While being inducted to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, Adrian Peterson shared what led to him choosing Oklahoma over the Texas Longhorns.
The world of collegiate recruiting has seen some crazy stories throughout the years. Especially football. Oklahoma has seen its fair share. The Sooners have been on the wrong end of some insane sagas and came out on top in others. Most recently, Peyton Bowen.
Very few recruiting wins stand out more than the one that centers on Sooners legend Adrian Peterson.
How did the nation’s number-one overall prospect and running back leave the state of Texas? What gravitated him to Norman, Oklahoma? Texas had the home-state advantage and had put more running backs in the NFL in recent years than Oklahoma had. So, what put Oklahoma over the edge?
At his induction into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame this weekend, Adrian Peterson told the world why he chose Oklahoma over Texas.
Peterson said, “I know there’s a lot of Longhorns and Aggies and Bears. And the number one question I get is, ‘why did you go to Oklahoma? Why didn’t you stay?’ My uncle played with Priest (Holmes) and Ricky (Williams) and those guys, and I remember when I watched them play, I remember sitting outside the stadium waiting for my uncle to come out, and I’m looking and I’m like, ‘I’ll be back here one day.’ I was Texas all the way.”
“But for the people that find themselves mad at me for going to Oklahoma, this is what I’ll say. You going to be mad at anybody, be mad at Coach Mack Brown.
“And this is why I say that. I sat in Coach Brown’s offense and I asked him the same thing I asked everyone else.”
Peterson then shared that he asked Bob Stoops, Pete Carroll and Nick Saban if he would have the chance to compete for a starting job as a true freshman.
Mack Brown’s open and honest loyalty to late Texas running back Cedric Benson. Benson returned to Texas for his senior year instead of bolting for the NFL, and Brown told Peterson in a conversation that he would have no shot to compete for starting snaps with Benson’s return. Peterson was known as a heavy Texas lean during his recruitment until he wasn’t.
The ability to fight for a starting job was arguably Peterson’s biggest question to the schools recruiting him, and Texas was the only one out of the main suitors that said no. Mack Brown told him he’d have to wait and sit behind Benson. Peterson never outright said it, but he refused to do that, and Peterson would eventually sign with their Red River rivals to the north and promptly have one of the best freshman seasons of all time in college football’s history.
Peterson galvanized Oklahoma’s team the moment he stepped on campus.
He was the focal point for the Sooners’ offense and helped them reach the 2005 BCS National Championship against USC. He finished third in school history, and 73 yards short of passing Billy Sims as the all-time leading rusher.
It took him only three years of playing, and he did it while missing multiple games in 2005 and 2006. He was the first true freshman to finish as a runner-up for the Heisman and was the first Sooner ever to be recognized as a first-team Associated Press All-American as a freshman. Simply put, he is a legend.
Things worked out for the Sooners and Peterson as Peterson dominated at Oklahoma before being drafted No. 7 overall to the Minnesota Vikings. He was the NFL MVP in 2012 and racked up four first-team All-Pro awards and seven Pro Bowl selections.
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