Adrian Peterson exposes himself during attempt to bash Mike Zimmer

During his tenure with the Minnesota Vikings, Adrian Peterson developed into one of the best running backs in NFL history. But that was a long time ago and Peterson hasn't taken a snap in the league since 2021.

During a recent interview on the "Courtside Club with Rachel DeMita" podcast, Peterson talked about how he hasn't officially retired from the NFL just yet. But the 39-year-old former Vikings running back did say that he will officially step away from playing in the league again if he continues to not get any interest from any teams next season.

In addition to these comments, Peterson also shared a story about how he apparently felt disrespected after a discussion with former Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer back during the 2016 season. However, some of the details mentioned by the former Vikings running back don't make a ton of sense.

Former Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson sounds foolish in attempt to bash Mike Zimmer

Midway through his interview on the "Courtside Club with Rachel DeMita" podcast, Peterson shared the following story about what he described as the one time in his NFL career that he felt disrespected by a coach.

"We were playing the Colts [in Week 15], and we needed to win out. Like we had point some percent chance.

...We end up losing that game. I came back out there and I played decent, didn't really play too well, it had been a while. And then that [loss] pretty much eliminated us from playoff contention."

Before we hear more from Peterson, it seems important to note that the Vikings actually still had a decent chance to make the playoffs in 2016 after their Week 15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. In order to continue to keep their chances alive, Minnesota first had to win both of the final two games on their regular-season schedule.

Knowing this makes the next portion of Peterson's story pretty confusing.

"The next week, coach [Mike Zimmer] wanted me to play again. I was like, 'Coach, I just came back from tearing my meniscus. We have no chance to make the playoffs. Why would I get out there and risk hurting myself?'

And my contract was up [at the end of the season] too, so I could've easily been like, 'You know what? I'm going to shut it down and just whatever, recover.' [But] that's not my mentality.

And then [Zimmer] challenged me. He was like, 'Well, I feel like if you were able to play last week, then you're able to come out and play now.' I'm just like, 'I would do that if we really had a chance to make it to the playoffs, but we don't, and I'm not gonna go out here and risk hurting myself for a pointless game.'

Just here to point out that, once again, the Vikings were not eliminated from playoff contention after their Week 15 loss to the Colts. Minnesota still could have found their way into the postseason with wins in their final two games and some other help, so Peterson calling it "pointless" doesn't make a ton of sense.

The former Vikings running back concluded his story with the following reaction to Zimmer apparently challenging him to play in the team's Week 16 game against the Green Bay Packers.

"[ZImmer] was like, 'Well I just rather you had not played the last game and this, that, and another.' And that's the first time a coach has really just rubbed me wrong with challenging me when it comes to what I've been doing since I was seven, playing the game that I love."

So if we're going by what Peterson claims happened in his story, Zimmer wanted Minnesota's top running back to play again in a Week 16 game that the team absolutely needed to win in order to remain in the playoff hunt. But the former NFL MVP didn't want to play because he viewed the contest as "pointless."

Perhaps Peterson is leaving out some important details to his story, but he is essentially claiming Zimmer disrespected him by wanting him to play in a game that could have potentially helped the Vikings earn a spot in the postseason?

Is anyone else confused?

While telling this story, Peterson might have thought he was getting to share some behind-the-scenes dirt on how Zimmer treated him during Minnesota's 2016 season. But in his attempt to bash the former Vikings head coach, the Pro Bowl running just made himself look like a fool instead.

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