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HONOLULU -- At the beachside pool the other day, Broncos safety John Lynch came over to Vikings rookie halfback Adrian Peterson with a proposition about the Pro Bowl.

"Joking around, I asked if he wanted to cut a deal," Lynch said. "I'll go easy on you if you go easy on us. He said no. I thought to myself, 'We've got to bring it.'"

The AFC "brought it" Sunday in the Pro Bowl, but Peterson had the appropriate reply. He beat the AFC defense to the corner. He beat it up the middle. And he beat it against the eight-man box.

Consequently, Peterson earned Pro Bowl MVP honors, rushing for 129 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns in the NFC's come-from-behind 42-30 win.

The great part of Peterson's running style is that he doesn't cut deals. Each carry is its own slice of history. He runs out each play as if he could score a touchdown. He concedes nothing. "AD" stands for All Day. He's a back who will pound on a team all day if given the chance.

Sunday's game was special and, for the most part, unexpected. The AFC, helped by a 17-point Peyton Manning first quarter, jumped to a 24-7 second-quarter lead. All-star games are normally passing affairs anyway, so you had to figure that the NFC, especially once it was behind, would put on a passing festival. And at that point, Peterson had only one carry.

But Green Bay's Mike McCarthy, the NFC coach, decided to stay balanced and use the run as a comeback weapon. "I'd run the guy 50 times if I could have," McCarthy said.

When Peterson opened the next NFC series with a 13-yard run, McCarthy knew he had something because he watched the AFC defense adjust. An eighth defender was slipped near the line of scrimmage to help against the run, opening the middle of the field for some passes.

Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, who was booed for dropping two consecutive passes, started finding slant routes and other routes open for him and Tony Romo to do business. Romo scrambled away from defenders on a broken play to hit Owens with a 34-yard completion and later hit Owens for a 6-yard touchdown pass.

After Tennessee's Rob Bironas kicked a field goal for a 27-14 AFC lead, Peterson busted a 39-yard run. That's when McCarthy threw out any game plans that didn't involve Peterson. He used Cowboys RB Marion Barber for maybe a half-dozen plays the rest of the game. Brian Westbrook estimated that he might have been on the field for maybe 10 plays.

"I had no problem with it," Westbrook said. "Let the young guy run."

And run he did. Peterson came into the game with the idea of being the MVP and possibly even rushing for 200 yards. He managed the first -- and might have managed the second with an increased workload.

"I'm dedicated to being the best, and that's what got me to this point," Peterson said. "I came here with the mind-set of wanting to win the game."

After a while, the AFC did its best to take away the outside run. Still, Peterson beat that tactic, too. He took an outside run to the left sideline; avoided defenders; and, somehow staying in bounds, darted into the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown to open the second half that gave the NFC a 28-27 lead.

Even his Vikings teammates were shaking their heads.

"I was telling [Vikings center] Matt Birk, this guy is like Forrest Gump," Vikings guard Steve Hutchinson said. "He just walks around and smiles, and all this stuff falls in his lap. He breaks the rookie rushing record. He breaks the single-game rushing record. He's a good kid, and we're happy for him because of the way he handles himself. He's so humble. You can't help but to love him."

Hutchinson said that earlier in the week he was overburdened carrying a box of shirts and helmets. Peterson came to his rescue, seeing his teammate struggling with more items than he could hold. Not long ago, Peterson carried the Vikings back into late-season playoff contention. Even though his star has risen, he's still carrying the load for his teammates.

"He can wreak havoc in this league for a long time," Lynch said. "He's special. He's got great vision. He's got great power. You see it watching film. He wants to run someone over. He's got that rare power where he can do it all."

Earlier in the week, Peterson put an even bigger target on his shoulder pads for 2008 by saying he's going for a 2,000-yard season. He didn't back down after the game.

"I'll have more experience coming off my rookie year going into my second season," Peterson said. "I know guys are going to be out there trying to hit my anyways, so why not set the bar high?"

Vikings fullback Tony Richardson shook his head about the 2,000-yard prediction.

"Oh, wow, 2,000 yards is pretty big," Richardson said. "But I wouldn't doubt him. But he put that bull's-eye on his back. If one person could get it done, though, he definitely could get it done. He shouldn't put that bull's-eye on him yet, but anything this kid puts his mind to, he could get."

Half the NFC players were showered and gone before Peterson even left the field. He had stayed for television interviews, then, once he was finished, he ran to the sideline and signed autographs at the 50-yard line. All Day indeed.

The Pro Bowl was the conclusion of one of the most incredible rookie seasons ever and sets up even better days ahead. Peterson is also the long-term hope for the NFC, which usually seems to lose these affairs.

Peterson did the incredible Sunday. He rallied the NFC from a 17-point deficit on the ground and opened up the passing game. Westbrook and Barber had to take a back seat.

"Maybe the Packer coaches were just trying to wear him out for next year," Lynch said.

That won't happen. Peterson can run forever. There is no stopping him.

John Clayton, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame writers' wing, is a senior writer for ESPN.com.