Adrian Peterson Discusses Facing Vikings as Member of Saints in Week 1

New Orleans Saints running back Adrian Peterson is awaiting a warm welcome from Minnesota fans when he faces his former team, the Vikings, in Week 1 on Monday Night Football.

"I don't see why it would be any other way," Peterson told reporters, per Courtney Cronin and Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. "Being the face of a franchise for so long and giving them everything I got, I don't think it took a rocket scientist to see when I was on the field that I was giving max effort with everything that I did. I feel like that is respected by the fans."

Peterson also spoke about his effort and commitment to the Vikings while he was with the organization.

"So you can kind of fully grasp and understand how it was for me last year, I tore 90 percent of my meniscus. All the advice I was getting was, if you cut this out, you would be bone on bone. If you have surgery to repair it, it's still a 50 percent chance that the meniscus doesn't heal. So, of course, I said, 'You know what? I believe in a higher power, so I'm going to get it repaired.' So I went through the surgery and got it repaired, and it was six to eight months recovery. ...

"... I didn't sit back and say I'm just going to collect a check. I was fighting... I don't want to go back to Houston and just relax and collect money and be satisfied with that because the doctors were saying this was going to be a six to eight month recovery. I feel like that's a perfect example of what I gave my team, my organization, and I feel that's why the state of Minnesota and the fans respect me and have so much love for me."

Certainly, Peterson made a major impact on Minnesota during his time with the organization, rushing for 11,747 yards and 97 touchdowns in 10 years. He led the NFL in rushing three times during that stretch and was the MVP in 2012. He also reached seven Pro Bowls and was a four-time Associated Press first-team All-Pro selection with the Vikings, virtually assuring himself of eventually reaching the Hall of Fame. 

The Vikings didn't pick up his $18 million option this offseason, however, a hefty price for a running back entering his age-32 season. So Peterson signed a two-year, $7 million deal with the Saints instead, giving the team a loaded backfield that also includes Mark Ingram and rookie Alvin Kamara. 

But Peterson isn't holding that against the Vikings.

"For me to have an exit meeting, and the next time I talked to them I was getting a call at 1 o'clock in the morning saying we're signing Latavius Murray, that's no ego blow for me. For me that's motivation. Congratulations. Now I can move on and take my abilities somewhere else."

And the motivation he has to post big numbers won't be any different than his motivation to dominate any other team.

"I want to stick it to every team," he noted. "I [hope to] have a great performance against all our opponents this season, so that comment wouldn't be anything different than I would say about Green Bay when we played those guys. The only thing that's going to be different is playing my first game with a new team back in my old home, and that's going to be the only difference."