From dismissal to fresh start for former Washington corner Marcus Peters

Tom Pelissero | USA TODAY Sports

CARLSBAD, Calif. — If Marcus Peters were coaching instead of playing at the University of Washington last season, he would've thrown Marcus Peters off the football team, too. He just wouldn't have waited as long as Huskies coach Chris Petersen did.

Peters would've booted himself after his sideline tantrum in the home opener against Eastern Washington –the most public display of the immaturity Peters admits was the downfall of his college career, raising one big red flag on the best cornerback in this year's NFL draft.

"It was an avalanche ready to happen, man. It was going to collapse sooner or later," Peters told USA TODAY Sports this week, in his first interview since Petersen dismissed him from the team in November.

"I don't blame (Petersen) for anything. All I can blame is myself, because I made those decisions and I have to live with them. Now I'll have to man up and I've got to answer these questions in interviews, and all I can do is sit there and answer truthfully and honestly."

Few prospects will be grilled at next week's NFL scouting combine quite like Peters, the easy-moving, natural cover man who grew up around the game as a high school coach's son in Oakland. He's a first-round talent but must convince teams they wouldn't be using a premium pick on a malcontent they someday might have to jettison, too.

Last year was all about transition for Peters: new coaches, new scheme, new expectations and new responsibilities as father to a son, Carson, who was born the morning of the Huskies' Oct. 18 loss to Oregon. He admits he didn't handle the cocktail of changes well.

So why, some general manager is certain to ask, will it be any different if Peters is drafted high, handed a multimillion-dollar bonus and told to play the way coaches want him to?

"If he believes in you like you believe in him, Marcus will do any and everything you ask of him. That has never been an issue," said Donté Williams, a former Washington graduate assistant who now coaches defensive backs at San Jose State.

"It's no different than any other football player. They're all a little strong-headed, a little strong-willed at times. But once he understands the relationship – that you're the coach, he's the player, this is what I need you to do – Marcus has no problem doing that."

Last chance

A rising star who had eight interceptions over his first two college seasons, Peters says he failed one drug test for marijuana during his redshirt year in 2011 but went clean from there and never was in trouble under former coach Steve Sarkisian's staff.

"Everything was going right on course for me to break out to be a next-level prospect," Peters said. "Then, Sark left us (for USC). Sark left us, and for me, it was heartbreaking."

With Marques Tuiasosopo serving as interim coach, Peters was suspended for the first quarter of the Fight Hunger Bowl after the 2013 season. He says he was late turning in a final for an African-American studies class and had to wait for the grade to post. (He passed with a C+.)

That led to a four-week ban from offseason training, Peters says. Petersen's staff was looking to him as a leader, which was a role Peters, 22, never had taken on before and wasn't comfortable with. He found out before fall camp that his longtime girlfriend, Jayla Pittman, was pregnant. He was asked to play less press coverage. And he couldn't avoid talk about draft projections.

"I was just immature with it, man," Peters said. "My name's getting talked about. A lot more people know who I am. I'm dealing with a lot of family, friends back home. I just didn't take it right. I got big-headed with it. I didn't focus and didn't see it clearly of how I can do things, and it caused me to bump my head."

On Sept. 6, he was frustrated by a second straight close game against a team with inferior talent when he head-butted an Eastern Washington receiver, drawing what Petersen later called a "stupid" penalty that wiped out a third-down stop. When he went to the sideline, Peters refused to let assistant coaches calm him down and threw his helmet and gloves to the ground.

"I just embarrassed the whole University of Washington program on live television – me throwing, as my mama would say, a hissy fit," said Peters, who was suspended for the next week's game against Illinois. "I threw a hissy fit, man. I embarrassed my teammates, the coaching staff, the program, man. I wouldn't have let me back on after that."

But Petersen gave him another chance, and indications were Peters was taking advantage. His father, Michael Peters, said he got text messages from defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake that his son was buying in. When Peters was dismissed on Nov. 5, "it was a shocker to me," Michael Peters said, in part because Petersen hadn't reached out to discuss any new issues.

When Michael Peters spoke to Petersen, the coach mentioned "things like the music Marcus listened to, the body language in meetings" as factors in the decision. A university spokesman said Petersen and his staff were on vacation and unavailable to comment for this story.

At the time, Petersen didn't provide details for the dismissal but wished Peters the best and said, "it's never one thing. We're not going to dismiss a guy because it's one thing."

Peters said he was told "all the incidents adding up to this moment is what's caused me to be kicked off the team." He admits one other mistake: showing up late to meetings before the Stanford game on Sept. 27, causing him to be suspended the first two series.

But he laughed at reports citing an unnamed scout who claims he witnessed Peters choke an assistant coach during a practice argument – an allegation defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski also has shot down. ("If I choked somebody, somebody's going to press charges on me and I've got a mugshot and it's open to the public, man," Peters said.)

Peters also denies reports he argued with an assistant coach during the Colorado game on Nov. 1, saying he was joking with a graduate assistant about how tired he was, and again during practice the day he was dismissed. As for his absence from practice the day before his dismissal, Peters said he was in court to deal with a ticket for driving with a suspended license and Petersen knew in advance.

Last week, Peters said, he went to Seattle to pay a $124 fine related to that case. He also stopped in to see Petersen, who will let him participate in Washington's pro-day workout April 2, Peters said.

"I apologized to him once again, and I told him that I appreciate him even working with me," Peters said. "They were working with me a lot, and I just – I didn't get it. I didn't see it in front of me that they were trying to help me out.

"To be honest, I would tell you today: Why wouldn't you kick me off the team? He was trying to help me. He was teaching me some hard lessons at that time, and I just didn't take it right."

Moving on

Williams describes Peters as smart, instinctive, confident and "extremely, extremely competitive" – the type of qualities an NFL cornerback needs to survive on an island.

"If I was in the position, I would draft Marcus," Williams said. "All I know is that what he brings to the table. He's a top-10 talent, and the thing is, he may not get drafted in the top 10. So, no matter what, you're getting a steal."

One NFL general manager, speaking on condition of anonymity for competitive reasons, said Peters "would probably be the top corner in this draft" based on film and has traits that fit any scheme.

"If you're going to take him, you better make sure you do your homework and feel comfortable with everything," the GM added. "But talent-wise? He's a first-round talent. I don't know if he's a top-10, but there's not a lot of great corners in this draft either."

Former Washington linebacker Shaq Thompson said his friend and former roommate is "just a baller. I think people see his character out (talked about), but they don't really know the real Marcus. Marcus is a relaxed dude. He comes to work, to practice every day. He don't give no problems."

When Peters withdrew from classes and went home at his mother's urging, Thompson was one of few people in whom Peters confided. "He was hurting," Thompson said. Peters couldn't bring himself to watch football until Washington's Cactus Bowl loss to Oklahoma State.

He split time between his mother's apartment and his girlfriend's place. He resumed working out after a week or so, went to yoga at night and spent days with his son. He imagined the conversation they'll have one day about his mistakes, just as Peters spoke to his old prep team while helping his dad coach up the DBs at McClymonds High School last fall.

"He owned up to a lot of things," Michael Peters said. "He had a lot of time to think about it. Taking football away from him hurt him. Just coming home, getting settled back down, being around his kid – now he knows he's playing for a whole lot more than just himself.

"I even tell him, 'You've got to take time, breathe and just take it in, do what the coach asks you to do. If something happens, give up the ball or whatever – hey, just keep playing.'"

Brent Callaway, the strength and speed coach who has been training Peters at EXOS, said he's the first player on the field for each session. He's weighing in at 198 pounds on his roughly 6-foot frame and is remarkably light on his feet.

Peters said he plans to do every drill at the combine. He knows the physical stuff isn't the question with him, though. He says he's not an angry person and has nothing to be angry about. He has a winning smile when he wants to flash it. He's trying to be more open, and if he needs reminders why, he can just look at the tattoos on his arms and torso to see names of his family members.

He has Carson now, too. He has Pittman, an aspiring pastry chef who hopes to open a bakery. He has Oakland, where he – like friend and mentor Marshawn Lynch, the Seattle Seahawks star whose youth camp Peters attended years ago – hopes to make a difference for young people.

In the long run, Peters' lowest moment might be the best thing that could've happened to him. He says he regrets nothing because he has seen where those mistakes got him and doesn't intend to make them again. There are too many people who need him, and he needs the game.

"It's like you have a family member in jail that you can only see through a glass wall," Peters said. "You can't touch them. And it hurts dearly until you get another opportunity for that person to make better decisions in their life and make their life better.

"It's me closing a door behind me and opening up a new one."

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