THE three incriminating words were not printed any bigger or bolder than the others, but they nonetheless leaped off the page. They might as well have been flashing in neon.
“Bad character-type.”
This was not the musing of some geek on a couch passing himself off as a draft guru in some “insiders” publication. This was the official bio distributed by the NFL scoutingservice. Under a heading marked “negatives” regarding William Peterson, a cornerback from Western Illinois, amid descriptions of his tight lateral moves and poor hand usage and concentration lapses were these crushing three words.
“Bad character-type.”
The words can be damning, but Peterson prefers to view them as a reminder of where he was, opts to use the words to direct him where he’s going. “The knock on me coming out is I have bad character,” Peterson told The Post yesterday. “But people don’t really know me. I made enough bad decisions to last me my whole lifetime, I learned from those and I’m ready to move on.”
Of the seven players selected by the Giants during this past weekend’s NFL Draft, Peterson is easily the most intriguing, probably the greatest risk and possibly the one true steal.
The Giants say the grade they assigned to the cornerback indicated he represented first-round value. He has size (6-foot, 197 pounds), speed, coverage ability and a real desire to hit. Even after getting the cornerback of their desires, Will Allen of Syracuse, in the first round, the Giants took Peterson in the third round, with the 78th overall selection, believing they scooped up a superior talent who dropped because of some shady off-field incidents.
This is charted territory for the Giants, who are confident their in-house support systems can withstand the addition of players with questionable backgrounds. The franchise success stories include Christian Peter and Kerry Collins, and the club feels it has a handle on the maturity lapses displayed last season by Ron Dixon. Peterson falls in line with this group.
“We have a real good track record in these things,” Jim Fassel said.
Extremely outspoken about his troubled past, Peterson is ready to adhere to whatever guidelines the Giants put in place. “I’m willing to do anything it takes, because I’m at a point where I have to prove to them,” he said. “It’s not like I’m coming in with a clean slate.”
This is a player with a story. He was a rising star at Michigan, starting in the Rose Bowl as a freshman as the Wolverines won the national championship. “I was pretty much on top of the world,” Peterson said. “I felt there was no limit to what I could do.”
After an excellent sophomore season, he attended an on-campus party where a few buddies had hired a stripper. Peterson was accused of stealing $46 dollars from the stripper and charged with misdemeanor larceny. The following spring, as a passenger in a teammate’s car, he was charged with possession of marijuana. The theft charges were eventually dropped and he received probation for the marijuana charge.
His career at Michigan was over. After the first incident, Peterson was told he would be forced to sit out the next year as punishment. After the second, he was kicked off the team by coach Lloyd Carr.
Peterson speaks with no trace of bitterness in his voice. “Coach Carr gave me as many chances as he could,” he said. “I did one thing after another, I forced his hand. As far as him kicking me off, I feel it was a good decision. You don’t want nobody causing distractions to your team when you’re trying to win championships.”
Looking for a place to play, Peterson landed at Youngstown State, but soon enough realized he would not thrive playing in a zone defense. He turned to Western Illinois, situated halfway between Chicago and St. Louis.
“Lloyd [Carr] is an old friend, and he told me you have to realize [Peterson] grew up in a tough neighborhood and that there was nothing he didn’t see,” said Don Patterson, Western Illinois’ head coach.
Peterson, 21, lived in Brownsville, Pa. – mid-way between Pittsburgh and Morgantown, W.Va. – until he was 12 years old, and when his parents split up he went with his mother and two sisters to Tucson, Ariz. to stay with his grandmother. One year later, he was sent back to Brownsville, this time to live with his uncle, Frank Peterson (the brother of his father, William Peterson, Sr.), who became his legal guardian.
Patterson laid down rules for Peterson. “I told him ‘You’ve got zero tolerance here . . . don’t mess up, not even once,'” Patterson said.
In two seasons, Patterson said Peterson never failed a drug test, never gave him any trouble and was elected as a team captain last year.
“He’s been a Boy Scout,” Patterson said. “I wouldn’t have invited Will to join our team if I thought he’d hit someone over the head and snatch her purse. I guess he’s capable of it, but a lot of people are capable of it.
“The only question is will he ever fall off again in the future? I don’t think so. There’s always a risk when a young player falls into a lot of money. I’m concerned he’ll fall in with the wrong crowd. He’s aware of it, the Giants are aware of it.”
One former NFL team executive, discussing Peterson and the draft, called him “a bad guy.” The Giants prefer to characterize Peterson’s past problems as bad judgments.
He did not live in the housing projects in Brownsville, but most of his friends did. “I wasn’t a bad kid,” he said. “I ran in the streets a little bit.”
He says he always felt it was his destiny to play in the NFL and does not lack for confidence. “I know I’m one of the top talents in the draft,” he said.
He also knows he’s headed to the New York area where trouble is waiting, if he wants it.