Vikings rookie RB Gerhart sets high standard for siblings

Since his birth in 1987, the Minnesota Vikings rookie running back Toby Gerhart has always been a local star, at first for being the first son of two former star athletes but few years later for his own excellence in almost everything.

Gerhart was an excellent student in school, a kind boy with good looks in daily life, a strong contender for the Heisman Trophy during college and a high round draft pick in 2010 NFL draft. And now he is a promising rookie running back with an elite NFL team, the Vikings. With such an outstanding elder brother like Gerhart, the other five kids of the family surely have to bear great pressure with their own respective futures.

Putting on the Minnesota Vikings jersey does not necessarily mean a brilliant NFL career, but for Gerhart, that’s almost for sure as he has never failed to be excellent in any field. As the oldest child of his family, Gerhart always thinks that he should do the right thing to set right example for his brothers and sisters. He was able to attract tens of MLB teams when he was playing baseball and successfully became one of the best running backs after converting to football in college. If a man is determined to be the best and always succeeds in makings, it’s just reasonable to believe that he would make more achievements no matter where he goes.

With the high standards set by Toby, second son of the family, Garth has become the starting center on Arizona State’s football team, his three sisters, Kelsey, Teagan and Whitley all have been softball star players in their respective schools, and the youngest boy Coltin is now an eighth-grader with straight A's and is expected to get starting job as quarterback for Norco High.

Vikings rookie RB Gerhart will enjoy his backup role

Putting on the Minnesota Vikings jersey after being picked by the team in the second round of 2010 NFL draft, rookie running back Toby Gerhart has adjusted himself to NFL career with a elite team full with big-name players. With Adrian Peterson being the No.1 running back of the team, Gerhart has a clear definition of his own role.

"Adrian is the guy," Gerhart said. "I'm going to embrace whatever role the Vikings have for me. Competition is always good. I'll push him and make him get better every day in practice, and I'll push myself. Hopefully, I can give him a break during games. Maybe we'll be in the backfield together. We could be a dangerous tandem."

By so far, it has been expected that Gerhart will replace Chester Taylor, who was signed away by the Chicago Bears during free agency, to be the No.2 running back behind Peterson. Compared to Taylor, who had an average of six carries per game in 2009 but 44 catches for 389 yards, Gerhart was originally believed to be able to catch, but he still managed to have 24 catches for 271 yards in his last two college seasons. As also a baseball player, Gerhart himself believes that he can catch the ball much better if he is given opportunities. Well, that is very likely to be proven during the preseason.