Adrian Peterson scores 100th career rushing touchdown, ranks seventh all-time

Admit it. You thought Adrian Peterson was done, cashed, washed. You figured that the onetime Purple Jesus was just punching a clock and picking up a paycheck with Washington. And maybe that’s so, but he carved out a little bit of history on Sunday.

It wasn’t exactly a miracle play, a 1-yard dive for Washington’s first touchdown against Arizona. But it was Peterson’s 100th career touchdown, one that further cemented Peterson as one of the game’s all-time greats.

Peterson’s 100 rushing touchdowns put him into a tie for seventh all-time with Shaun Alexander and Marshall Faulk. Just ahead of him are John Riggins (104), Jim Brown (106) and Walter Payton (110). Every player ranked ahead of Peterson is already in the Hall of Fame, and other than Alexander, the six players ranked even with or behind Peterson are in Canton too. Among career touchdown leaders, Peterson ranks in a tie for 19th with Tim Brown at 105.

Racking up yardage

Peterson also passed two Hall of Famers on the career yardage list to move into the top 10 all-time. Peterson began the day with 12,276 career yards, and rushed his way past Faulk (12,279) and Brown (12,312). Next up: Tony Dorsett (12,739) and Eric Dickerson (13,259).

All preseason assessments of Washington’s offense pegged Peterson as a luxury back, little more. But if Peterson can regain any of the line-devouring, yardage-gobbling form that he had while back in Minnesota, Washington will reap the benefits, and the record book will require some more rewriting.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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