Sid Hartman: Sharper: Peterson has skills shared by all great backs

Vikings safety Darren Sharper, a 11-year veteran in the NFL, said the great performance of Adrian Peterson against the Chicago Bears wasn't a surprise because everybody in training camp could see the former Oklahoma running back was something special.

"Yeah, you could see all the characteristics but you never know when the real, live bullets start to fly how a kid's going to perform," Sharper said. "But he's been running like a five- or six-year vet. ... I mean, you take the best attributes out of all the best backs in the league now, you might even say the best backs in league history, and he has all those things.

"So, one thing about doing it is you have to do it consistently, week after week, so that's going to be the next test for Adrian."

Peterson rushed for a team single-game record of 224 yards and scored three touchdowns in the 34-31 victory over the Bears.

Sharper, happy about the great day the offense had, also wanted to credit quarterback Tarvaris Jackson and wide receiver Troy Williamson.

"We're very excited that the offense came through and provided points," he said. "It was the A.P. Show, as you saw, but also a little bit of T-Jack and Troy."

While singing the praises of Peterson, Sharper had some good words to say about former Gopher Marion Barber III, the Dallas running back who has rushed 65 times for 383 yards (a 5.9 average) and four touchdowns and has caught 14 passes for 124 yards and one touchdown.

"Yeah, he's a beast," Sharper said. "He's close to the kid we got, as far as just being hard to bring down. An explosive back, great balance, and a tough runner. So, he's going to be a tough challenge for us and we're looking forward to that challenge."

Barber hasn't been starting, much like Peterson has been playing behind Chester Taylor with the Vikings. Cowboys coach Wade Phillips has said he would continue to start Julius Jones.

Honor Warmath

Chip Litten flew in from San Francisco, Judge Dickson from Naples, Fla., Bill Chorske from Vermont, Bobby Bell from Kansas City and countless others came from all over the country to be present at the 95th birthday party of former Gophers football coach Murray Warmath on Tuesday at the Interlachen Country Club in Edina.

More than 150 former players -- including members of the 1960 and 1961 Rose Bowl teams and the 1967 Big Ten tri-champions with Indiana and Purdue -- paid tribute to a great man and the winningest Gophers football coach since Bernie Bierman (87-78-1 from 1954-1971).

He was the last Gophers football coach to win a national championship (1960) and would have continued to win if he had not been let go in 1972 because of not enough support from some people in the athletic department.

Carufel visits U

Matt Carufel, the former Cretin-Derham Hall standout offensive lineman who has left Notre Dame, was a spectator at Gophers football practice Wednesday and said he is interested in Minnesota, but might visit Iowa, too. He would have to sit out a year if he transferred.

Asked about Litchfield (Minn.) tight end John Carlson, who is a senior All-America candidate at Notre Dame, Carufel said: "How can he be doing anything the way things are going?" He said defensive end Trevor Laws, an Apple Valley graduate, is one of the Irish starters.

Speaking about the Irish's 1-6 record, Carufel said, "There are more reasons why Notre Dame isn't winning than why they should," but he declined to elaborate further.

There is one good reason for the Gophers' 1-6 record. A year ago, the Gophers were a plus-18 in turnovers for the season. This year, with five games to play, the Gophers are minus-15.

When kids turn pro

The Gophers hockey team has a 2.8 to 3.0 cumulative GPA, according to coach Don Lucia. He said almost all of the kids who stay for four years graduate.

"The reason they're not staying four years is because they're signing professional contracts, and we understand that," Lucia said. The NBA rule preventing teams from drafting players until they are 19 and one year removed from high school, he said, wouldn't work in hockey.

"No, I just don't think there'd be any sentiment for that. It's been challenged," Lucia said. "Because what's unique in hockey is that you can get kids from college, you can get kids from major junior, you can get kids from Europe, so there's a lot of avenues. For the most part, the college system is a feeder system to the NBA."

Jottings

Steve LaCroix, Vikings vice president of sales and marketing, said the emergence of Peterson as a star didn't have much effect this week on ticket sales for future Vikings home games. Tickets are available for every one.

The Gophers still are looking to raise $23 million for building the new football stadium. The word is that on Friday, a donor will be announced who might bring that figure down to $20 million or less.

Donors who have contributed money for scholarships got to meet the Gophers athletes they support at a banquet at the McNamara Center on Wednesday. At same time the McNamara family, Pinky and Bob McNamara and his wife, Annette, were presented with the Athletic Director's Award for their many contributions to the University of Minnesota.

One of the hot baseball rumors is that former Cardinals General Manager Walt Jocketty could join former Twins and Cubs executive Andy MacPhail with the Orioles.

Gophers forward Jamal Abu-Shamala, who originally walked on at Minnesota and was given a one-year scholarship last season by Dan Monson, has had that scholarship renewed by new coach Tubby Smith. With Bryce Webster gone, Smith also had a scholarship for Travis Busch, the 2005 Mr. Basketball from Mounds View who transferred from Cal Poly last year and wasn't eligible to play. The Gophers are practicing every morning at 7 a.m.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com