Adrian Peterson Talks Challenges of 'Dancing With the Stars,' Getting Advice From Past NFL Stars & Staying Motivated Each Week (Exclusive)

Adrian Peterson has made it to the fourth week of competition on Dancing With the Stars and he’s getting ready for “Disney100 Night“!

The 38-year-old NFL All-Star is paired with pro dancer Britt Stewart this season, and so far, they have danced the Salsa, the Samba and the Quickstep.

For “Disney100 Night,” they will be dancing the Viennese Waltz set to the song “Baby Mine” from the movie Dumbo.

Ahead of this week’s live show, we caught up with Adrian and got the scoop on his experience on the show so far, facing the challenges of learning a new dance each week, any advice he got from other NFL stars who have competed on the show and more.

Check out what he shared in our exclusive interview inside…

Keep reading below to see our exclusive interview with NFL All-Star Adrian Peterson…

Just Jared: As it’s been mentioned, NFL players have statistically done very well on the show. Did that put more pressure on you to do well also?
Adrian Peterson: It adds a little pressure. But with anything I do, you know, I want to perform well and do well. So, I kind of put that pressure to myself.

JJ: In the beginning, you said that Emmitt Smith was one of your favorites on the show. Has he given you any advice?
AP: No, I haven’t got any advice from him. I have his number. But Jerry Rice, he was on the show as well. He reached out, gave me a little advice. And then Donald Driver, who was also on the show, reached out as well. So I might have to give [Emmitt] a call and ask him about his framework and what to do really well when it came to that ballroom dancing.

JJ: What has been your biggest challenge on the show so far?
AP: I would say the biggest challenge has been just trying to execute the different styles that are presented, and with that, you kind of fight your thoughts at times. “Can I do this, can I really do it?” And because you’re learning a new style of dance within a couple of days, and you have to be ready to perform on live television within a couple of days. So it can be really frustrating at times. But, you know, Britt, Britt Stewart is a great coach. She’s been doing well. And, you know, when you put your mind to it, you can come up with some great things, even in a short period of time.

JJ: What have you learned about yourself that’s new since starting the show?
AP: I would say that you can do a lot of things that you put your mind to that you want, you know, thought that, “Hey, I don’t know how I’m going to be able to do this,” or “How I was going to look?” But it goes to show that when you, it’s a reminder for me, like when you really put your best foot forward and you put in the time, then you can accomplish some things that you never thought you would be able to.

JJ: Has there been anything that has surprised you?
AP: Not necessarily surprised, but, you know, when I look back on some of the performances, it’s like, wow, you know, actually, did okay with the samba or with the quick step, and these are, some of these styles of dances or something I’ve never heard of them before, you know, because I’m not in that arena. So I look back and see the performance and they get compliments from people and people that know about dance. And to hear people say, “You know what, man, you know, you did well for the short period of time you had to try to execute this particular style, you did a good job.”

JJ: Has it gotten any easier to learn the dances as each week goes by?
AP: No. [laughs] Because you start from scratch, you know, you start from scratch. You know, learning different styles. So, it’s not getting any easier.

JJ: A couple of weeks ago, you were in the bottom and then this last week, you had a big improvement. How do you stay motivated to do better each week?
AP: You know, just understanding that, hey, you’re presented with another opportunity. You know, so, yeah last week we were in the bottom two and this week we were able to make it out, even though the numbers didn’t really reflect how we thought our performance went. The fans came through and did a great job. We were able to make it on to this week coming up, Tuesday, Disney week, so it’s one of the biggest weeks on Dancing with the Stars. It’s Disney celebrating its 100th anniversary. I know when I used to watch, this was one of the weeks that I really look forward to because you’re able to see some of your … you’re able to hear soundtracks and see these different styles performed to some of the best movies, and songs you grew up on. It’s really cool now to be a part of it, to be a part of something so special, because it’s the 100th anniversary. It’s gonna be exciting. I know some of the songs for some of the other groups and it’s gonna be some of the most amazing soundtracks from Disney movies that you’ve ever heard. I feel like this year is gonna be really special.

JJ: Speaking of, what can you tease about your dance this week?
AP: What can I tease? I can tease that we’ll be dancing the Viennese Waltz, and the soundtrack… Yeah, so the song is “Baby Mine” from the movie Dumbo, which is obviously a classic when you’re talking about Disney, and you know, they continue to remake it and it just gets better and better. The song is really dear to my heart because just the lyrics of the song, it’s such a beautiful song and it gives out a wonderful message just to be yourself and to embrace being who you are, but for me to be performing to this song, it’s really gonna deliver a message to everyone out there, especially my kids, so that’s what I’m really excited about.

JJ: What do you hope to improve on for this week, based off of everything from the last couple weeks?
AP: You know, just being more technical when it comes to my style and my routine. When you’re talking about the Viennese Waltz, it’s, you know, you have to have your, your frame right, your shoulders can’t be collapsed. So it’s a lot of little detailed things that you have to really focus on. And, you know, just kind of, touching on what some of the comments the judges had. They’re looking at all those small detail things. And so for me, that’s going to be the most important thing that I can clean up on and show them that you know what, I’m listening and working on it, and I’m improving.

JJ: Do you have a special message that you would like to like pass on to fans that are voting and watching week to week for you?
AP: Yeah, you know, I just want to say I really appreciate all the support for me and Britt. Make sure you tune in Tuesday. It’s going to be amazing. It’s going to be some amazing performances happening for the 100th anniversary of Disney. And you can vote, vote, vote, vote, vote, vote, you can vote. You can text Adrian, you can text 21253. You can text, and on DWTSvote.ABC.com, you can vote 10 times there as well for me and Britt. So just keep doing both, keep showing your support. It’s appreciated. It’s appreciated. And yeah, make sure you tune in on Tuesday!

Be sure to tune in to watch Adrian Peterson dance the Viennese Waltz during “Disney100 Night” of Dancing With the Stars on Tuesday (October 17) at 8pm ET/PT on ABC and Disney+!