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Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has established himself as the best player at his position in the NFL over the past several years, but he just took a big step toward entering the "best ever" conversations.

In front of his home Mall of America Field crowd, Peterson became the third-fastest player to reach 10,000 career rushing yards in NFL history Sunday against the Chicago Bears.

Peterson finished the game with 211 yards on 35 carries, a 23-20 victory in overtime for Minnesota.

Hall of Famers Jim Brown and Eric Dickerson are the only backs to accomplish the feat quicker than Peterson, so it's safe to say that he is in rarefied air.

Peterson also became the fifth running back to reach 10,000 rushing yards within his first seven seasons.

At the age of 28, it stands to reason that "All Day" has plenty of good years left in the tank. Running backs tend to break down at around the age of 30, but Peterson is clearly far from an ordinary back.

He proved that recently when he miraculously recovered from a late-season ACL tear in 2011 in time to play the entire 2012 season. Not only did Peterson play, but he also had one of the greatest seasons in NFL history with 2,097 rushing yards—just eight yards short of Dickerson's single-season record.

Emmitt Smith currently holds the career rushing record with 18,355 yards, and while the Vikings star has a long way to go before he gets there (10, 057), he has to be considered a strong candidate to break that record when you take his track record into account.

Whatever the case, Adrian Peterson gained yet another accolade on Sunday, and many more are sure to come.

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