The NFL’s last non-quarterback MVP squandered $100m in career earnings to leave Shannon Sharpe in shock
Adrian Peterson is still the last non-quarterback to win the NFL MVP award.
Peterson made seven Pro Bowls during ten years with the Minnesota Vikings, who drafted him from Oklahoma with the seventh overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.
The explosive running back set numerous NFL records during his Hall of Fame-worthy career, and ended the 2012 season with 2,097 rushing yards - nine yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's all-time single-season record.
Peterson was named the NFL's most valuable player for his efforts that season, making him one of only 16 RBs in league history to win the award.
He led the league in rushing three times and ranks fifth all time with 14,918 rushing yards to go along with 90 touchdowns over 184 career games.
After leaving Minnesota, he played for six other teams, including Arizona, New Orleans, Washington, Detroit, Tennessee and Seattle.
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The powerful back, recognized as one of the best in league history, earned more than $100million during his 15-year NFL career from 2007 to 2021.
It is the latest in a long legal battle to get Peterson to pay back a $5.2m loan he took out from a Pennsylvania lending company in 2016 that was supposed to pay back other lenders.
As a free agent, he was subsequently picked up for a salary much lower than his previously held $18m tag in Minnesota, and as time passed the initial debt increased.
In July 2024, the court-appointed receiver asked a judge to order that constables accompany him to Peterson’s home in Missouri City so he could inventory assets to be sold off.
“I want to emphasize that I'm financially stable and would never sell off my hard-earned trophies,” Peterson said on social media.
“And if I was gonna sell 'em, I know people that I could sell them to. I wouldn't go online and sell my personal items randomly."
Former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe last year discussed Peterson's financial situation alongside ex-Bengals wide receiver Chad 'Ochocinco' Johnson on their Nightcap podcast.
"Man, AP! You made a 100 million and then he borrowed, I think he borrowed like $5m in two years," Sharpe said in September 2024.
There were reportedly over 300 guests in attendance at the birthday bash. Peterson had a gigantic 12ft ice-block bar and his cake was a purple-and-gold-sheathed monolith invoking the Taj Mahal.
Actor and musician Jamie Foxx also showed up and danced to Michael Jackson.
"Who takes out of a loan to throw themselves a birthday party unless you’re what? Trying to impress the partygoers,” said a frustrated Sharpe.
“I don’t know 300 people. I am 56, I don’t know 300 people."
Peterson's story is a sad yet cautionary tale for professional athletes moving into the post-playing phase of their lives.
His son, meanwhile, also appears to have a future in football, and already has an insane highlight reel.
In 2015, Sports Illustrated estimated that in their first three years out of the League.
A number of factors were cited, including a lack of competent financial planning advice, an obligation to provide financial support to family, extended family and friends that they can't keep up with, divorce, and lack of preparation for a second career.
The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) tries to protect players financially, but it appears they are not always successful.
Sharpe, meanwhile, was much more savvy with his finances.
The Hall of Fame tight end, who won three Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens, has a of $14m.
Sharpe was was selected to eight Pro Bowls and four first-team All-Pros during his career before eventually retiring and moving into sports media.
He made a name for himself on Fox Sports 1's Undisputed alongside Skip Bayless, which he co-hosted between 2016-2023.
Sharpe then moved over to ESPN, where he regularly appeared on First Take with Stephen A. Smith.
Along with Nightcap, the former NFL star has another popular podcast, Club Shay Shay.
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He vehemently denies the allegations, and released a through his attorney on X denying anything non-consensual happening between him and a woman identified as Jane Doe.
“I’m gonna be open, transparent and defend myself because this isn’t right," Sharpe said in a recent Instagram video, while he has also confirmed he has 'elected' to step aside from ESPN.