In 15 seasons as an NFL running back, Adrian Peterson rose to fame as a three-time rushing champ who was named the league’s Most Valuable Player for 2012. He earned more than $100 million combined, most of it from his time with the Minnesota Vikings from 2007 to 2016.
But he hasn’t played since 2021, the same year that a judge in New York entered an $8.3 million judgment against him stemming from an unpaid loan. Court records indicate he hasn’t paid up since and instead has been ensnared in a legal battle over attempts to seize his property to collect on that judgment, including a fight over a piano and items that have been kept in multiple storage units.
On Wednesday, dozens of his personal items even were advertised for sale at an auction in Texas, including his 2012 MVP trophy and his 2007 rookie of the year trophy.
Now Peterson is fighting that, too.
What did Adrian Peterson say about the auction?
Late Wednesday, he posted a video on X, formerly Twitter.
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“I did not authorize the sale of any of my trophies, and I will be taking legal action,” Peterson said in the video. “Trusting this company without supervision was my mistake. We allowed them to go into several of our storage units with clear instructions. They clearly did something unlawful. I want to emphasize that I’m financially stable and would never sell off my hard-earned trophies. And if I was gonna sell ’em, I know people that I could sell them to. I wouldn’t go online and sell my personal items randomly.”
It’s not clear how or if this auction related to his financial issues in court. The auction company and the court-appointed receiver didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment. But he has been fighting over items in storage units with a court-appointed receiver in Texas.
What is going on with Adrian Peterson?
In March 2022, a court in Houston appointed Robert Berleth as the receiver to collect the judgment on behalf of the lender, a Pennsylvania lending company called DeAngelo Vehicle Sales (DVS). The company loaned Peterson $5.2 million in 2016, when Peterson played for the Vikings and planned to use most of the money to pay back other lenders.
But Peterson didn’t pay back DVS, and now he owes much more including interest, according to court filings. In the meantime, Berleth has filed court records that describe the collection effort as a game of cat and mouse.
Last year, the court-appointed receiver even filed a complaint against Peterson, alleging that Peterson was trying to avoid paying what he owed on that judgment by transferring ownership of storage units to his wife.
Last July, the receiver was informed that Peterson was attempting to auction non-exempt property that was held in multiple storage units, according to court records filed by Berleth’s firm.
When the receiver attempted to seize the property, an employee of the storage company said ownership of the units had been transferred to Peterson’s wife Ashley.
“The same day, a storage unit employee contacted Ashley Peterson to inform her of the receiver’s presence and his intent to seize the assets held in the units,” said Berleth’s court filing from August.
“The transfer of storage units from Adrian Peterson to Ashley Peterson was an attempt to hinder, defraud and delay the receiver and the court.”
Why does Adrian Peterson owe this money?
Peterson executed the loan agreement with DVS on Oct. 27, 2016, and agreed to pay it back in full by March 2017 – a loan that was secured by his NFL contract, according to the promissory note filed in court.
But just a few months after the loan was executed, the Vikings declined to pick up the $18 million option on his contract and let him go as a free agent. He came back from the knee injury he suffered shortly before the loan was executed in 2016, but his earnings fell after leaving the Vikings, never topping $3.5 million a year.
After he didn’t pay back what he owed, DVS filed suit against him in New York in August 2018.. In early 2021, a New York judge entered the $8.3 million judgement in favor of DVS, along with 9% post-judgment interest, eventually leading to the appointment of a receiver to collect on Peterson at his home in Texas.
Then in April 2022, court records show the receiver conducted a field collection at Peterson’s home in Missouri City, Texas, and seized a 2007 BMW and a Yamaha piano. But Peterson’s attorney pushed back against the latter, too, saying it was the property of Ashley Peterson and was a gift to her before her marriage to Adrian. Peterson’s attorney also said the receiver made inaccurate claims in his motion to compel and sell assets.
“When the Receiver subsequently took possession of the piano, the Receiver personally assured Defendant’s counsel that he would not sell the piano as he was accepting Mrs. Peterson’s representation,” Peterson’s attorney said in a court document filed in July 2022.
Peterson’s attorney didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.
It’s not clear if the piano was sold. Last August, the receiver filed suit against Peterson in Houston, accusing Peterson and his wife of setting up corporations as “alter egos” to illegally conceal assets. The collection amount since has grown to more than $10 million, including the receiver’s fee and attorney’s fees with interest, according to a court document filed by the receiver in July 2022.
“No offsets have been made against this judgment to date,” the receiver said in documents filed last August. The receiver’s lawsuit against Peterson remains open, and Berleth, the receiver, was trying to serve notices on Peterson and his wife as recently as last month, court records show.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
