Jason Peters
Encyclopedia
Buffalo Bills
Peters was picked up by the Buffalo Bills as an undraftedUndrafted
An undrafted sportsperson or undrafted free agent is specific type of sportsperson who plays, or attempts to play, in a professional sports league without first being selected in a draft....
rookie
Rookie
Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of their sport or has little or no professional experience. The term also has the more general meaning of anyone new to a profession, training or activity Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of...
free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
in April 2004. He was cut then re-signed to the Bills' practice squad. He was signed to the active roster on November 12, 2004. Peters made his mark on special teams as a feared wedge buster on kickoffs
Kickoff (American football)
A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in American football and Canadian football. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team"...
and as a blocking tight end, while beginning to learn to play offensive tackle under the tutelage of offensive line coach Jim McNally
Jim McNally
Jim McNally is a retired NFL offensive line coach, whose 28-year career included tenures with the Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers and New York Giants before retiring following a four-year stint with the Buffalo Bills...
.
In 2006, Peters beat out former Texas
Texas Longhorns football
The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate football team representing The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. The team currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big 12 Conference which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National...
star Mike Williams
Mike Williams (offensive lineman)
Michael Deshaun "Mike" Williams is an American football offensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills fourth overall in the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas...
for starting right tackle on the Bills. Peters was rewarded for his play, signing a 5-year, $15 million contract extension with the Bills in the offseason.
In 2007, Peters began the season entrenched as the starting right tackle. After Week 7, the Bills reshuffled their offensive line to better protect quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
J. P. Losman. Peters was moved to left tackle, replacing Mike Gandy
Mike Gandy
Michael Joseph Gandy is an American football offensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 2001 NFL Draft and later played for the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals...
who moved inside to left guard.
After the 2006 season
2006 Buffalo Bills season
The 2006 Buffalo Bills season began with the team trying to improve on their 5–11 record in 2005.-Offseason:General Manager Tom Donahoe was fired shortly after the end of the 2005 season. Marv Levy, who had coached the Bills from 1986–1997, was named as his replacement, with hopes that he would...
, Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
's Paul Zimmerman
Paul Zimmerman
Paul Lionel Zimmerman is the son of Charles S. Zimmerman and Rose Zimmerman. Zimmerman, also known to readers as "Dr. Z", is an American football sportswriter who wrote for the weekly magazine Sports Illustrated, as well as the magazine's website, SI.com. He is sometimes confused with Paul D...
debated selecting Peters to his All-Pro team. "I was rooting for the Bills' Jason Peters, whom I would have loved to pick, but he isn't there yet. Very athletic, but not enough of a roughneck."
Peters allowed only two sacks in that season and was not called for a holding penalty.
In 2007, Peters saw his best years as a pro, to date, and was selected to start at left tackle on the AFC Pro-Bowl team. It came after an overall dominating season, and was very little surprise to many around the league. As offensive line coach Jim McNally
Jim McNally
Jim McNally is a retired NFL offensive line coach, whose 28-year career included tenures with the Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers and New York Giants before retiring following a four-year stint with the Buffalo Bills...
put it, "His ability is limitless." He injured his groin in a game against the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and was unable to attend the Pro Bowl game. He was the first Bills offensive lineman to make the Pro Bowl since Ruben Brown
Ruben Brown
Ruben Parnell Brown is a former American football guard of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills 14th overall in the 1995 NFL Draft. He played college football at Pittsburgh....
in 2003. Joe Thomas was selected to replace him in the Pro Bowl.
At the beginning of the 2008 offseason Peters was unhappy with his contract and did not report to any of the Bills offseason workouts including the teams' mandatory minicamps. Head Coach Dick Jauron
Dick Jauron
Richard Manuel Jauron is the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He was the head coach for the Buffalo Bills from 2006 until November 2009. Jauron has previously held head coaching positions with the Chicago Bears and, on an interim basis, with the...
has said that he will be fined and will even be taken out of the lineup if he does not show.
"I thought Jason would be at our mandatory minicamp, but that’s a decision he’s made and he’ll be fined,” Jauron said. “I wish he was here, obviously. But also on the flip side of it, for me, I have lots of other things going on. The guys that are here are working really hard, so we’ll work with those guys.”
Fueling Peters' angst is that he is only the third-highest paid offensive lineman on the team despite being the Bills' only Pro Bowl blocker. Before the 2007 season, Buffalo gave two sizable contracts to free agent offensive linemen. Left guard Derrick Dockery
Derrick Dockery
Derrick Dewayne Dockery is an American football guard for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft...
was lured away from the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
with a 7-year, $49 million contract with $18 million signing bonus, the third largest in NFL history at his position. Right tackle Langston Walker
Langston Walker
Langston Branden Walker is an American football offensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Raiders in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at California...
came in from the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, signing a 5-year, $25 million contract with a $10 million bonus. When comparing Peters to players on other teams, the Seattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
' left tackle, Walter Jones, the NFC
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...
's starting left tackle in last year's Pro Bowl
2007 Pro Bowl
The 2007 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl took place on February 10, 2007, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The game was held on a Saturday instead of the usual Sunday after the Super Bowl because of a request by broadcaster CBS....
, is under a contract signed in 2005 for $50 million over seven years. However, Jones was a five time pro bowl selection prior to signing his 2005 contract while Peters has been selected to only one pro bowl.
Peters reportedly wants a contract between $8 million and $11.5 million per season in a contract extension. According to ESPN.com, Jason Peters is the 2nd highest rated left tackle in the video game Madden 2009 with a 97 rating (Joe Thomas is 1st). Peters was rated an 87 in the 2008 version.
On July 25, 2008, the NFL Network's Adam Schefter reported Jason Peters would not report to the Bills' training camp at Saint John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y. Schefter also said Peters was willing to sit out the entire season to get a new and improved contract.
On August 20, 2008, training camp for the Bills came to an end with Peters being absent for the whole camp and all of the preseason games. On August 21, 2008, the Bills signed rookie tackle Dustin Dickinson to help Langston Walker fill the void. On September 5, 2008, Jason Peters ended his holdout and returned to the Buffalo Bills. Peters was fined over $560,000 for missing all of training camp, but if he had missed a regular season game, he would have been fined $191,000 for each game he missed.
Jason was selected as the starting left tackle in the Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
and was a Second-team All-Pro
2008 All-Pro Team
The 2008 All-Pro Team is composed of the National Football League players that were named to the Associated Press , Pro Football Writers Association , and Sporting News All-Pro Teams in 2008. These are the current teams that historically appear in Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the NFL...
although his 2008 season was subpar and some thought the Pro Bowl selection was dubious. In 2006 he allowed only two sacks and allowed six sacks in 2007. In 2008 Peters allowed 11½ sacks—tied for worst in the NFL among starting left tackles.
Philadelphia Eagles
Peters had been unhappy with his contract and had not been attending the Bills’ offseason activities after staging a holdout in 2008 during training camp. Due to the dispute with the Bills they went ahead and traded the unhappy Pro Bowler to the Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
on April 17, 2009. The Eagles acquired Peters from the Bills for the 28th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft
2009 NFL Draft
The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft consisted of two rounds on the first day starting at 4:00...
. The Eagles also sent a fourth-round pick (121st overall) in the 2009 NFL Draft
2009 NFL Draft
The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft consisted of two rounds on the first day starting at 4:00...
and a late conditional pick (6th round) in the 2010 NFL Draft
2010 NFL Draft
The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players. Unlike previous years, the 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first round on Thursday, April 22, 2010, at 7:30 pm...
.
On April 17, 2009, the Eagles announced they had signed Peters to a six-year contract for $60 million that will keep him in Philadelphia through 2014. Peters had two years left on his last contract, so Philadelphia had essentially torn up the last two seasons and given him a new contract. Head coach Andy Reid
Andy Reid
Andrew Walter "Andy" Reid is the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, a post he has held since 1999. Since 2001, he has also been the team's executive vice president of football operations...
added, "Jason Peters is the best left tackle in football. He is a powerful and athletic tackle and I have admired his play over the last few years on film."
Peters was selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl
2010 Pro Bowl
The 2010 AFC–NFC Pro Bowl was the NFL's all-star game for the 2009 season. It took place at 8:00 PM EST on Sunday, January 31, 2010, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the home stadium of the Miami Dolphins and host site of Super Bowl XLIV...
and 2011 Pro Bowl
2011 Pro Bowl
The 2011 AFC–NFC Pro Bowl was the NFL's all-star game for the 2010 season. It took place at 7:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, January 30, 2011 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii...
as a starter and was a 2010 second team All-Pro selection.
Scoring plays
- Punt block recovered for a touchdown during the 2004 season2006 NFL seasonThe 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...
vs the Cincinnati BengalsCincinnati BengalsThe Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
. - Caught first career touchdown pass from J. P. Losman against the Houston TexansHouston TexansThe Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the first game of the 2005 NFL season2005 NFL seasonThe 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006...
.
Personal
Peters was arrested and charged with playing loud musicLoud music
The term loud music is often used to refer to music that is played at a volume that disturbs others, such as neighbors or bystanders, who do not wish to hear the music, or that is otherwise viewed as a nuisance to the public...
and disturbing the peace
Disturbing the Peace
Disturbing the Peace is the second studio album by Alcatrazz, and is the only one featuring Steve Vai on guitar. One of the singles, God Blessed Video, can be found on the fictional radio station, V-Rock, on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Weeks on Chart: 7, Peak: #133...
on March 26, 2011, in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
.