Another Eric Johnson in the Catamount secondary?
Robert Peele
One of first-year Western Carolina football coach Dennis Wagner’s recruiting coups during the summer was to land safety Robert Peele, a transfer from the University of California. After a stellar prep career, Peele was a coveted recruit in 2004. Rivals.com rated him the No. 18 cornerback in the country and the No. 35 overall player in the state of California. He was selected to the Fresno Bee’s 2004 all-star first team, and ESPN.com rated him as the No. 25 cornerback in the nation.
Peele redshirted his first year as a Golden Bear, and played well in 2006. In 2007 he was off to a fast start, but an injury sidelined him for the last eight games. After that season he left California — presumably because he’d lost his spot due to the injury — and during the summer Wagner’s staff used it’s Golden State connections to land him.
Peele’s luck hadn’t turned, though. In the season opener against Shorter he made an early tackle that reminded me of former Catamount Eric Johnson, reading an option play just so and exploding from the secondary into the backfield to make the stop. But shortly thereafter he quietly left the game with a knee injury that ultimately ended his season.
Peele’s hoping for a hardship judgement from the NCAA, so that he’ll still have two years at Western.
Tags: Catamounts, dennis wagner, eric johnson, golden bear, robert peele, western carolina football, Western Carolina University
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