LA Chargers: Three Hall of Famers who were nearly Chargers
By Jason Reed
Hall of Famers that almost joined the LA Chargers: Adrian Peterson
Adrian Peterson is still chugging along in the NFL but once he decides to hang it up he will become a first-ballot Hall of Famer without a doubt. Peterson is one of the greatest running backs of all-time and essentially took the torch from LaDainian Tomlinson as the best running back in the league.
Peterson’s 2012 season is the only season in modern history to rival LT’s 2006 season as the greatest running back season. Peterson carried the ball for 2,097 yards in 2012, which was eight shy of the all-time record.
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Three years later and Peterson was coming off of another All-Pro season in which he led the league in rushing yards and was open to restructuring his contract in order to work out a trade from Minnesota.
According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, the Chargers were one of five teams that Peterson preferred to be traded to. If that would have happened, the Chargers almost undoubtedly would not have drafted Melvin Gordon and who knows what would have happened next.
Peterson was not traded and was hurt the following year, only racking up 72 rushing yards in three games. He then had a mediocre 2017 with the Saints and Cardinals before becoming a feature back again with the Washington Redskins.
Over the last two seasons, Peterson has only missed one game and has a combined 1,940 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, which is remarkable for his age.