Vikings rookie tailback Toby Gerhart bears the trademarks of a classic football player — granite jaw, tightly cropped hair and a barrel-chested physique that strains the jersey.

Underneath that athletic veneer, however, is an enterprising individual with multiple personas and broad responsibilities.

There is the ambitious scholar and high school valedictorian driven to take a 21-credit course load during his senior season at Stanford.

The master sibling of six athletically and academically gifted children raised by two teachers, one a former professional football player, the other a high school basketball standout.

The willing jester in a pair of digital short films showcasing a self-effacing wit that has gone viral.

And during this weekend’s rookie camp at Winter Park, Gerhart started auditioning for a new role, replacing departed free agent Chester Taylor as Adrian Peterson’s wingman in the Minnesota backfield.

The 2009 Heisman Trophy runner-up and most productive running back in college football last year got his first taste of life in the NFL at Friday’s practice. He soaked it all in, from the nameplate in the locker room and special-teams drills to his introduction to the Vikings’ offensive scheme.

“It’s kind of surreal,” he said. “Me and Everson (Griffen) were talking about that in the locker room. He goes, ‘Man, could you sleep last night?’ I was like, ‘No, not really.’

“It was kind of nerve-racking. It’s fun to walk in there and see your name on a locker, get a helmet, get a jersey. Just living the dream.”

BIG SHOES TO FILL

The Vikings coveted the punishing ball carrier so much, they traded two picks to the Houston Texans to move up in the second round and draft Gerhart 51st overall.

At 6 feet 1, 231 pounds, Gerhart gives Minnesota options — to spare Peterson from more pounding or to unleash a battering ram to punish defenders in short-yardage and goal-line situations.

Gerhart said he met Peterson briefly at the Super Bowl and shook hands with his potential partner.

“About broke my hand,” he said.

Notwithstanding his credentials and the Vikings’ confidence in his ability, Gerhart realizes these preseason camps are for him to shut up, listen and learn.

Asked how he expects to assimilate, Gerhart said no fewer than four times that he will work hard and contribute whatever he can to make the team, from complementing Peterson to mashing it up on special teams.

“There’s always pressure. You’re trying to make the team and replace a great player,” he said about Taylor, who signed as a free agent with the Chicago Bears.

“It’s big shoes to fill. But I’m going to work hard and do what’s asked of me and embrace the role that’s asked of me.”

The Vikings drafted Gerhart to be a tailback. Coach Brad Childress said his pass-catching ability was somewhat underrated and that Gerhart could be used out of the backfield. Childress said this is not a blocking back; this is a player who can split wide as a receiver.

He lauded Gerhart’s hand-to-eye coordination, referring to his baseball career. At Stanford, Gerhart played three years in the outfield, hitting a home run in the 2008 College World Series.

“Don’t,” Childress said, “put him in a box.”

CAPTAIN VIDEO

Last year unfolded like a fairy tale for Gerhart and the Cardinal, who earned their first bowl berth (the Sun Bowl) in eight years.

Gerhart led the country with 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns, finishing 28 points behind Alabama’s Mark Ingram in Heisman voting — the closest race in the 75-year history of the award.

Gerhart’s profile received an unexpected boost courtesy of YouTube.

In front of the camera, Gerhart proved a capable straight man in a pair of Stanford athletics promotional videos that garnered national attention.

One fused an interview of Gerhart soberly discussing how he balances playing baseball and football with a bit showing him trying out for several sports to the mock consternation of his fellow Cardinal athletes.

He used a baseball bat to drive golf balls from the tee box and two-handed swings to smash returns out of a tennis court. He intercepted a pass in field hockey and galloped for a touchdown.

Wearing his football helmet, Gerhart lined up in a three-point stance on the starting platform and did a cannonball as the freestyle swimmers launched into a race.

The money shot kept Gerhart in the pool with the women’s synchronized swimming team, which led him through several routines before he was lifted out of the water atop a pyramid.

“He was willing to try anything,” said video director Bud Anderson. “He was as good doing this as he was running for 100 yards.”

The five-minute video was shot in June to help promote non-revenue sports. By fall, as Gerhart’s Heisman campaign intensified, the tongue-in-cheek clip was being played during games at Stanford Stadium and on “SportsCenter” en route to more than 47,000 page views on YouTube.

Anderson quickly scripted a sequel in October, with the deadpan Gerhart auditioning for a role in an a cappella singing troupe. It also features Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh on stage, barking at Gerhart, “C’mon, you gotta stay on top of the note! Project!”

Said Anderson, “Oftentimes, you don’t realize how much someone has to offer until you get them in the right situation and realize they can do anything. Toby’s multitalented.”

MAKING THE GRADE

Depth of character drives the narrative provided by those closest to Gerhart.

“He’s the type of guy who truly pays attention to my kids when they talk to him, and that’s why they love him,” said his agent, David Dunn. “There’s a genuineness about him that sticks out.”

Wande Olabisi, who played baseball and lived with Gerhart on campus for three years, describes his former roommate as confident yet humble, a high-minded student who was not above pulling the occasional practical joke.

“We were paranoid freshmen who were always locking our doors twice,” recalled Olabisi, a minor league prospect for the San Diego Padres.

“One day, I came home and he was standing there, wide-eyed, and said both our laptops were stolen. I’m going crazy, yelling at him for not locking the doors. I’m on the verge of going after him when he pulls the laptops out from under the bed with this huge smile on his face.”

Gerhart majored in management science and engineering. By taking 21 credits last fall, he was able to take off winter semester to prepare for the NFL combine and draft and is scheduled to graduate this spring.

Olabisi envisions Gerhart as a venture capitalist or entrepreneur if he were not playing football.

“I could definitely see him being part of a Fortune 500 company; he has that kind of ambition, that type of drive,” Olabisi said.

The oldest of Todd and Lori Gerhart’s six children, Toby also is the standard bearer for a family that prioritizes academic achievement.

“Around the kitchen table, you were made fun of if you got a B,” Todd Gerhart said. “It was all A’s in our family.”

The boys excel in football, the girls at softball.

Garth, 21, is a center for Arizona State. The baby, Coltin, 14, quarterbacked his eighth-grade team.

Then, there are the 18-year-old triplets, Teagan, Kelsey and Whitley. Teagan and Kelsey are softball pitcher and catcher, respectively, at Stanford; Whitley plays for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

As the oldest, Toby Gerhart acknowledges he had it easier because he set the bar for the others. At the same time, he carries the burden of expectations.

“You’re the one they look at as an example, so you’ve got to be on your best behavior and do things the right way,” said Gerhart, who used to braid his sisters’ hair before school when they were children.

“I come from a great family. It’s been a great ride. All my brothers and sisters are doing great things.”

CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK

Under his father’s tutelage at Norco High School, 40 miles east of Los Angeles, Gerhart led the country in rushing in 2006 and set California’s career record with 9,662 yards.

Running with the football he got from his dad.

Todd was an all-conference running back at Cal State Fullerton (1981-84) and played two years for the Denver Gold of the United States Football League.

After the USFL folded in the summer of 1986, Todd flew to Minnesota hoping to land one of the few remaining jobs available with the Vikings.

Memories from Mankato, where the Vikings hold training camp, are hazy. There was a touchdown catch from Wade Wilson, eating lunch with Mike Tice and getting run over in the backfield by Chris Doleman.

“He left shoe footprints on me,” Todd said.

By the end of the week, the Vikings told Todd to return the playbook and sent him packing with the clothes he brought, not one thing more.

“I remember I tried to grab a pair of gym shorts, but the trainer saw it and yelled at me to give ’em back,” he said.

A 1987 tryout with the Houston Oilers ended the same way, so Todd Gerhart rejoined his wife and newborn son, Toby, in California. Four years later, he started coaching.

Todd Gerhart avoided coaching his sons in youth football to avoid “burning them out on Dad.” He deferred to Harbaugh at Stanford but has been known to text Toby with notes about his footwork or hitting holes.

Above all, he instilled in his oldest son the fear of complacency.

“Never be content,” Toby Gerhart said Friday. “When you think you’ve made it, you haven’t. Keep working to be the best. Every day’s a new battle. You’ve got to be better. Don’t be satisfied with a practice today. Improve yourself tomorrow.”