Christian Peter

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Christian Peter
Date of birth:	October 5, 1972 (1972-10-05) (age 35)
Place of birth:	Locust, New Jersey
Career information
Position(s):	Defensive tackle
College:	Nebraska
NFL Draft:	1996 / Round: 5 / Pick 149
Organizations
As player:
1997-2000 2001 2002	New York Giants Indianapolis Colts Chicago Bears
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Christian Peter (born October 5, 1972 in Locust, New Jersey) was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League. Peter's younger brother, Jason, also played in the NFL.

Peter attended Middletown High School South in 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 "Black Shirt" defense. He was an all-Big Eight 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]

[edit] Arrests and convictions

While at Nebraska, Peter was arrested eight times for various offenses such as threatening to kill a parking attendant, trespassing, public urination, refusing to comply with police, illegal possession of alcohol, failure to appear in court, and grabbing a woman by the throat. He was convicted four times. ^[3]

Most infamously, he raped Kathy Redmond, a freshman from Littleton, Colorado; two times in two days--the second with two of his teammates watching. Redmond didn't tell anyone about it until after her freshman year. Her father confronted an assistant coach about it, but Peter was never charged. This inaction led Redmond to file a Title IX suit against Nebraska in 1995; the suit was settled two years later for $50,000, as well as. Former coach Tom Osborne has since apologized to Redmond.^[3]

In 1993, Peter sexually assaulted Melissa DeMuth in his dorm room, and also groped 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]

[edit] NFL 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 conviction in seven years, this time for grabbing a woman by the throat in a Kearney, Nebraska bar. The pick set off a firestorm of criticism from the Boston area press, Patriots fans and women's groups. After learning more about Peter's violent history, the Patriots relinquished the rights to Peter only a week after the draft. The team said that Peter's behavior was "incompatible with our organization's standards of acceptable conduct."^[4] According to The Boston Globe, the wife of Patriots owner Bob Kraft personally demanded that the team cut all ties with Peter.^[3]

As a result of the backlash, Peter was unable to catch on with another NFL team during 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.^[5] 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 in Atlantic Highlands called The 4th Quarter Sports Tavern.

[edit] References