Adrian Peterson plays in Washington and it's an election year, so it makes sense that he wants four more years.
The years Peterson wants don't have to do with political office, but football performance. The 35-year-old running back said during the offseason it was his goal to play until he's nearly 40 and when asked Friday during an appearance on Good Morning Football, he didn't quite say he wanted a full term, but half of one might do.
Peterson might need a full term if he's going to have a legitimate shot at passing all-time rushing leader Emmitt Smith, whom Peterson still trails in career rushing yards by a little over 4,000.
"You know, that's not really my ultimate goal," Peterson said of passing Smith. "It's one of my top goals. Winning a championship is the one that I'm chasing the most. Obviously that's one of my goals that I set for myself when I entered into the NFL was to be able to pass the G.O.A.T. My body is feeling good. I look forward to playing a couple of years, 3-4 more years.
"Who knows? Depending on how my body is feeling because it talks to me. I didn't know it was that close -- 4,000. That sounds a lot better than 6,000 or 5,000. We'll see what happens. I'll put my best foot forward to reach it. I promise you that."
Peterson could pass Smith if he posted four seasons of at least 1,035 yards per campaign. A 1,000-yard season has long been the benchmark of success for running backs at any age, and Peterson doing so consecutively while creeping closer to 40 would be impressive. Emmitt Smith's 18,355 yards sit as the standard with Peterson's 14,216 currently fifth all-time.
In fact, he's come close to doing so in the last two years, posting a 1,042-yard season in 2018 before falling just short with an 898-yard campaign last year. In a full 16-game slate, Peterson would only have to average 65 yards per game to hit his mark -- and then do so for four straight seasons.
We've already seen how Peterson's rare physique has helped him stay a viable option in the NFL, well after tearing his ACL in 2014. It wouldn't be incredibly outlandish to think he might be able to at least threaten Smith's mark, if a team will have him three years from now.
As for his current team's Super Bowl chances, well, we can wait until the season starts to see how close Peterson really is to fulfilling that goal.
