EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Adrian Peterson is the reigning NFL MVP and was named the league's top player in a poll of the league's players. The league's players voted in a ranking released Thursday night on NFL Network. How inspiring was Peterson's return from major knee surgery to win the MVP and falling just eight yards shy of the single-season rushing record? Just see the respect that Peterson gained around the league and what players had to say on the NFL Network broadcast on Thursday: Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (who came back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament himself last season): "I was going through the same things he was going through. I had the same things with a torn ACL and meniscus and mine happened first, then his happened. I'm like, ‘Man, I wish I could do that.'" Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen: "That drive and that motivation he had to come back and prove everybody wrong, you could see it in the way he was working day in and day out." Houston Texans tight end Owen Daniels: "I've had three ACLs in my life. To come back the way he did, literally like nothing happened, better than he was the year before, I don't understand it. It's got to be genetics man." Minnesota quarterback Christian Ponder: "We were in the indoor facility and he was working out, doing all this lateral movement and running full speed on his leg, which a couple months afterward no one does. I knew at that point, he said his mind was set on getting back for that first game against Jacksonville and I don't think anyone had the doubts that he was going to do it." Oakland Raiders fullback Marcel Reece: "It's remarkable to see a player like that to be so good and still work so hard. I think I can speak for most guys in the league, you admire stuff like that." Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy: "I don't think he's human. I think he's a robot." Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek: "I'd say as far as being a human superhero, it's Adrian Peterson." Free-agent offensive lineman Derrick Dockery: "He's like playing Madden. You hit the L1, R1 on your joystick, he's spinning." Reece: "He has to have ankles of steel or something like that because it hurts my ankles to see him make cuts the way he does." Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman: "You know he's going to get the ball and team's still can't stop him. We were one of those defenses. First play of the game he ran probably a good 60 yards." Tillman: "He has that ‘X' factor of just taking it to that next level at any given point of the game and will just destroy a defense and rush for 200-plus yards." Vikings kicker Blair Walsh: "There was a play against Seattle, I think it was like 85 yards or something like that, he completely silenced that crowd. That was the most impressive thing I've ever seen. There's nobody who can control a game like that guy can and doing that from the running back position is just unheard of." Oakland linebacker Nick Roach: "Something that you have to prepare for physically and mentally because you know that you're going to have to try and stop a monster on Sunday." Free-agent defensive tackle Nick Eason: "I think that he runs harder now that he got hurt, which is crazy to say but is so true. He definitely runs through arm tackles all day." Tampa Bay safety Mark Barron: "It's like trying to tackle a wild horse, he just keeps bucking. You literally have to wrestle him down. He's not going to go down easy." Barron. Houston running back Arian Foster: "AP is just, he's been so dominant for so long and he continues to do that. And to see what he did, after beating a dead horse, but to see what he did after the injury that he had is just people don't do that. People don't come back from that and the way he came back, I think it's hard work. I kind of looked into it to see what he did in the offseason, we talked at the Pro Bowl, and I'm looking at videos and things like that, and just seeing the work that he put into it and the dedication and the mindset it takes for somebody to come back from that. I can relate to that because I had to overcome trying to get on a team when I came into the league, so I just respect and admire that hard work and that grittiness it takes every day through dedication and everybody in your life saying you probably can't, probably won't. That's just what guys like AP does, just goes out there and does it day in and day out."
Follow Brian Hall on Twitter
