At least one Adrian Peterson should be carrying the football this year.
The Virginia Destroyers selected 1999 Walter Payton Award winner Adrian N. Peterson, the former Chicago Bears running back, in the third round of the United Football League Draft Monday night.
The five-team UFL is hoping to raise its stature with football fans while the NFL continues an owners lockout of the players.
The Minnesota Vikings feature the other Adrian Peterson, Pro Bowl running back Adrian L. Peterson.
Adrian N. Peterson was the fourth pick of the third round and the 14th overall selection of the five-team draft.
During his 1999 regular season at Georgia Southern, Peterson rushed for 1,807 yards and scored 29 touchdowns while winning the Payton Award as the Football Championship Subdivision's outstanding player. The Eagles went on to capture the FCS (then NCAA Division I-AA) title, and Peterson finished the season with 2,704 yards rushing and 40 TDs.
The Chicago Bears selected the 5-foot-10, 212-pound Peterson in the 2002 NFL Draft and he played eight seasons with the team. He enjoyed his best season in 2007, when he rushed for 510 yards and caught 51 passes.
Former NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer is the Destroyers' head coach.
Eight other former FCS players were selected in the UFL Draft. One was taken in the first round of the UFL draft, former Furman offensive tackle Joel Bell, whom the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Locos and head coach Jim Fassel selected fifth overall.
The 6-7, 308-pound Bell made The Sports Network FCS All-America first team as a senior in 2008, previously had NFL tryouts with the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys, and played in the 2009 CFL Grey Cup with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
In the third round, the Hartford Colonials and head coach Jerry Glanville used the first pick - and 11th overall - on former Tennessee State center Cecil Newton Jr., the brother of Cam Newton, the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner who was the NFL's No. 1 overall draft choice of the Carolina Panthers this past Thursday. Cecil Newton has been a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars' organization.
Virginia selected Albany defensive tackle Trevor Anderson with the fourth pick of the fifth round, and 25th overall. The 6-2, 295-pound All-Northeast Conference first-team selection had a strong senior season in 2010, collecting 45 total tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a blocked kick.
Virginia then selected former Richmond tight end and long snapper Joe Monteverde with the fourth pick of the seventh round, and 35th overall. The 6-5, 247-pound Monteverde caught 26 passes and one touchdown in his Spiders career from 2005-08.
The Omaha Nighthawks and head coach Joe Moglia used the third selection of the eighth round, and 39th overall, on former Gardner-Webb defensive tackle Brian Johnston, who was named to The Sports Network FCS All-America second team as a senior in 2007 after he collected an astounding 29 tackles for loss. The Kansas City Chiefs made the 6-5, 269-pound Johnston a seventh-round pick in the 2008 draft, and the two-time Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Year also spent time with the Miami Dolphins.
The Sacramento Mountain Lions finally picked an FCS player when head coach Dennis Green used the third pick of the ninth round - and 44th overall - on North Dakota State cornerback Josh Gatlin. The 6-1, 196-pounder, who is related to Olympic sprinter Justin Gatlin, intercepted five passes while the Bison reached the FCS national quarterfinals last season.
Hartford opened the 10th and final round by selecting former Eastern Washington defensive end Keith Grennan with the 47th overall selection. The 6-4, 298-pounder has been a member of the San Diego Chargers and Cleveland Browns organizations since his senior season at EWU in 2006.
Virginia then made it a draft-high four selections from the FCS by using the fourth pick of the 10th round, and 50th overall, on Northwestern State cornerback David Pittman, whom the Baltimore Ravens selected in the third round of the 2006 NFL Draft. After two seasons with the Ravens, the 5-11, 182- pounder went on to play for the New Orleans Saints and Houston Texans in 2008.
