Eleanor Roosevelt High School rising junior Nicholas Peck had an example set by his father about how a young man should carry himself.
“I would say most likely my dad because my dad is my role model. He has taught me all my values and principles and he helps me [stay] motivated when I’m down. He keeps me humble when I’m up [as well]. That’s what I really love about my dad so that’s who my idol is.”
Peck wants to emulate that same example on the football field through his leadership and off the field in the classroom. He is already doing the classroom part with a 4.1 GPA as a sophomore at Eleanor Roosevelt High School. The majors he’s looking already for college are journalism and criminal justice.
“I actually enjoy reading and writing a lot. I’m probably going toursue journalism in college. That’s what I’m really interested in. I really want to stay close to the game whether it’s being a coach or broadcasting because I just love the game so much and I think broadcasting would be an awesome job to be able to do,” Peck said.
The six-foot-five, 295 pound offensive tackle from Eastvale, California grew watching the San Francisco 49ers and being able to watch players like Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens play fueled his passion for the game.
Nicholas Peck is unranked by the major recruiting services (247Sports, Scout, Rivals) and has no scholarships as a sophomore offensive tackle but he has received interest from Washington State, Alabama, Florida State, Michigan State and Oregon.
“At the moment, I’m really interested in Michigan State and that’s because their offensive line coach is a real offensive line guru so I’d love to pick his brain and be able to work with him because I think he would help develop my game.”
Peck’s dream school is the University of Michigan because that is his mother’s home state and that’s the team his family has always rooted for and that’s where he has always wanted to go.
“Dreamed about playing in the Big House and now that we’ve got Jim Harbaugh it would be awesome to play under him. That’s my dream school.”
In a year or two Michigan and Michigan State just may be in competition for his services down the road.
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“I like to believe I have a perfect medium in between both because as a run blocker I enjoy the violence and being able to hit somebody and move them from place to place. Pass blocking, I like to think of it as an art,” he said. “It’s where you can take a breath and kind of use your technique and make it your craft. I like to believe that I have a medium at being pretty good at both.”
What he says he needs to work on, however, is his kick step which deals with footwork in pass block. This is in addition to work on an aspect of the game that in his mind all linemen hate.
“…Linemen we never love to do this but I need to work on conditioning more to stay physically in shape.”
The Eleanor Roosevelt Mustangs went 10-3 (4-1 Big VIII) and lost in the CIF Southern Section Division Five state playoffs to Calabasas High School 58-21. Calabasas went on to win the state title beating Capistrano Valley 35-14.
Despite losing the way they did, Nicholas Peck is confident that his team will be able to bounce back and build on the momentum of last season as whole.
“Most definitely, we had a great year. There were some close tight games that we would like to change. We didn’t think they should’ve been close, tight games coming off of losing in the semifinal the way we did, we’re really hungry in the weight room this year. So we’re trying to do everything we can to build off that momentum of last year and try to win a state title.”
Another thing that motivated Nicholas Peck along with his father was the death of his former offensive line coach who he was very close with. He said that it was very difficult to deal with but it ultimately made him better as a man.
Off the field at the next level, Nicholas Peck, wants to be able to bring leadership and be a role model for his teammates at whatever university he ends up attending.
“I think my best attribute as a player is I’m violent and I’m not afraid of anybody whether they’re a five star or they [have no stars]. I’m going to bring my best out there and I’m going to be violent with it.”