Player Intro
Chris Peace is is a linebacker for the New York Giants. He played his college football at UVA, and overcame many challenges on the football field and in his home life to ultimately battle his way into the NFL. He was kind enough to share about his late entry into football, his relatively late development as a football player, and how he faces different challenges and obstacles through consistent practice in all areas of life.
Chris' words have been transcribed as accurately and verbatim as possible to preserve the integrity of his story. Some changes have been made to support the flow and organization of his story.
Gameplan
pD: Talk to me about some of your sports background, and how you made it to the NFL.
CP: When I was little, I started playing football around 11 years old. It was pretty hard at the time, because I guess I was bigger than the rest of the kids; there was a weight limit for football, so I was overweight, didn't really get to play that many games when I first started playing in a rec league, in Pop Warner.
So I played a year or two, it was cool, I wouldn't say I was, like, dreaming about [making the NFL] just yet, and I guess I took a few years off, just playing a little backyard football. Middle school football, I played at Indian River Middle School, I wasn't that good, kinda sat the bench most of the time. My ninth grade year, coming into Indian River High School, I didn't play football, actually. I actually played volleyball, had a few things going on at home, so that hindered me a little, but I had a friend on the football team, who told me to try out. So I went out there, honestly didn't have that much interest, but I said "What's the worst that could go wrong?"
Tenth grade I started playing again, JV, varsity, wasn't a standout by no means, just a player on the team. I say everything began to change after that tenth grade year. Like I said, a few things going on at home, I packed up, left, and moved to Newport News, Virginia, to Warwick High School. It was different from anything I expected, way different background and demographics to what I was used to in Chesapeake. I went there, and I guess you could say I was one of the kids on the team; I worked hard, did what I was supposed to, but I didn't really expect myself to stand out or anything.
I was pretty mediocre year my junior year, and coming into my senior year, I kinda got tired of it, really dedicated myself to football, went from 160 lbs to 220 lbs in just a few months that senior year. I made a position change from receiver to defensive end. At first I was pretty mad about it; I didn't want to play defense, I wanted to play offense, but I guess it worked out.
My coach thought I was pretty good at it; my senior year, I ended up having about 20 sacks, started getting a little attention, but at the end of my senior year, still, with the film, stats, numbers, and everything, things didn't actually pan out. I wasn't recruited that highly, and grew real frustrated. January comes, the month of signing day, and I don't have that many offers or anything, so I reached out to one of my friends, who was committed to UVA at the time. He basically told [the coaching staff] "Hey you should look at this guy's film, he's got some pretty good film."
And next thing you know, UVA head coach at the time, Mike London, came to my school and made me an offer two weeks before signing day. I went from putting out shipyard applications to committing to UVA. I was the lowest-rated recruit out of my class, I think; I guess people never expected that I would really do much damage when I was there. I can't say I really thought so either at the time, I was just happy I even got the scholarship.
I redshirted my freshman year, I was way back in the depth chart, and the head coach changed from Mike London to Marc Mendenhall; that was big, but that was when things took a turn for me, football-wise, again. I played outside backer my last three years at UVA, made All-ACC two times, pretty much had a great career when it ended at UVA.
I ended up going undrafted; that was pretty disappointing. I remember on draft day, I was expecting to go at least the sixth round, but stuff happens for a reason. I ended up signing with the Chargers right after the draft. I went out there, worked my way onto the team, and after a few transactions, went from the Chargers to the Giants, and I'm here now.
pD: You weren't set for the NFL from day one.
CP: Not exactly. I like to tell people, I really just built my way and worked my ass off. I was never a superior athlete; even today, I'm kind of undersized for my position right now.
pD: So you talked about the hard work. What kinds of habits did you pick up from this journey?
CP: I think it's a mindset thing. Everybody has it deep down within them, and it's just hard to reach. For most of my life, I've had various situations happen to me that weren't always positive. With me, I use negativity going on in my life, or anger or frustration, and I just turn it into positive energy. Like I said, growing up, I didn't have the roughest childhood, but I had some things that were pretty dramatic; I had a lot of anger built up, and I just had a chip on my shoulder, and I used that chip on my shoulder to get me through workouts and keep my mind clear. I had tunnel vision for the goals I always wanted.
It's a mindset thing
I also think the main person that raised me, my grandma, just looking at her work ethic and how she's provided and never complained, dealing with whatever she had to do to feed me. I took that into consideration, looked up to her and admired her, and it rubbed off on me. As far as habits go, people joke that I'm redundant and consistent. For example, I pretty much wake up around the same time every day, 6:30, eat the same meals just about every day. I always run, lift, five times a week, study before I go to sleep.
I think when it comes to people's craft, I think people work hard, but I don't think people are consistent. And I think that's why people don't get the results they exactly want. Being consistent has definitely helped me. It can't just be in certain things: I really believe how you do one thing is how you do everything. Since I was a little boy in high school, growing up with my uncle, he would do certain things like keep the house clean, take out the trash; some of this may not seem like it matters, but I believe it does. I make my bed every day, make sure everything's on point in the house; when something needs to be done, I just don't stop until it is done. I've been that way for years, and it's been ingrained in me.
People work hard, but are not consistent
pD: So it doesn't matter how small the task is, you practice doing it consistently and that leads to your success everywhere else.
CP: Definitely. As far as practice and training habits, I always do extra. Like I said, I wasn't as gifted physically with speed or size, so I gotta do things a little differently from everyone to stand out.
pD: You touched on this a little bit; how has your habit of taking the negative and transforming it to positive energy carried over to your life outside of football?
CP: I would say that I attack everything the same as far as turning negative energy into the positive. For example, I eat the same breakfast every day, four eggs, spinach, turkey bacon, and oatmeal. I drink the same protein. After that breakfast, I go work out, come home, do my studies of my playbook, do my meetings. Right after meetings, I go lift, and after lifting, shower, get cleaned up, and study some more. I then like to do some me time, take a walk or hang out with my mom and the family. I try to be in bed before ten, stretch out before I go to bed, and then wake up and do it all over again.
pD: I understand you have a son. Having a child can disrupt the rhythm you've set up for yourself; how have you adapted to re-orienting your schedule around your child's needs?
CP: Yeah, he's going to be six months old. With my child, he comes first before anything. If it's an emergency, if he needs attention at the moment, I'll drop everything for him, but I will say with my kid, I honestly don't think I would've made the team as an undrafted free agent without him. My kid, since the day I found out I was going to have a son, that became my why. I use that as my motivation for everything, and I say that in the sense of working even harder than I ever have just because he's here.
This is all for him, it's worth it
I went through some things growing up that I hope he never has to, and it's something I just won't allow to happen. Every day I wake up, that's the first person I think of. During workouts, or studying, I just remind myself "this is all for him, it's worth it." I love my kid to death, and as far as making time for him, I always have time for him.
pD: What's a major challenge that you've faced, in sports or in life, and how did you overcome it?
CP: There were two moments that I can think of as my hardest times. My first would be when I was 15 or 16 years old, I was having a bad situation in Chesapeake where I was living, my mom's boyfriend and I didn't see eye to eye, so I felt like he was holding a ceiling over my head, and not being treated with the proper respect I deserved when I was living there. I just didn't want to be there anymore, so I packed up my things one day, went to school with basically a bag and a bookbag, and called up my aunt and her husband at the time, who I consider my uncle, and told them "Hey, come pick me up after school, I'm ready to move."
So I moved from Chesapeake to Newport News, didn't know anybody in Newport News, started over with friends, coaches, and sports. Like I said, way different environment, I felt kind of alone out there, and I made a commitment to myself: I didn't want to get stuck in a box, I wanted to do something better for myself and reach for the heights of life. I had to be man at age 16 and really grow up real fast. I would say that was one of the hardest transitions of my life.
The second toughest transition ever was being an undrafted free agent, not entitled to a spot on a team, not guaranteed anything. I went to LA, there were about twenty-five, thirty of us undrafted, you know; you're not really expected to make a team, being at the bottom of the depth chart. You have to fight for your reps under pressure; at the time I had an unborn child that I had to fight for, that was pressure every day. Only two of us ended up making the team; that was a blessing, but that was one of the toughest transitions too right there.
pD: What gave you the courage and motivation in those situations to handle the change and not fold?
I think I have a fear of not living up to my full potential. I'm scared to disappoint the people I'm doing this for. I think that fear is what drives for. It's complete motivation; I figure that I had the opportunity to get that far, and it'd be a complete waste if I didn't live up to my potential.
Execution
Chris shares a routine that he uses to ensure that he is always in a growth mindset and is putting forth all his effort to realize his potential.
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