Believe The Hype!

"Being great ain't new to me!"

When we use the term hype we’re typically referring to the excitement of a particular object or person. The first thing people want to know, is it live or memorex ? So many times it's neither. When it isn't, the ole' timers would say, "they‘re selling wooden nickels."

Well... not in the case of Vikings running back Adrian Peterson who agreed Saturday to a contract extension that includes $36 million in guaranteed money and as much as $100 million over the next seven years if he plays that long with Minnesota. A league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that Peterson will receive $40 million over the first three years of the deal.

This guy has been the real deal since high school! Les Brown, the powerful motivational speaker says, "Where ever you end up 20 years from now. You've made an appointment to be there 20 years ago!" Well, I guess Adrian finally made it to his appointment because there was never any doubt that he'd be where he is, if you were really paying attention.


In 2004 he was the most highly touted recruit in the country from the little railroad town of Palestine, Texas. The University of Oklahoma successfully went over the Red River and stole another Texas stud to wear the crimson and cream! I can remember being in the stands the very first time he carried the ball for the Sooners during his freshman year. It was like being inside of the Matrix.

The Sooners were playing Bowling Green and A.D., as he's so affectionately called because he could run all day, didn't start. The crowd was literally standing after the kickoff in anticipation of him coming into the game. You could hear a pin drop in the place because no one was breathing. Therewas so much hype around this kid that no way was Stoops going to let him stand around.

After about 3 or 4 minutes A. D. jogged into the huddle and the stadium went crazy! On the very next play he went 46 yards down the sideline and the place exploded! A legend was born in that moment! When people become successful it's no surprise to those around them that they‘ve been able to reach their goals. All you've got to do is pay attention.

The engineers, lawyers, doctors, successful business people in your class didn't just become great overnight either. They were the same kids that sat in the front of the class, asked all of the questions and kept their noses clean when you were growing up. They were the ones that paid attention to details and followed up on assignments etc. See, in order to be great you've got to be good at the things that require no talent at all. Those things are, being on time, accountable and committed.

The same argument goes for the gangsters, hustlers and misfits as well. The people in your class that are spending the rest of their lives in and out of the penitentiary, walking the streets strung out on dope or always known to be running some type of hustle, are typically no surprise to you either. If you look back they were typically the one's skipping class, smoking weed in the janitor's bathroom or hustling some kid out of his lunch money or worse. Every now and then some one surprises you but more often than not it’s dead on. So when you go to your class reunion and some one says, “Lil Tricky is doing 95 years for armed robbery and murder.” Everybody at the table will say, “I can see that!”

So I'm not surprised that A.D. has become the highest paid running back in NFL history. He finished second in the Heisman balloting his freshman year behind Matt Leinart. Which, in my opinion, he should have won but didn't get the votes because he was a true freshmen. The guy came into the league with even more hype than he did coming out of high school.

After setting the NFL's single-game rushing record with 296 yards against San Diego in 2007, Peterson has been picked for the Pro Bowl in each of his four seasons. He's already second in Vikings history behind Robert Smith with 5,782 yards rushing for his career, and his 54 touchdowns over the last four years are the most in the league over that span.

So always remember that it’s not hype if a person has a history of success or failure. They’re typically going to become whatever their tendencies have shown you. What did the coaches always say, “The film doesn’t lie!”

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.