A star player most of the world assumed was out for the year helped end one of professional sports' most famous curses.
Cubs fans witnessed it first-hand. Vikings fans would probably like history to repeat itself.
On Oct. 26, six-plus months after the Cubs told the world and Kyle Schwarber that his season was over after he tore his ACL and LCL in a scary collision with Dexter Fowler during the Cubs' third game of the year, he was hitting fifth for Chicago in Game 1 of the World Series.
Schwarber started all four games in Cleveland as the designated hitter and finished with a .412 batting average, seven hits, three walks and two RBI. He wasn't cleared by the medical staff to play defense. The Cubs were 3-1 with him in the lineup and scored 22 runs, compared to just the five they scored when he was on the bench.
A routine checkup during the National League Championship Series might have helped end the Cubs' 108-year-old World Series curse. Schwarber was surprisingly cleared by the doctor and within days he was playing in the Arizona Fall League trying to retrain his eyes to track pitches.
World Series MVP Ben Zobrist summarized Schwarber's comeback well by saying "It's just crazy. It really is."
The Vikings could use a little bit of that crazy in a couple months when the postseason rolls around and Adrian Peterson might be in position to deliver it.
The Vikings put Peterson on the injured reserve Sept. 23, the day after he had surgery to repair a torn meniscus. The Vikings had already lost their starting quarterback with a knee injury and when Peterson went down the team's season seemed to be at risk of falling apart. But the Vikings have persevered and are 5-2 midway through the season, on top of the NFC North and positioned well for a playoff berth.
