Adrian Peterson Reveals Exactly Why He Chose Oklahoma Over Texas

Adrian Peterson is one of the best college and NFL running backs in history, but according to the player himself, he had one reason for choosing the Sooners.

Matt Galatzan | Apr 18, 2023

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Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns have a long history of winning critical recruitments. However, they also have a history of losing their fair share as well. Most recently, former Oklahoma Sooners running back Adrian Peterson revealed why he passed over the Longhorns during his recruitment.

And according to Peterson, that decision had everything to do with Mack Brown, Cedric Benson, and not being guaranteed a starting spot on the Longhorns roster.

"He was like ‘Well, Adrian, I’m not going to lie to you. Cedric Benson, he decided to come back for his senior year. So, we’re going to be loyal to him and we’re going to let him ride it out," Peterson said, via OutKick. "But after that, you can compete for it.’ I said ‘Okay, appreciate it’ and that was it. I never told him that I wasn’t coming. But that was the decision I made based off that."

Benson, of course, was already established as one of the best running backs in school history and would go on to finish his career as the school's second all-time leading rusher with 5,540 yards - just 739 yards behind Heisman Winner Ricky Williams. Benson finished out that final season, rushing 326 times for 1,834 yards and 19 touchdowns, was named a consensus all-American, and won the Doak Walker Award.

Meanwhile, Peterson, was right there alongside Benson as a finalist for the award, rushing 339 times for 1,925 yards and 15 touchdowns. Peterson, however, was also just 1-2 against the Horns, with the lone win coming in 2006.

After missing out on Peterson, the Longhorns did not sign a running back as part of the 2004 class. Instead, freshman phenom Jamaal Charles would help take over after Benson's departure, playing a major role in the Longhorns national title win over USC.

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Published Apr 18, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.