Around the same time current Georgia Southern University freshmen were born, former GS running back Adrian Peterson was running over, sidestepping, outrunning, and stiff-arming defenders on his way to a national championship and a Walter Payton Award.

This weekend, weather permitting, Peterson will be back at Paulson where he overwhelmed defenses and became the greatest Eagle to ever wear the uniform.

Astounding numbers

If you slightly understand football statistics, brace yourselves because these numbers don’t mess around.

In NCAA-documented games, Peterson rushed for 7,590 yards in his four-year career at Georgia Southern. This includes the playoff games after 2000, when those stats began to count.

In the regular season, Peterson is NCAA Division I’s all-time leading rusher with 6,559 yards.

Over four years, he averaged about 155 yards per game on the ground, according to totalfootballstats.com.

In 1999, his sophomore campaign in which he won the Walter Payton Award – the Heisman-equivalent for the FCS – Peterson reeled off a mammoth 2,704 total yards, including the playoffs, according to underdogdynasty.com.

He was the first sophomore to ever win the Walter Payton Award. In 2014, the FCS named its offensive player of the year award after Peterson.

In a 1999 playoff game against UMass, Peterson totaled a ridiculous 333 yards while reportedly having the flu.

This is known as “the run” against Youngstown State and sums up everything Peterson was as a player:

Video Credit: SageOfTheSubway (Youtube)

NFL career

Peterson played nine seasons for the Chicago Bears, including playing in Super Bowl XLI – a loss to Peyton Manning’s Colts.

He totaled over 1200 yards in backup roles, including more than 500 in the 2007 season.

Saturday event

According to gseagles.com, Peterson will be recognized after the first quarter of Saturday’s game.

The National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame will present him with a plaque and an On-Campus Salute presented by Fidelity Investments.

Every player will don the No. 3 on their helmets to honor Peterson. In addition, these special helmets will have a red, white and blue stripe for Military Appreciation Day at Paulson.

The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

For more Adrian Peterson highlights, click here.