Christian Peter

Christian Peter (born October 5, 1972) is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Peter's younger brother, Jason, also played in the NFL.

Peter attended Middletown High School South in his hometown of Middletown Township, New Jersey before transferring to Milford Academy.^[1] He then played college football at Nebraska, where he was a three-year starter. He became one of the leaders of Nebraska's feared "Blackshirt" defense. Peter was an all-Big Eight Conference and honorable mention All-American in his senior year, and finished his college career with 124 total tackles, 20 tackles for loss and nine sacks. He was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 2006.^[2]

High school

Peter played at Middletown South High School where he helped one of the best teams in school history go undefeated and win the state title in 1990.

Arrests and convictions

While at Nebraska, Peter had eight run-ins with the law for various offenses such as threatening a parking attendant while his vehicle was being towed, trespassing, public urination, refusing to comply with police, minor in possession of alcohol, failure to appear in court, and allegedly grabbing a woman by the throat. He was convicted four times. ^[3][4]

Most infamously, he was alleged to have raped Kathy Redmond,^[5] a freshman from Littleton, Colorado; two times in two days—the second with two of his teammates keeping watch. Redmond didn't report it to police until after her freshman year. Redmond's parents confronted various Nebraska coaches about it, but Peter was never charged or disciplined. This inaction led Redmond to file a Title IX suit against Nebraska in 1995; the suit was settled two years later with Nebraska paying $50,000 and the other two agreeing to pay an undisclosed sum of money. Former coach Tom Osborne has since apologized to Redmond and the two have reconciled.^[3] Recently, Osborne invited Redmond to speak to the football team about violence against women.

In 1993, Peter was alleged to have sexually violated Melissa DeMuth in his dorm room, though he was never charged over the alleged incident. He was accused of groping Natalie Kuijvenhoven (a former Miss Nebraska) in a crowded bar and told her how she "loved it" in an "obscenity-laced tirade". He was convicted and sentenced to 18 months probation, and was suspended for a 1993 exhibition game.^[3]

Professional career

Peter was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fifth round of the 1996 NFL Draft. Only a month before the draft, he notched his eighth arrest in seven years, this time for grabbing a woman's throat in a Kearney, Nebraska bar.^[6] The pick set off a firestorm of criticism from the Boston area press, Patriots fans and women's groups, as well as Myra Kraft, wife of Patriots owner Robert Kraft.^[3] After learning more about Peter's violent history, the Patriots relinquished the rights to Christian only a week after the draft. The team said that Christian's behavior was "incompatible with our organization's standards of acceptable conduct."^[7] According to The Boston Globe, Myra Kraft personally demanded that the Patriots cut ties with Peter.^[3] It was the first time in NFL history that a drafted player had been waived by a team before the start of training camp.

As a result of the backlash, Christian was unable to catch on with another NFL team for the 1996 season. The New York Giants signed him in 1997 as a free agent, on condition that he go through counseling for alcohol abuse, attention deficit disorder and anger management.^[8] He went on to play six years with the Giants, Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears.

While with the Bears, Peter apologized for his misdeeds at Nebraska. He has since retired to his home state of New Jersey where, in the summer of 2007, he opened a sports bar, The 4th Quarter Sports Tavern, in Atlantic Highlands, which has since closed.

References