Eli wrote:
It's not a given, even if some of you people think that Peterson can walk on water and change water into wine. Actually, it's a long shot. Peterson is a talented running back, but there's no real evidence at this point that he'll have that type of longevity that we've seen from only a tiny handful of running backs in the history of the NFL.
Well if he's Jesus, he's definitely breaking the record, pal.
You're the one who's establishing these parameters about his longevity dude. No one here was trying to talk about his longevity until you came up with this weird figure of 6 years and 1,400 yards. I understand that you're trying to be objective, and you are to some extent. You're not being objective with the data you're presenting though. It severely limits the criteria of what you're allowing yourself to think dude. It's just not that black and white. He could play for 10 more years like Emmitt, and there's nothing to suggest he won't at this point. They've both been durable at this point of their careers, with the exception being that Emmitt really didn't miss games, while AP has missed very few.
If anything, football players are coddled more than they have ever been, and AP has missed probably a lot of his games because coaches or the FO didn't want him to aggravate his injuries. I mean, you can think of it from a number of different perspectives man. There's tons of ways of looking at it. Some ways more optimistic than others.
What odds would you give of Peterson breaking Emmitt Smith's record?
I think he can definitely break the record. I'm not saying that it won't be difficult, or anything like that. There's a lot of adapting a player has to make when he hits that first wall when he loses some of is natural ability. This goes for every athlete. Michael Jordan came out of retirement and he wasn't as good because he couldn't always just overpower his opponents. He learned how to shoot better and had some of the best years of his career after that. MJ was a great athlete. AP is a great athlete. It isn't just physical, it's mental. He has it. You have to watch and analyze the way he plays to know it.
Either way, it's just a fact of all sports: the all-time greats usually last the longest. AP is that kind of a player.
Say a year from now, what would it take to alter those odds in your mind? A catastrophic injury? Or how about just another mediocre 1200 yard season? Once he has a few successive 1200 yard season, it should be obvious to just about anyone that unless he plays until he's 40, it aint going to happen.
See, now you're assuming that he's going to have 1,200 yard years. Come on man. Let's say he does, that means what? 200 yards off from what he's supposed to get for 6 years? What if he has 1,200 yards for each other those next 6 years? He would have to get 1,200 yards one more time dude. Or 600 yards 2 more times. It's just not even close to out of the question.
What if he reaches 2,500 yards this year? Kind of takes the load off of those 1,400 yard seasons he would have to accumulate to get the record, wouldn't it?
