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Minnesota Vikings fans are very upset that the team has assigned Adrian Peterson’s number 28 jersey to wide receiver Jacob Copeland.
The furor actually began Sunday afternoon when the Twitter account “NFL Jersey Numbers” tweeted out that new Vikings wide receiver N’Keal Harry was going to wear number 28.
How do you not have one of the greatest RBs of this century number retired
— Phil 🌟 (@NotFromPhxlly) August 7, 2023
“Not retiring 28 is one thing; plenty of great players in team history (Yary, Moss, Eller) don’t have their number retired,” one fan responded, echoing many others. “Reissuing 28 to a wide receiver? That’s absurd. And reissuing 28 to N’Keal freaking Harry? I’m disgusted.”
The disrespect to Adrian Peterson…
Then again, Randy Moss' #84 has been reissued multiple times by the Vikings, so I shouldn't be too surprised.
— Connor Reynolds (@DaRealConMan) August 6, 2023
However, a quick look at the Minnesota Vikings’ actual roster shows that N’Keal Harry was actually assigned number 85.
Unfortunately, that still didn’t solve the problem in the eyes of many Vikings fans.
That’s because it now says on the Vikings’ roster that second year wide receiver Jacob Copeland is going to be wearing Adrian Peterson’s number 28 jersey.
Well good news and bad news. N’Keal Harry is now wearing 85 but now Jacob Copeland has been assigned 28. Updated graphics tonight
— NFL Jersey Numbers (@nfl_jersey_num) August 7, 2023
Perhaps, and I am just throwing this out there as a possible reason for the Vikings still issuing Adrian Peterson’s number 28 jersey is because, despite not playing a single snap in 2022 after getting just 38 carries in 2021 for the Titans and Seahawks combined, AP says he is still isn’t retired.
“Mentally, I haven’t officially hung it up,” the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Peterson saying back in May. “We’ll see what happens. My mindset is, if God’s willing, maybe an opportunity presents itself and maybe it happens this season. I’ll go from there. But [if] nothing happens this season, for sure, I will be hanging it up.”
He also said that he has no plans to make an official announcement this season about his impending retirement.
Peterson may be still trying to get another job, even at 38-years-old, so he can surpass Barry Sanders. He currently sits 351 yards behind the former Lions great with 14,918 yards rushing.