The Facts: Emmitt Smith's rushing record ain't safe at all, because Peterson tells TMZ Sports he's still gunning to play until he's 40 -- and run for 1,500 yards when he gets there. "I want to live to be a 40-year-old back out there rushing for 1,500 yards and amazing people still," Peterson tells us.

Diehards Line: Peterson is 3,535 rushing yards away from catching Smith's all-time mark of 18,355. He will also turn 36 years old next month and, as a free agent this offseason, he doesn't have a team for 2021 yet. In 2020, he had 604 rushing yards in 2020 with Detroit, on 156 carries. The challenge for Peterson will be continuing to find opportunities to be on a team and, when on a team, enough carries to rack up enough yards to catch Smith. As Profootballtalk.com notes, if Peterson can play through the year in which he turns 40, he’d need to average 707 yards per season to catch Smith. It’s not clear which feat would be more impressive; playing through the year in which Peterson turns 40 or averaging that many yards per season at the ages of 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40. Peterson has one thing working in his favor: The expected addition of a 17th regular-season game gives him five more total games through his self-imposed career deadline. Instead of averaging 44.2 rushing yards per game, he’d need only 41.5. "I'm going to keep playing, trying to chase the championship," Peterson says, "and, God's willing, within the process of doing that, I'm able to catch Emmitt and pass him."