| Date of birth: | October 5, 1972 |
| Place of birth: | Locust, New Jersey |
| Career information | |
|---|---|
| Position(s): | Defensive tackle |
| College: | Nebraska |
| NFL Draft: | 1996 / Round: 5 / Pick: 149 (By the New England Patriots) |
| Organizations | |
| As player: | |
| 1997-2000 2001 2002 |
New York Giants Indianapolis Colts Chicago Bears |
| Playing stats at NFL.com | |
Christian Peter (born October 5, 1972 in Locust, New Jersey) is a former 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 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]
Peter played at Middletown Highschool South where he helped one of the best teams in school history go undefeated & win the state title in 1990.
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's butt 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 Christian only a week after the draft. The team said that Christian's behavior was "incompatible with our organization's standards of acceptable conduct."[3] According to The Boston Globe, Myra Kraft, the wife of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, personally demanded that the team cut all ties with Peter.[4] It was the first time in NFL history that a drafted player had been waived by a team before the start of training camp.[5]
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.[6] 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.
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