Yes, a neurosis sets in among the fans of those teams who have lived through troubles in the past. Everyone continues to view things colored with the shadows of what went on before, even though Herschel will never run another down again for the Vikings and those four ancient Super Bowls really have nothing to do with the 21st century, except that they still haunt the souls of the damned. Some emotions will only be washed away by such miraculous sights as AD throwing defensive backs off the football field on their cans and scoring his touchdowns anyway.

Every new coach will be a bad coach until hell freezes over, but fear not, my soulful bretheren , for this could be the year that it does.

Sayers has a pretty impressive reel of highlight film. Peterson is much more like Brown and Dickerson in the way he runs. Sayers was unique. So was Sanders. So was Payton.

At some point, the debate becomes no more meaningful than arguing over whose baby is cuter. Having said that, there really is no dispute that there is a continuum among players, and those at the end of the continuum deserve the adjectives like “elite,” “extraordinary,” or “among the greatest of all time.” Peterson, in the eyes of many if not most (including mine) is at that end of the continuum. It’s not just that he has great stats. Like all the rest in that class, it is the “way” that got the stats that stands out.

Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Dickerson, Bo Jackson, Sayers, Barry Sanders, Payton, OJ — they are special in the eyes of many not so much because of the stats but because of the way they compiled the stats — they were just clearly better than everyone else on the field at the time.

There are a LOT of really good backs who compiled great stats over a season or a career who are not put in this final, “greatest” category. Leroy Kelly, Chuck Foreman, Terrel Davis, Paul Hornung, Marshall Faulk, Tomlinson, Dorsett, Emmitt Smith, .. heck, the list is endless.

Peterson has already shown that he is in the “greatest” category. Jamal Lewis had the single game rushing record before Peterson broke it his rookie season. Yet, no one talks about Lewis as one of the best all time. People (including me) were talking about AD being among the best of all time even before he broke Lewis’ record. There is a reason for that. We saw what he did against the Bears that season and realized that the WAY he runs makes him elite — the stats are confirmation, but they are not the reason for the way he (or the others in his class) are viewed by most fans.

Having said all that, there is an acid test — the one we all learned on the school yard during recess. Your picking your team. You have one pick for a RB. You can pick any RB from history — in their prime — to be on your team, knowing your opponent gets to pick any other RB that you don’t pick. You haven’t picked any other player yet (a QB, O-line, defense), so you don’t know yet how your players’ skills will mesh. RB is your first pick. You are playing just one game (recess is only 20 minutes after all).

Who do you pick?

Peterson? Brown? Payton? Sayers? Sanders? OJ? Dickerson?

Based on what I have seen? Peterson.

(Use the same test for Basketball. Who do you pick? MJ? Bird? Magic? Kareem? Wilt? Kobe? LeBron? Russell?)