Adrian Peterson had the greatest statistical career of any running back to ever suit up for the Minnesota Vikings. But Peterson's time with the Vikings came to a bit of an abrupt end after the 2016 offseason, and he recently shared why that happened.
During a recent appearance on the "Ed Block CourageCast" podcast, the former Minnesota running back shared what ultimately led to his departure from the franchise.
"When I left, me and [head coach Mike Zimmer] kind of [butted] heads a little bit because I just felt disrespected.
...Honestly, just leaving there, I just felt disrespected by the head coach in particular. Not the organization or anything like that, it was just the head coach.
Me and him had a few words, respectfully, but I was just like, 'Alright, it's probably best for me to do something different.'”
Adrian Peterson says he felt disrespected by former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer
For those who need a bit of a refresher, Peterson only appeared in three games during his final season with the Vikings due to a torn meniscus.
He suffered the injury in a Week 2 win over the Green Bay Packers, and then he attempted to return in a Week 15 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, but he only wound up staying on the field for just 12 snaps.
Minnesota lost that game to the Colts, and that essentially eliminated the Vikings from earning a spot in that season's playoffs.
With Minnesota no longer in contention for the postseason, Peterson shared on the podcast that he felt it was best to remain on the sideline for the team's final two games of the 2016 campaign.
Well, the former Vikings running back revealed that Zimmer, unsurprisingly, didn't like that decision, and in true Zimmer fashion, he let Peterson know about it.
"He said a couple of words, he said some things that I felt [were] disrespectful. [He] challenged me as far as being a competitor and just my whole being.”
As much as Zimmer didn't like Peterson shutting it down for the final two games of the 2016 season, the All-Pro running back had every right do so.
Signs were already pointing to Minnesota moving on from Peterson in the upcoming offseason, so he wanted to make sure he was healthy enough to generate interest in free agency.
Peterson wanted to continue his NFL career for several years, so risking a significant injury in two meaningless games wasn't something that he was interested in doing. It's really difficult to blame him (in this instance...).
Zimmer's bluntness was a breath of fresh air when he became the Vikings' head coach in 2014 after the team just spent the previous three years with Leslie Frazier as its head coach, who was much quieter and more reserved with his approach.
However, that blunt nature is also what ultimately led to Zimmer's firing after the 2021 season, as it was no longer an effective approach to running the Vikings.
I am one of the last people on Earth to ever come to the defense of Peterson, but in this specific situation about shutting it down at the end of the 2016 season to get a head start on offseason recovery, he was in the right, and Zimmer was wrong.
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