Here's an artical that appeared in today's edition of "The Oklahoman" on Adrian Peterson's "Pro Day" performance in Norman. Notice the comments about the Texans a little further down...
IN THE FLESH'
Oklahoma's Pro Day: 11 former players work out for scouts
Browns GM among those who get up-close look at Peterson
By Scott Wright
Staff Writer
NORMAN Adrian Peterson and Phil Savage each had one goal in mind when they showed up Tuesday morning at Oklahoma's Pro Day at the Everest Indoor Training Facility.
Peterson, the Sooners' No. 3 all-time rusher, wanted to show NFL scouts he could catch the football.
Savage, the Cleveland Browns senior vice president and general manager, simply wanted to see Peterson perform.
Looks like both achieved their goals.
"I think the thing today was the consistency with how he caught the ball. I thought that was impressive, Savage said. "To show that versatility, I think, increases his value, for sure.
In all, 17 NFL teams were represented at the event to watch 11 former college players work out.
Peterson, who impressed scouts with his workouts at the NFL scouting combine Feb. 25 in Indianapolis, did not participate in most of the testing drills Tuesday.
He did, however, go through positional drills which mostly focused on his pass-catching ability.
"I caught the ball real well, Peterson said. "Everybody kind of questioned my hands a little bit. I didn't really catch the ball that much in college. I just wanted to come in and catch the ball.
After leaving scouts at the combine with some unanswered questions regarding his hands, Peterson caught every pass thrown to him Tuesday in a variety of drills organized by a scout for the Oakland Raiders, who have the first pick in the April 28 draft.
"It put some people's minds at ease that he caught it better (than he did at the combine), Savage said.
Savage and the Browns have the third pick in the draft. And even though they signed running back Jamal Lewis to a one-year contract last week, the possibility remains that the Browns could select Peterson.
"I think what we're trying to do is keep all of our options open, Savage said. "A one-year deal, it really doesn't affect whether we would take Adrian Peterson or not.
Like the Browns, several teams that were in the market for a running back have found one either through a trade or free agency in recent days.
"There's an awful lot of things going on, Peterson said. "I got to wait til April. Right now I'm trying to make things the least stressful on me, and just try to relax and enjoy this experience.
"My dream team (would be) going back to Texas. I wouldn't mind going to the Houston Texans. Oakland's not bad at all, or Cleveland, so there's some pretty good spots out there.
Among the drills Peterson skipped Tuesday was the 40-yard dash. At last month's combine, he was clocked at 4.38 seconds in the 40.
Peterson said Tuesday he was disappointed with his performance at the combine, but the emotional challenges that weekend posed had nothing to do with his 40 time.
Peterson learned just hours before his workout that his half-brother had been shot and killed in the Houston area.
"It was hard, man, Peterson said Tuesday. "It was devastating. I couldn't believe it, that Saturday night, sitting up at 2, 2:30, having that on my mind and the most important day coming up.
"That's not something that you can just put in the back of your head for a couple hours.
Peterson pushed through the combine by trying to think positive.
"I felt myself falling off a little bit, but I had to stay focused, because I knew how important it was, Peterson said.
"I knew if he was there, he would want me to go out there and still perform and get it on, like he would say all the time. With those positive thoughts going through my head, even though I was struggling, that right there kept me motivated and kept me going.
IN THE FLESH'
Oklahoma's Pro Day: 11 former players work out for scouts
Browns GM among those who get up-close look at Peterson
By Scott Wright
Staff Writer
NORMAN Adrian Peterson and Phil Savage each had one goal in mind when they showed up Tuesday morning at Oklahoma's Pro Day at the Everest Indoor Training Facility.
Peterson, the Sooners' No. 3 all-time rusher, wanted to show NFL scouts he could catch the football.
Savage, the Cleveland Browns senior vice president and general manager, simply wanted to see Peterson perform.
Looks like both achieved their goals.
"I think the thing today was the consistency with how he caught the ball. I thought that was impressive, Savage said. "To show that versatility, I think, increases his value, for sure.
In all, 17 NFL teams were represented at the event to watch 11 former college players work out.
Peterson, who impressed scouts with his workouts at the NFL scouting combine Feb. 25 in Indianapolis, did not participate in most of the testing drills Tuesday.
He did, however, go through positional drills which mostly focused on his pass-catching ability.
"I caught the ball real well, Peterson said. "Everybody kind of questioned my hands a little bit. I didn't really catch the ball that much in college. I just wanted to come in and catch the ball.
After leaving scouts at the combine with some unanswered questions regarding his hands, Peterson caught every pass thrown to him Tuesday in a variety of drills organized by a scout for the Oakland Raiders, who have the first pick in the April 28 draft.
"It put some people's minds at ease that he caught it better (than he did at the combine), Savage said.
Savage and the Browns have the third pick in the draft. And even though they signed running back Jamal Lewis to a one-year contract last week, the possibility remains that the Browns could select Peterson.
"I think what we're trying to do is keep all of our options open, Savage said. "A one-year deal, it really doesn't affect whether we would take Adrian Peterson or not.
Like the Browns, several teams that were in the market for a running back have found one either through a trade or free agency in recent days.
"There's an awful lot of things going on, Peterson said. "I got to wait til April. Right now I'm trying to make things the least stressful on me, and just try to relax and enjoy this experience.
"My dream team (would be) going back to Texas. I wouldn't mind going to the Houston Texans. Oakland's not bad at all, or Cleveland, so there's some pretty good spots out there.
Among the drills Peterson skipped Tuesday was the 40-yard dash. At last month's combine, he was clocked at 4.38 seconds in the 40.
Peterson said Tuesday he was disappointed with his performance at the combine, but the emotional challenges that weekend posed had nothing to do with his 40 time.
Peterson learned just hours before his workout that his half-brother had been shot and killed in the Houston area.
"It was hard, man, Peterson said Tuesday. "It was devastating. I couldn't believe it, that Saturday night, sitting up at 2, 2:30, having that on my mind and the most important day coming up.
"That's not something that you can just put in the back of your head for a couple hours.
Peterson pushed through the combine by trying to think positive.
"I felt myself falling off a little bit, but I had to stay focused, because I knew how important it was, Peterson said.
"I knew if he was there, he would want me to go out there and still perform and get it on, like he would say all the time. With those positive thoughts going through my head, even though I was struggling, that right there kept me motivated and kept me going.
