Peterson voted NFL’S top player by his peers

Former OU star Adrian Peterson has been voted by his peers as the NFL’s top player in the NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2013 series, which concluded Thursday. This was the third consecutive year current NFL players have voted to determine the top 100 players in the NFL.

Peterson, the Minnesota Vikings standout, is the first non-quarterback to be ranked No. 1. He and New England quarterback Tom Brady have made the top 10 all three years of the series.

The Top 10: 1. Peterson, Minnesota, RB; 2. Peyton Manning, Denver, QB; 3. Calvin Johnson, Detroit, WR; 4. Brady, New England, QB; 5. J.J Watt, Houston, DE; 6. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, QB; 7. Aldon Smith, San Francisco, LB; 8. Arian Foster, Houston, RB; 9. Von Miller, Denver, LB; 10. Patrick Willis, San Francisco, LB.

Other notables in the Top 100: 12. DeMarcus Ware, Dallas, DE; 15. Robert Griffin III, Washington, QB; 35. Dez Bryant (OSU), Dallas, WR; 41, Jason Witten, Dallas, TE; 44. Wes Welker (Heritage Hall), Denver, WR; 77. Aaron Hernandez, New England, TE; 92. Gerald McCoy (OU/Southeast), Tampa Bay, DT.

SHORT TAKES

ESPN’s NBA Draft coverage Thursday night delivered a 2.6 national overnight rating, tying for the highest rating since 2003, according to Nielsen. The draft was up 13 percent compared to last year (2.3). Oklahoma City finished as the fifth-highest metered market with a 4.3. The top four markets: Louisville, Ky., 6.9; Memphis, 5.6; Cleveland, 5.0; Indianapolis, 4.7.

ESPN Films and espnW will premiere the documentary “Venus Vs.” at 7 p.m. Tuesday as the first film in the Nine for IX series. “Venus Vs.” highlights Venus Williams’ work that changed the course of women’s tennis as she challenged the practice of paying female tennis players less money than their male counterparts at Wimbledon.