play this game. It will be a privilege to welcome Adrian into the Vikings Ring of Honor this year, and we know it’s a matter of time before we are also celebrating his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

Peterson’s 2,097 yards in 2012 are the second most in NFL history, after he ran for 199 yards against the Green Bay Packers in the regular-season finale to help the Vikings claim the NFC’s final wild-card spot while he finished 8 yards behind Eric Dickerson’s single-season record. It was the second of three rushing titles Peterson would win with the Vikings; his third came in 2015, after he returned from a 2014 suspension that limited him to one game following his indictment by a Texas grand jury on child injury charges.

He would play just three games for the Vikings in 2016, after tearing his meniscus in the first regular-season game at U.S. Bank Stadium, and the team ended his decade-long run in Minnesota by declining an option in his contract the following spring. During his 10 years with the Vikings, though, Peterson reached heights that no running back in franchise history has matched.

His spellbinding combination of speed and power helped him win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after the Vikings drafted him seventh overall in 2007, and he was named a first-team All-Pro four times, while claiming three second-team honors and seven Pro Bowls. After tearing his left ACL on Dec. 24, 2011, at Washington, Peterson vowed to return for the start of the Vikings’ 2012 season. He ran for 1,322 of his 2,097 yards in the final eight games of the season, while playing through a sports hernia injury, and surpassed 150 yards in six of those eight games.

The suspension made Peterson a talk-show debate topic for much of 2014, as the running back and his supporters claimed he was justified in using corporal punishment to discipline his son. Peterson bristled at what he considered a lack of support from the Vikings, who had negotiated with Roger Goodell to put the running back on the then-seldom-used commissioner’s exempt list, and skipped the start of the team’s 2015 offseason program while his agents negotiated a restructured contract with the Vikings. He helped the team return to the playoffs with a 327-carry season in Teddy Bridgewater’s first full year as the starting QB in 2015, though, and after his 2016 injury expedited his exit from Minnesota, he managed a 1,042-yard season for Washington in 2018, finishing in the top three in NFL Comeback Player of the Year voting for the third time in his career.

“Adrian’s career with the Minnesota Vikings set a standard that few running backs in NFL history have matched,” Vikings co-owner Zygi Wilf said in a statement. “From breaking the single-game rushing record as a rookie to his becoming one of just seven players to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, Adrian was an electric player who captivated fans when the ball was in his hands. His infectious energy and his appreciation for Vikings fans and the team’s role within the community made him even more memorable. Adrian certainly belongs in both the Vikings Ring of Honor and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

The Vikings will likely announce the date of Peterson’s induction later this spring, after the league’s 2026 schedule is released Thursday. Peterson will be part of a crowded first-ballot Hall of Fame candidate class next year, along with former New England tight end Rob Gronkowski and former Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Vikings sign two after tryouts

With organized team activities (OTAs) starting this month, the Vikings continued to fill out their roster by signing linebacker Bangally Kamara and defensive lineman Smith Vilbert on Monday. Kamara played three seasons at Pittsburgh before transferring to South Carolina for a season and finishing his college career at Kansas. Last season, he had 9 1/2 tackles for loss, 1 1/2 sacks and one forced fumble, starting nine games. Vilbert played six seasons at Penn State, missing 2023 with an injury, and spent last year at North Carolina. He had six tackles for loss, one sack and two fumble recoveries for the Tar Heels.

The Vikings played host to 24 players for a tryout and their one-day rookie minicamp Friday. The Vikings now have 90 players on their roster, including Australian punter Brett Thorson, who is part of the International Player Pathway program. With the international player exemption, the Vikings have one roster spot left.

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