Jerrell Peevy: Football is my everything. It’s my passion. It’s my life. Football mainly is my outlet growing up. Football was the only thing I had that kept me on a straight path and kept me out of focused.
Joe Gaiter: Who inspired you to get into sports?
Jerrell Peevy: My godfather inspired me to get into sports. He’s the biggest Redskins fan I know. Since I was five, he would always take me to practice. We would always have football talks about what if I played for the Redskins so I’ve adopted the dream of playing on home turf being from the area.
Joe Gaiter: What are your fondest memories about playing at Bell High School?
Jerrell Peevy: My fondest memories from Bell were building that strong bond between me and my teammates. They’re my brothers now. They held me down and they were there from the start. Omari, Drae, Alex ,Kendall, and Teyonte were always the ones around making sure that we grind to our fullest potential and in those times we grew stronger together .
Joe Gaiter: You were DCIAA All League Defensive Back with with 3 Interceptions, 72 Tackles and 14 Deflections. Who helped you reach this level of football at an early age?
Jerrell Peevy: I started playing cornerback in my 11th grade year and I was making great plays. I have some untapped potential so that offseason I got with my very first trainer in Lee Baker, owner and CEO of DEMIGAWD ATHLETICS. He helped me achieve a higher level of play with intense off season training day in and day out. We became close and he became a big brother . Then moving down the line, I had the pleasure of training with my cousin Rodney Williams (Coach Scrap) from TheFootDoctors. With those two in my corner, I started to notice endless amounts of growth in my game.
Joe Gaiter: Tell me about your recruitment process.
Jerrell Peevy: My recruitment process was long and stressful due to the fact that I was at a small school who wasn’t known for football to say the least. I took the initiative of emailing over 100 college coaches to get my film all over to see who would give me a shot. And luckily for me I gained some attention from a numerous amount of college coaches. With Bluefield College , NCCU , Methodist, NC Wesleyan and Bowie state being my top 5 I decided to go to Bluefield college. At Bluefield I felt like the team was great but didn’t fit my style of play so, I redshirted and I transferred to Methodist in the spring semester of my freshman year.
Joe Gaiter: What is your role on your team?
Jerrell Peevy: On the team I am seen as a one of the leaders of our great secondary group. We all take a part in making sure our team is successful as can be.
Joe Gaiter: Who are some of your teammates that we should look out for next season?
Jerrell Peevy: Definitely my boy Nate Jones at safety. Our receivers Kobe Praylow Xavier McNeil and Jamar Moore and our D lineman Jake Allen.
Joe Gaiter: Have you reached your athletic peak?
Jerrell Peevy: I have not reached my athletic peak by far. I train and train daily. My trainers are seeing significant improvement but me personally I’ll never be satisfied. I will remain as hungry as can be because that’s what has gotten me this far in my career.
Joe Gaiter: What were your stats this year?
Jerrell Peevy: This was my first year on the field and I believe I did decent. I had 10 tackles 1 tackle for loss and a couple of pass break ups with the only ball caught on me being a screen pass.
Joe Gaiter: What makes you a great Cornerback?
Jerrell Peevy: My ability to play press man to man coverage, playing the ball in the air. Recovery speed and technique makes me a great corner. When you are technically sound it’s hard to lose a 1 on 1 battle at any point after it just comes down to who wants to win more.
Joe Gaiter: What are your strengths and weaknesses on the field?
Jerrell Peevy: My strengths on the field are my ability to play man to man on an island and be as comfortable as can be, reading passing concepts, noticing key indicators of an offense pre snap, and having the ability to play in any zone coverage. I could use more patience in zone coverage and let the plays come to me a little bit more rather than trying to force plays to come to me.
Joe Gaiter: What is your untold story?
Jerrell Peevy: I’m an underdog!! I started playing cornerback my 11th grade year with no sense of direction of where it would take me. I was always told I’ll never be good enough or I was too little to play college football or professional sports. Growing up in DC isn’t all about the White House and what a lot of people believe it to be. A lot of people don’t get the opportunity in the neighborhood that I live in. The majority of my life my family and I grew up in Section 8 housing and I will never forget the nights of sleeping on the hard wood floor with nothing to eat some nights yet. I use that to my advantage and as motivation to know that I have people depending on me and that the person that I go up against hasn’t worked how I’ve worked or been through what I have been through so why would I let them take my spot!!
Joe Gaiter: What is your major and how do you plan on using it?
Jerrell Peevy: I am a business major with a concentration of hotel and resort management or as some may know as hospitality and tourism. I plan to own my own hotel and resort one day and gearing towards making six figures.
Joe Gaiter: Do you have any regrets?
Jerrell Peevy: Regrets? No, they made me the person I am today when you constantly tell yourself to be a better person today than you were yesterday I don’t see how you can live with any regrets.
Joe Gaiter: What is your ultimate goal?
Jerrell Peevy: My ultimate goal is to get my family out of the hood and be the best father athlete and person I can be when the time comes no matter if it’s in the NFL or if it’s making six figures!
Joe Gaiter: Final Words?
Jerrell Peevy: As long as I know I have people depending on me like my Godson and my family I won’t give up it’s not an option nor is it in my blood I’m determined to get what I’m after and it’s as simple as that.
Joe Gaiter: Shoutouts?
Jerrell Peevy: I would like to shout out God for the opportunities he has put in my life. My mother, my god parents, Lee Baker my first trainer, Rodeny Williams a great mentor trainer and big cousin. Methodist University football, Bell Multicultural High School and my brothers that have helped me along the way through this long journey.
Instagram @_.showtimerell
Twitter @JPeevy7
Jerrell Peevy, Methodist University, Sophomore Interview with Joe Gaiter was last modified: April 10th, 2020 by Joseph Gaiter