HOUSTON -- Adrian Peterson emerges from the sand pit behind O Athletik in Houston after leading a group of NFL players in an agility drill that resembles something like a sadistic game of Dance Dance Revolution. He heads indoors for the next stanza of his 3½-hour workout -- a light day by Peterson's standards -- when a familiar voice calls out from behind him.
"Get the sand off your feet," trainer James Cooper says, before chirping, "Don't be acting like you own the place."
But in a very real sense, Peterson does; he and Cooper are two of the six partners who opened the gym in the spring after years of cobbling together grueling workouts at different sites around Houston.