Tony Dorsett's words were laced with warning.

The hall of famer must have been a fan of Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, or he wouldn't have been so emphatic in his message to the man sitting beside him in December 2004.

At the nationally televised Home Depot College Football Awards, Sooners running backs coach Cale Gundy was flanked by Dorsett and Peterson. A Doak Walker finalist, Peterson had led the nation and set an NCAA freshman record with 339 rushing attempts and finished third in the country with 1,925 yards, 71 percent of them after contact.

``I remember Tony saying, `You've got to teach that young man to take care of himself. He's got to know when to get out of bounds and not take added hits,' '' Gundy said.

Gundy spent the next two years trying to convey that to Peterson, the junior with a rare combination of speed and power whom the Browns could select with the third overall pick in the April 28 NFL Draft.

``He's made progress. But he's such a great competitor, it's hard for him to do,'' Gundy said last week. ``At times, when the crowd is roaring and it's a tight ballgame, the fire inside him takes over.''

No one wants to smother that fire. It's what drove Peterson to work out at the Indianapolis Scouting Combine just hours after learning his half brother had been shot to death in Texas. Despite little sleep, the 6-foot-1 ½, 217-pounder ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds and hit 38 ½ in the vertical jump.

If not for his injury history, Peterson might be the first overall pick. He played his freshman year with a dislocated left shoulder suffered in fall practice that required postseason surgery. In 2005, a high right-ankle sprain forced him to sit out one game and miss at least two quarters of three others. In 2006, he fractured his left collarbone diving into the end zone, costing him the last seven regular-season games.

But Gundy didn't criticize Peterson for the dive, which came when his father, Nelson Peterson, was watching his son for the first time after spending about nine years in prison.

``A guy was coming who got clipped into him, and he was just reaching out,'' Gundy said. ``It wasn't a Reggie Bush-type deal where he was out in the open. It was a long run, he was trying to get to end zone, and starting to tire. Rather than having a 67-yard run finish on the 2, he did it to get the ball in the end zone.''

At the combine, Peterson answered the durability question by saying: ``It's really just been nick-nack injuries. My junior year, my ankle didn't give me any problems. The injury on my shoulder my freshman year, it hasn't given me any problems. Now it's just my collarbone, and it's going to heal and be stronger.''

Peterson conceded he won't dive into the end zone again.

``It was an awkward fall, but no,'' he said, laughing.

Starting 23 of 31 games, Peterson still finished his career with 4,045 yards, an average of 5.4 yards per carry and 41 rushing touchdowns. In the more specialized NFL, Gundy doesn't think Peterson will be on the field for as many snaps. He averaged more than 24 rushing attempts per game at Oklahoma.

``To me those are minor, simple injuries,'' Gundy said. ``There's no doubt when he's on the field, he plays violent. Last year before he got hurt, he was playing 60 to 65 snaps; that's probably 15 to 20 too many. In the NFL, he'll probably work with somebody else.''

Former Oklahoma teammate Tashard Choice, now the starting tailback at Georgia Tech, found a simple way to describe Peterson's style. ``He runs mean,'' Choice said. ``He plays the game like every run is his last.''

Critics also cite Peterson's upright running style, which has drawn recent comparisons to Ohio State and Tennessee Titans star Eddie George. Gundy can find plenty of others, and at least two -- Marcus Allen and Eric Dickerson -- who ran that way into the Hall of Fame.

``Marcus Allen ran taller than the tallest player who's ever played, taller than Harold Carmichael,'' Gundy said. ``Eric Dickerson did. I played quarterback all my life and have coached running backs 11 years. Tall running backs are not going to run in a bent-over position. Now you can teach him to get lower at impact and at certain times.''

Knocks aside, Gundy expects those watching the draft in New York to boo if the Browns don't take Peterson. Browns General Manager Phil Savage might find Peterson's speed too tempting to pass up.

Gundy said part of Peterson's extra gear comes from his genes. He said Peterson's mother, Bonita Jackson, set the Texas high school record in the 100-meter dash, and his father signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Oklahoma but couldn't make the grades to enroll. Gundy said the rest comes from ``The Man Above.''

``When I first saw him, he's been the only person that every time he touched the ball, everyone in the stands held their breath because he could score,'' said Gundy, starting his 13th year in coaching. ``What separates him is his stamina in the third and fourth quarters. Late in the game, he can dominate.

``After the second or third step, he takes off, he can almost be at top speed. He's run the 100 meters in 10.3, 10.4. He's a 220-pound kid who can run the 40 in 4.37. Those guys don't come around very often. If you can get three, four, five years out of him, you'd better get it.''

Peterson might be known for his long runs, but Choice said his favorite run of Peterson's was a third-and-3 against Texas A&M in 2004.

``He ran over three people to get a first down and help us win the game,'' Choice said. ``That third-and-3 solidified us going to the Big 12 (title game) and to the national championship.''

Gundy said what made the play so special was that Peterson went to the locker room in the fourth quarter when his shoulder popped out. But about 80,000 Aggie fans were screaming in the stands in College Station, and Peterson wanted more.

``They popped it back in and put a harness on him,'' Gundy said. ``He comes back out and taps me on the shoulder. I said, `I think you're done.' He said, `I need to get back in there.' ''

Gundy said that run is also his favorite, along with a 48-yard touchdown on fourth-and-2 against Tulsa in Peterson's sophomore year. That dazzler included two spins before he got into the end zone.

Gundy knows that NFL running backs typically have short careers. The third pick in the draft will earn a reported $20 million guaranteed. Gundy insisted that Peterson is worth it.

``He has the whole package, good kid, great smile. He'll make every bit as much money off the field as on the field,'' Gundy said. ``He's going to be a favorite, going to put people in the stands, going to run people over, going to run around people and going to score touchdowns.''