Jerome Bettis: Adrian Peterson the only one with a chance to catch Emmitt Smith
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson still has a long way to go to reach 18,355.
That's the NFL's career rushing yardage record, set by Emmitt Smith in 2004. It took Smith 15 seasons to accumulate all those rushing yards, as he was blessed with longevity and played until the age of 35. It has become a rarity for running backs to last that long.
But Peterson is the league's most timeless ball-carrier. Now 30 years old and about 8,000 yards shy of Smith's mark, Peterson will continue chipping away at the record in 2015.
Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis, who ranks sixth on the all-time rushing list with 13,662 career yards, believes Peterson can one day break it.
"I don’t believe that (Smith's) record is unbreakable," Bettis told David Steele of Sporting News, "but I think right now the only person in the NFL that even has a chance is Adrian Peterson, with his gift. Him losing a year last year really hurts his chances, but if anybody, he still has a great chance if he keeps himself conditioned very, very well."
Peterson missed almost the entire 2014 season, after an incident of child abuse landed him on the exempt/commissioner's permission list for 15 games. Stephen Jackson (11,388) and Frank Gore (11,073) are the only active running backs with more career rushing yards than Peterson (10,190), who currently ranks 28th on the all-time list.
(h/t Sporting News)
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
