In 2014, Peterson was indicted by a grand jury in Texas on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child that occurred earlier that year, and was suspended for the rest of the season.

[2][3][4] His father was a shooting guard for Idaho State, but his dream of a National Basketball Association career was derailed when a gun that his brother was cleaning discharged into his leg.

[5][6] His mother, a three-time Texas state champion at Westwood High School, attended the University of Houston on an athletic scholarship as a sprinter and long jumper.

[16] Following Maurice Clarett's unsuccessful attempt to sue the NFL over its age limit in 2004, there was considerable debate over whether any high school football player might be able to make the leap from the preps to the pro game.

[citation needed] He also posted a wind-assisted time of 10.33 seconds in the 100 meters at the 2003 UIL State Track Meet, where he earned a second-place finish behind Ivory Williams,[19][20] who won the 2004 World Junior Championship over the same distance.

[27][28] Concluding his high school football career at the annual U.S. Army All-American Bowl, he led the West squad with 95 yards on nine carries and scored two touchdowns, and announced at the game that he would attend college at the University of Oklahoma.

[43] Despite dislocating his left shoulder in the first half, he managed to run for 101 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries, his ninth straight 100-yard game, against Texas A&M.

[32][51] Peterson contributed to a perfect regular season for the Sooners and participated in the 2005 BCS National Championship Game with a berth to the 2005 Orange Bowl against USC.

[62] Peterson's father, Nelson, was released from prison during the 2006 college football season and was able to watch his son as a spectator for the first time on October 14,[9] when Oklahoma played Iowa State.

Oklahoma defeated Iowa State in that game; however, on the final drive for the Sooners, Peterson broke his collar bone when he dove into the end zone on a 53-yard touchdown run.

[64] At the time of the injury, Peterson needed only to gain 150 yards to pass Billy Sims as the University of Oklahoma's all-time leading rusher.

[72] Coming into the league, he was known as a tall, upright runner possessing a rare combination of speed, strength, agility, size, and vision, along with a highly aggressive running style.

[10] His rare talent as both a great breakaway and power runner has often raised comparisons to past legends, including Eric Dickerson, Walter Payton, Gale Sayers, O. J. Simpson, Franco Harris, and Jim Brown.

[90][91] His breakout game as a professional came on October 14, 2007, against the Chicago Bears, highlighted by a three-touchdown performance and a then-franchise record of 224 rushing yards on 20 carries.

[95] Following Peterson's record performance, Deion Sanders, now an NFL Network analyst, said about him: "He has the vision of a Marshall Faulk, the power of an Earl Campbell, and the speed of an Eric Dickerson.

[104] In honor of Peterson's record-breaking performance against the San Diego Chargers, the jersey he wore that day was sent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

[123] Head coach Brad Childress, however, stated that he wanted to continue leaning on Peterson, giving him a large number of carries.

[151] On December 24, Peterson was injured by safety DeJon Gomes and needed help off the field in a Week 16 game against the Washington Redskins.

The game was tied at 34 in the fourth quarter when Peterson ran for 26 yards, setting the Vikings up for a game-winning field goal with three seconds left.

Peterson's son later died due to injuries suffered from an assault, apparently by the mother's live-in boyfriend.

[199] Five days later, on September 12, 2014, Peterson was indicted on child abuse charges and subsequently deactivated for Minnesota's Week 2 game against the New England Patriots.

[213] The period was highlighted with the game against the Oakland Raiders on November 15, in which Peterson rushed 26 times for 203 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown run.

[237] On February 28, 2017, the Vikings announced that they would not exercise Peterson's 2017 option on his contract, making him a free agent at the start of the 2017 league year.

[247][248][249] During Week 9 against the San Francisco 49ers, Peterson posted another impressive performance with a career-high 37 carries for 159 rushing yards as the Cardinals won 20–10.

[268] In Week 8, against the Minnesota Vikings, Peterson passed Jerome Bettis and LaDainian Tomlinson for sixth all-time on the career rushing yards list.

[308] His two-year-old son died on October 11, 2013, at a hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, due to injuries sustained during an alleged assault by Joseph Robert Patterson, the boyfriend of the child's mother.

[314][315] In 2016, he and Williams opened a gym in Houston that includes a soccer field, an MMA training area and an incline running hill.

[322] The prosecution in the case alleged that Peterson used a tree branch to beat his son repeatedly on his back, buttocks, genitals, ankles, and legs.

[334] In February 2024, court records were made public that Peterson had not paid any of the $8.3 million owed and that some of his personal assets had been forcibly seized.

[341] The fight was originally scheduled for July 31 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, but was postponed after AnEsonGib, a fighter in the card's main event, had medical issues.