Alternate Destinies (Colony Crisis Averted)

Adrian Peterson
Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985) is an American football running back for the Minnesota Vikings of the American Football League (AFL). He was drafted by the Vikings seventh overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oklahoma. Peterson set the NCAA freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards as a true freshman during the 2004 season. As a unanimous first-team All-American, he became the first freshman to finish as the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting. Peterson finished his college football career as the Sooners' third all-time leading rusher.

Culpepper's injuries forced the Vikings to look elsewhere for a quarterback, but, with the seventh pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, Minnesota selects Adrian Peterson and Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn with the 22nd overall pick. In a stable situation with a star running back and an organization that believes in him, Quinn turns into a perfectly acceptable starting quarterback. The Vikings go on to have several successful seasons led by Peterson and Quinn.

Following his first pro season, in which he set an NFL record for most rushing yards in a single game (296), Peterson was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. He was then awarded the MVP award for his performance in the Pro Bowl and became only the fifth player in NFL history to have more than 3,000 yards through his first two seasons. In 2010, he became the fifth fastest player to run for 5,000 yards, doing so in his 51st game.

In 2012, Peterson became the sixth fastest player to reach 8,000 rushing yards, ending the season with 2,097 rushing yards, just nine yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's single season all-time record. Peterson amassed 2,314 all-purpose yards from scrimmage in 2012, tying Marcus Allen for the eighth-highest total ever. For his efforts, he received the NFL MVP Award and the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award for the 2012 NFL season. Peterson also achieved the #1 spot on the NFL Network's Top 100 Players of 2013. During the 2013 season, Peterson became the third fastest player to reach 10,000 rushing yards in NFL history.

Minnesota runs off five division titles in eight years with the Peterson-Quinn combo. It’s not what he'd hoped, but Peterson retires in 2016 as a surefire Hall of Famer and is awarded a bronze statue outside of the new Vikings’ Stadium.

Maurice Clarett
Maurice Edward Clarett (born October 29, 1983) is an American football running back for the Miami Dolphins  of the American Football League. During his freshman year at Ohio State University in 2002, he helped lead the Buckeyes to a national championship. In a widely unexpected move, Clarett was drafted on the first day of the 2005 NFL Draft with the second pick of the 1st round by the Miami Dolphins.

Clarett dazzles scouts in his sophomore and junior years at Ohio State, proving that not only was he not just a one-hit wonder, but he could actually carry the as a Heisman candidate. After a stellar three-year career, Clarett enters the 2005 NFL Draft as a potential top-5 pick. The top of the '05 draft is loaded with running backs, so being the second player taken overall by the Miami Dolphins, Clarett would go on to win Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2005.