With previous NFL rushing leaders Maurice Jones-Drew and Chris Johnson making fools of themselves, it's a pleasure to see someone who could be one of the all-time great running backs make a needed return.
Jones-Drew has been one of the only bright spots for the Jacksonville Jaguars for the past three seasons, and it culminated last year with his NFL-leading 1,606 yards rushing. But then came one of the more foolish sports business decisions in a long time--holding out the entire preseason without successfully negotiating a new contract while being heavily fined, and with Johnson, ruining many if not all future holdout attempts at new deals.
Johnson had a remarkable first three years in the league in the Tennessee Titans uniform, with 2009 being his greatest with over 2,000 yards rushing. But a messy 2011 holdout seemed to take away the edge from this former Pro Bowl running back. He did win the financial battle, but he lost the athletic war by lack of training camp time. Once one of the most explosive backs in football, Johnson barely averaged four yards per carry last season, and is still in the doldrums this year, with only 21 yards rushing on 19 carries during the Titans' first two games. He even wagged a blaming finger at his offensive line this week.
In the meantime, Adrian Peterson is lucky to be running at all.
Last December, Peterson, the current face of the Minnesota Vikings franchise, suffered a knee injury that in previous decades would have virtually spelled the end of his football career. Gale Sayers, one of the most dominant runners ever in the sport, had his career cut tragically short by catastrophic knee injuries. Terrell Davis, the Denver Bronco back to whom John Elway owes eternal gratitude for two Super Bowl wins, was never the same after a season-ending knee injury.
During NFL training camp, footage of Peterson in a knee brace making hard cuts and quick bursts in training drills were remarkable to me, who had to have major knee surgery in high school and was basically sidelined from competitive sports thereafter. Yes, I have at least a small personal interest in this comeback attempt.
But could the Viking running back make the transition to a full contact regular season game? Ask the Jacksonville Jaguars. In his first real game after the injury, Peterson cut outside with regularity, turning negative plays into positive gains, and scored two touchdowns with a signature blend of power and grace. On his first score, he pushed would-be tacklers into the end zone with him. On the second, he dove over the top of them.
Though both Johnson and Jones-Drew have had their share of highlight moments (and Jones-Drew, like Sayers, has some great kick returning credentials on his resume as well), anyone who is a Bear fan or fan of any other NFC North team can attest to the artistry of Peterson.
Chicago fans still have nightmares of Peterson racking up 200+ yard rushing games in their first encounters, seeing his combination of brutality and speed bankshotting and outrunning Bear defenders. I swear that sometimes his Vikings helmet looked suspiciously like devil horns on some of his spectacular runs to pay dirt.
Even if you are not a Viking fan, he can be a dazzling player to watch. Hopefully, with the aid of some remarkable medical technology and his own determination (and by keeping him out of Texas nightclubs, which is another story), AP can join the likes of other divisional running back heroes such as Payton and Sanders in the line of great runners and athletic artists.
Note: During the NFL season, there will be another blog entry on great running backs as artists. I hope you will stay tuned.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Saturday, September 1, 2012
A Happy Labor Day poem
The following poem was inspired by seeing the Gary steel mills at night as the Great Recession started easing up. Happy Labor Day and raise a glass to the contributions of union labor in America.
U.S. Steel at night
Plumes
of flame
illumine
the night
in volcanic
majesty
children
of Vulcan
toiling
for their wages
Furnaces
stoked by
fortunate
laborers
Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego
happy
to survive
their
daily trials
Highways
and lake shores
flickering
in the
orange
glow
of pillars
of fire
workplace
signs and wonders
Pride
of a country beamed
through
the fiery froth
of
billowing smoke
and the
molten heat
of
activity
In my age
of
inertia
a
passing comet
to
celebrate
in the
darkness
Angels
of the furnace
watch our
family
of
steelworkers
walk
home
in the
dark
Gordon Stamper Jr.
August 25, 2010 (revised August 26, 2010)
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