Comebacks

Lost in the well-deserved hoopla over the comebacks of Adrian Peterson and Peyton Manning was the year had by another Texas-bred RB, Jamaal Charles.  Charles returned with a career high 1,509 yards and another stellar average of 5.3 yards per carry.  He has only half the career carries of Peterson but sits with a career average of, get this, 5.8.  4,536 yards on just 784 carries.

Meanwhile Adrian Peterson rolled for 2,097 yards, a 6.0 average, and did it while still noticibly favoring the injured knee.  What will he look like next year at the age of 28?  There is some amazing history of east TX running backs as we have talked about.  Dickerson, Campbell, Sims, Tomlinson.  Peterson now stands a real chance of going down as the best of them.  I've run out of words.

What can be said about Manning?  New team, new coaches, new city, new receivers, a year of rust, no matter.  At 37 he nearly matched his career bests.  He is the maestro of QB's.  Again, I've run out of words to describe the level at which he plays.

The other note would be that sports medicine is becoming as much of a marvel as the players.  All of these guys had injuries that would have ruined careers in the recent past.  I wondered about Peterson and Charles ever having the explosion again.  No worries.

S