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Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Adrian Peterson says he can play long enough to set career rushing record

NFL, Minnesota Vikings

Although he missed almost all of the 2014 season, Adrian Peterson is keeping his sights set on becoming the NFL's career leader in rushing yards.

In an interview with the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Minnesota Vikings running back said he wants to break Emmitt Smith's record.

"I don't think it's impossible," Peterson told the Pioneer Press. "A lot of things are still to come. ... I look at things that anything is possible. [Smith] played 15 years. I'm going into Year 9, but I've only got eight on the body."

Peterson has played in 104 career games and rushed for 10,190 yards. He is 28th on the NFL's career rushing list and is 8,165 yards away from tying Smith's career mark of 18,355 yards.

All but two of the rushers ahead of Peterson on the rushing list are retired, and the two active players -- Steven Jackson and Frank Gore -- will be 32 next season and are far away from Smith's mark. Jackson has 11,388 career yards, and Gore has 11,073.

To break the record, Peterson probably would need to play at least into his mid-30s. He is 30 years old now. Peterson missed almost all of last season due to his court case surrounding child abuse charges, but this weekend, he said he plans on being around the NFL for a while.

"I think I can play [past Smith's retirement age of 35]," Peterson told the Pioneer Press. "I'm blessed with tremendous talent and recovery and everything, so I feel like I'll be able to play as long as I want. ... I want to play seven more [years]. Eight. I really feel that I can be 38 out there and still be the best running back in the NFL."

Most running backs start to have declines in their careers -- some gradual, some eye-poppingly steep -- after they hit 30 years old. Peterson, the No. 7 pick in the 2007 draft by Minnesota, believes he can buck that trend.

Peterson also told the newspaper that he is going to try to rush for 2,000 yards again this season. He eclipsed the 2,000-yard barrier in 2012, when he rushed for 2,097 yards, but has been over 1,400 yards only one other time in his career -- a 1,760-yard season in 2008.

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