In light of the Mitchell Report and the finger-pointing of athletes, I thought it would be good to highlight athletes that overcame challenges to achieve success or exemplify team sports. So, here now is a debut segment on FTRS dubbed Player Spotlight.
Every year I play Fantasy Football online. For those of you unfamiliar with fantasy football, the essential definition is it's a game played online where you assemble a team via draft and play against other teams in a league with points based on real-life play. I usually try to draft players that play as a team (I have in the past turned down chances to draft superstars Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson for this reason) mostly because I find I have much more respect for them and they're easier to root for. This year, I drafted Adrian Peterson, running back of the Minnesota Vikings, in the 10th round. My intention was to have him be the number three running back on the depth chart, but instead he has arguably been my season MVP. Leading up to the draft, I did some basic looking up of people to see if they were guys I could really root for during the season. Here's what I found on Peterson:
Adrian Peterson was born and raised in Palestine, Texas, 112 miles southeast of Dallas, a town of about 17,000. His family life was full of hardships including the deaths of his brother and stepbrother (in separate incidents) and his father spending ten years in prison on money laundering charges. Adrian was a prodigious athlete in high school, competing in track, basketball, and football. In 2003, he was named the top high school player in the country by multiple publications. During three seasons at the University of Oklahoma, Adrian ran for 4,045 yards, 75 short of Oklahoma's all-time record. If it weren't for a broken collarbone he suffered in his final season, he would have gotten the record.
The Minnesota Vikings picked Peterson 7th overall after some teams were scared off by his potential for injury. Of the 12 games he has played this season, he has rushed for 1,278 yards, scored 14 total touchdowns, and added 247 yards receiving. Interestingly, Adrian is known as "AD" as in All Day, his mentality to play well all day long. According to Wikipedia, he stated his goals prior to the season as 1) being named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and rush for over 1,800 yards, which would set a record. Already he has received numerous NFL awards and broken as many records. Prior to the season, he said to IGN, "I'm a player who is coming in with the determination to turn a team around. I want to help my team get to the playoffs, win…and run wild. I want to bring people to the stands. I want people to come to the game to see what I can do next. Things like that can change the whole attitude of an organization. I want to win." Saying things like I want to help my team win aren't said nearly enough in today's multi-million dollar sports world.
For source info, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Peterson. Feel free to leave feedback on this and other segments.
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