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JonnyRed

9/7/2006, 11:44 AM

Week No. 2 of All Day: All-Access -- A.D.'s Love of Music
Posted: Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006

Adrian Peterson
• Moved to No. 7 on OU's career rushing list with 139 yards vs. UAB. His total now stands at 3,172. Peterson needs 951 yards to pass Billy Sims for No. 1.

SoonerSports.com: Several athletes are known to use music to get "pumped up." What do you listen to before each game?
Adrian Peterson: I listen to Rick Ross; it’s the beat. It keeps me going. There are a couple of songs I like that I can vibe to that get me crunk. Have you ever heard that song "Everyday I’m Hustlin'"? It’s the whole song; it gets me pumped up and ready to go out there. It reflects back to all of the hard work over the summer. Actually, it was the song I listened to before summer workouts.

SS: What developed your interest in music?
AD: Gospel is my earliest memory of music. I sang in the choir. I was about eight years old. I did it for a couple of years and then I got to that stage where I thought I was too big to sing in the choir. It was my mom’s influence.

It’s crazy my Auntie, on my mom’s side, has been singing for 20-something years and we were always around her. When we stayed in Dallas, before my brother had passed, we stayed in the same apartment complex right next to each other. I was always around my Auntie and my other two cousins. I sang with her. Actually, all of us were in the choir.

SS: Who else in your family tailored your interests in music?
AD: My mom tried to push me towards listening to gospel and music like that. As long as there wasn’t too much cussing in what I was listening to, she didn’t really mind.

SS: What do you listen to most now?
AD: I listen to rap and a little R&B. I listen to gospel, too.

SS: Anything else?
AD: I know a few country songs here and there, not too many though. To be honest I don’t know the name of it but I can sing it: “I had a bar-b-que stain on my white T-shirt; she was killin’ me in that mini skirt. Kicking rocks by the rail road tracks, she had a sun tan line and red lipstick; I worked so hard for that first kiss.”

SS: What type of music motivates you?
AD: Rap. I like R&B -- I like that a lot, but I don’t tend to listen to that before games. Genuine's “All Night and All Day,” is actually one of my favorite R&B songs.

SS: What concert would you most like to attend?
AD: The only thing I would make it to is Michael Jackson, but he’s not doing any concerts. I listened to him when I was younger. He was my favorite. It was his performance, how he danced. He was so smooth it was crazy. You flip on a channel and you would see him dancing and his performance would just make you sit there and watch. And his videos, like “Thriller,” he danced for like five minutes. It would always catch the attention of people.

SS: Did anyone else in your family have a specific interest in music?
AD: Nothing other than gospel music at church and singing at my own house, where we had home performances. I’ve never played a musical instrument, but I have always wanted to play the piano. There is something about the piano that I have always liked since I was young. I was always at church and they always had the piano and, to me, that was the best part of church. When the preacher preached the sound effects in the back from the piano would make it so much more. That was the one thing I liked the most.

SS: What does music mean to you in life and on the field?
AD: I can reflect back and kind of relate to it with different songs. On the field, one of my main goals is to go out there and be successful and be able to go to the next level. And you hear different songs that you can feed off.

There are plenty of times that you can relate to music when things are tough and problems come in your life. There are all types of music that can work you through that. That can help you.

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A.D. Answers Your Questions

Chris Hicks from Lenoir City, Tennessee, asks: Are you a vocal leader on the field or a silent "lead by example" type? Which do you respond to better?
I am both. I really don’t say that much but it is my junior year, so I have to be more of a vocal leader on offense. I feel that my leadership shows up in the way I run the ball and the way I work during the offseason.

Russ from Dalhart, Texas, asks: Do you still keep in touch with your high school teammates?
Yes, I am still cool with a couple of guys. I keep in touch with them; talk to them every now and then and e-mail from time to time. Actually, some of them come up to the games during the season.

Donald Baker from Jenks, Oklahoma, asks: How do you feel about any perceived responsibility of great players like yourself to be a role model for youth and a vocal leader for your team?
I try to set a good example and be a better leader on and off the field. It’s about being a good role model. I have a big family, lots of brothers and sisters, and they look up to me. I know how it feels to have people look up to you. I feel good about that.
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