Kids take home some 'Adrian moments' after a day at Norman camp

Adrian Peterson: Exclusive... The Oklahoman's Berry Tramel catches up with the former Sooner superstar and...
LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

ADVERTISEMENT

He spotted the boy across the field, sitting cross-legged by himself, his head pointed toward the grass.

"What are you doing over here by yourself?” Peterson asked.

The 7-year-old raised his knee and unveiled a solid brown bruise. Peterson bent down, put his big hand on the kid's head, looked him in the tear-filled eyes and told him what his father always said to him when he had a football bruise.

"You've got be tough,” he said.

When Adrian Peterson tells you to be tough, you better do it. The boy stood up, dusted the grass from his shorts and jogged to the field.

"Man, kids are pretty funny,” Peterson said with a smile.

The former Oklahoma running back's football camp in Norman this week is his first as an NFL player, but Peterson already knows exactly what to do.

The day is littered with moments — little happenings that each of the 375 Adrian Peterson wannabes will remember for a long time.

One kid got to try and tackle AD. Peterson picked him up, put him on his shoulder and ran around. Lots of kids caught passes from the Minnesota Viking. Almost everybody got high fives.

"It was awesome!” said 9-year-old Austin Hix of Jonesboro, Ark.

"When I got to shake his hand, it was so cool,” said 13-year old Seaton Noblitt of Mangum.

"Really, really fun,” said 11-year old Dylan Bryce of Saginaw, Texas.

Just down the street is the place where Peterson gave all he could on Saturdays. He misses that.

And that's why he came back for the camp in Norman.

"You hear about a lot of guys who have camps and show up for an hour and then sneak out,” said Nelson Peterson, Adrian's dad. "But he is such a generous person, and he's so grateful. He's here from start to finish.”

Adrian tries to answer each of their high-five requests, tries to pose for every mother holding up a camera phone. He tries to just be a kid — Peterson just wears shorts and a T-shirt and a big smile.

"These guys are so young, and they have a lot to learn,” Adrian said. "I didn't get to do anything quite like this when I was a kid. They hang on every word I say. I'm just trying to be a good role model for them.”