Rodney Peete
Encyclopedia
Rodney Peete is a former American football
quarterback
from the University of Southern California
who played in the National Football League
for 16 years. He retired in 2004 and is now in broadcasting.
, Arizona
. He attended Sahuaro High School
in Tucson, Arizona
, as a freshman, sophomore, and junior, and went to Shawnee Mission South High School
in Overland Park, Kansas
for his senior year. He was a three-year letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was named the Arizona High School Player of the Year as a junior.
and Matt Leinart
). In that senior year, he also finished second to Barry Sanders
in the voting for the Heisman Trophy
. His USC teams would win both head-to-head matchups in the UCLA-USC rivalry
against Troy Aikman
's UCLA teams. The 1988 UCLA-USC game was notable in that Peete was stricken with measles
the week before the game and had been to the hospital. He led USC to the 1988 and 1989 Rose Bowl games.
Peete was also a star third baseman
on USC's baseball team. He was named to the all-Pac-10 team. He was also drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays
out of high school, and the Oakland Athletics
and Detroit Tigers
while in college.
as the 141st pick in the 6th round of the 1989 NFL Draft
, Peete was scheduled to start the season opener but sprained his knee in an exhibition game against the Los Angeles Rams, missing the first few games of the season. He would have been the first rookie quarterback to start for the Lions since 1968, when Greg Landry
started.
His career was marked by injury. In his first five NFL seasons with the Lions, he would split time with Bob Gagliano
, Erik Kramer
, and former Heisman Trophy
winner Andre Ware
. After spending time with the Dallas Cowboys
, Washington Redskins
, Philadelphia Eagles
, and Oakland Raiders
, Peete's career appeared to be over until he became the starter for the Carolina Panthers
in 2002, where he led the Panthers to an 7-9 record, an improvement over 1-15 the year before.
After a weak showing in the first half of 2003 season opening game against the Jacksonville Jaguars
, head coach John Fox replaced him in the third quarter with Jake Delhomme
, who then led the Panthers to a comeback victory. Delhomme subsequently replaced Peete as the Panthers' starting quarterback, leading the team to an 11-5 record that ultimately led to Super Bowl XXXVIII
against the New England Patriots
.
The Panthers released Peete to free agency in February 2005 for salary cap reasons, but he chose to retire instead of re-signing with a team for another season. Peete finished his career with the most NFL career passing yards among QBs from USC, a record that was eclipsed by Carson Palmer
of the Cincinnati Bengals
.
sports talk show
The Best Damn Sports Show Period
alongside John Salley
, Chris Rose
and Rob Dibble
.
One of their twins, Rodney Jr., was diagnosed with autism
at age three. He tells of his story of Rodney, Jr., in the June 2010 issues of Men's Health
.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
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...
from the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
who played in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
for 16 years. He retired in 2004 and is now in broadcasting.
Early life
Peete was born in MesaMesa, Arizona
According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows:* White: 77.1% * Hispanic or Latino : 26.54%* Black or African American: 3.5%* Two or more races: 3.4%* Native American: 2.4%...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. He attended Sahuaro High School
Sahuaro High School
Sahuaro High School is a public high school located in Tucson, Arizona, part of the Tucson Unified School District. It is located on the far east side of the city at 545 North Camino Seco, just north of Vicksburg Street between Broadway and Speedway Boulevards. The school mascot is the Cougar, and...
in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, as a freshman, sophomore, and junior, and went to Shawnee Mission South High School
Shawnee Mission School District
The Shawnee Mission School District is one of the major school districts in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. Located in northeast Johnson County, Kansas, the school district enrolled approximately 40,000 students in the 2009-2010 school year...
in Overland Park, Kansas
Overland Park, Kansas
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 149,080 people, 59,703 households, and 39,702 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,627.0 people per square mile . There were 62,586 housing units at an average density of 1,102.9 per square mile...
for his senior year. He was a three-year letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was named the Arizona High School Player of the Year as a junior.
College career
Peete was the first player ever from USC to win the Johnny Unitas Award as the nation's best senior quarterback. (He has since been joined by Carson PalmerCarson Palmer
Carson Palmer is an American professional football quarterback for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals first overall in the 2003 NFL Draft. He played collegiately at the University of Southern California and won the Heisman Trophy in 2002...
and Matt Leinart
Matt Leinart
Matthew Stephen Leinart , is an American professional football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League...
). In that senior year, he also finished second to Barry Sanders
Barry Sanders
Barry Sanders is a former American football running back who spent all of his professional career with the Detroit Lions in the NFL. Sanders left the game just short of the all-time rushing record...
in the voting for the Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
. His USC teams would win both head-to-head matchups in the UCLA-USC rivalry
UCLA-USC rivalry
The UCLA–USC rivalry is the American college rivalry between the UCLA Bruins sports teams of the University of California, Los Angeles and the USC Trojans sports teams of the University of Southern California ....
against Troy Aikman
Troy Aikman
Troy Kenneth Aikman is a former American football quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League. The number one overall draft pick in 1989, Aikman played twelve consecutive seasons as quarterback with the Cowboys...
's UCLA teams. The 1988 UCLA-USC game was notable in that Peete was stricken with measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
the week before the game and had been to the hospital. He led USC to the 1988 and 1989 Rose Bowl games.
Peete was also a star third baseman
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...
on USC's baseball team. He was named to the all-Pac-10 team. He was also drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
out of high school, and the Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
and Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
while in college.
Professional career
Peete did not achieve stardom in his professional career in the NFL, but played well enough to sustain his place in the league for 16 seasons, primarily as a backup. Selected by the Detroit LionsDetroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
as the 141st pick in the 6th round of the 1989 NFL Draft
1989 NFL Draft
The 1989 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24 , 1989...
, Peete was scheduled to start the season opener but sprained his knee in an exhibition game against the Los Angeles Rams, missing the first few games of the season. He would have been the first rookie quarterback to start for the Lions since 1968, when Greg Landry
Greg Landry
Gregory Paul Landry is a former American football player and coach who played quarterback in the National Football League from 1968 to 1981 and again in 1984...
started.
His career was marked by injury. In his first five NFL seasons with the Lions, he would split time with Bob Gagliano
Bob Gagliano
Robert Frank "Bob" "The Goose" Gagliano , is a former professional American football player. He began his career playing quarterback for Glendale Community College. He then played for United States International University in San Diego, and Utah State University...
, Erik Kramer
Erik Kramer
William Erik Kramer , is a former American football quarterback. He attended John Burroughs High School in Burbank, CA. After attending Los Angeles Pierce College and playing as their quarterback, Kramer transferred to North Carolina State University where he finished a successful college football...
, and former Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
winner Andre Ware
Andre Ware
Andre Ware is a sports analyst and commentator and a former American football player. He was the 1989 Heisman Trophy winner as a quarterback for the University of Houston, becoming the first African-American quarterback to win the award. In the 1990 NFL Draft, Ware was the first round selection ...
. After spending time with the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
, 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,...
, Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia 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...
, and 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...
, Peete's career appeared to be over until he became the starter for the Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
in 2002, where he led the Panthers to an 7-9 record, an improvement over 1-15 the year before.
After a weak showing in the first half of 2003 season opening game against the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, head coach John Fox replaced him in the third quarter with Jake Delhomme
Jake Delhomme
Jake Christopher Delhomme is an American football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League. Delhomme played college football at Louisiana-Lafayette before being signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 1997...
, who then led the Panthers to a comeback victory. Delhomme subsequently replaced Peete as the Panthers' starting quarterback, leading the team to an 11-5 record that ultimately led to Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....
against the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
.
The Panthers released Peete to free agency in February 2005 for salary cap reasons, but he chose to retire instead of re-signing with a team for another season. Peete finished his career with the most NFL career passing yards among QBs from USC, a record that was eclipsed by Carson Palmer
Carson Palmer
Carson Palmer is an American professional football quarterback for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals first overall in the 2003 NFL Draft. He played collegiately at the University of Southern California and won the Heisman Trophy in 2002...
of the Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
The 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...
.
Entertainment career
After his retirement from the NFL, Peete became one of the hosts the Fox Sports NetFox Sports Net
The Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.- Beginnings :...
sports talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
The Best Damn Sports Show Period
The Best Damn Sports Show Period
The Best Damn Sports Show Period is an American sports television show on Fox Sports Net and Comcast SportsNet. The show regularly featured irreverent and opinionated interviews with top athletes, coaches, celebrities, and entertainers. It also aired Top 50 countdown shows and other sports...
alongside John Salley
John Salley
John Thomas "Spider" Salley is a retired American professional basketball player, actor and talk show host. He was the first player in NBA history to play on three different championship-winning franchises....
, Chris Rose
Chris Rose
Christopher Rose is an American sportscaster.-Early life and career:Rose attended University School in Hunting Valley during high school. Rose attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and graduated in 1993...
and Rob Dibble
Rob Dibble
Robert Keith Dibble is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and television analyst.-Personal life:Dibble is a graduate of Southington High School in Southington, Connecticut...
.
Personal
Peete has been married to actress Holly Robinson since 1995. The couple have four children: daughter Ryan and son Rodney Jr., twins born October 19, 1997, son Robinson, born August 11, 2002, and son Roman, born February 25, 2005.One of their twins, Rodney Jr., was diagnosed with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
at age three. He tells of his story of Rodney, Jr., in the June 2010 issues of Men's Health
Men's Health (magazine)
Men's Health , published by Rodale Inc. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, United States, is the world’s largest men’s magazine brand, with 44 editions around the world. It is also the best-selling men's magazine on U.S. newsstands. It covers fitness, nutrition, sexuality, lifestyle and other aspects of...
.