Corey Peters Felt he Deserved to be in UK Athletics HOF

Hall of Famer Corey Peters waved to UK fans at Kroger Field. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Former Kentucky defensive lineman Corey Peters admitted it was a surprise when he found out he was going to be inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame.

“However, I definitely felt I deserved it and was excited to finally get the honor,” said Peters. “A thing like that is nothing you think about a lot because you have no control over whether it happens or not, so I didn’t put much thought into it.”

He said not once during his UK playing career from 2006-09 he never thought about being a future Hall of Famer.

“You grow up wanting to play college and then hopefully professional football. The Hall of Fame thing was never on my radar,” Peters said. “Only a select group of players make it and I feel like I am really part of a select group now.”

Kentucky played in four straight bowl games during Peters’ career. His senior year he had 56 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, four quarterback sacks, five pass breakups and six quarterback hurries — twice he was SEC Defensive Player of the Week. He also made the SEC all-academic role three times and was the winner of the Jerry Claiborne Award for academics and team attitude.

Peters, 36, was drafted in the third round by the Atlanta Falcons in 2010. He was with Atlanta for five years and then played from 2015-21 with Arizona. He played his final year in 2022 with Jacksonville before retiring. He played in 164 NFL games and had 336 tackles and 17 quarterback sacks.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I left UK. I am probably too humble, so I just went to work and never thought long term. I was just thinking about surviving and not getting cut,” Peters said. “I just focused on the day to day process and it worked for 13 year. I tried to be consistent and be the same person every day so teammates and coaches could count on me.

“I felt like I had a really good career at Kentucky. I was team captain and had a leadership position on the team. It was incredibly special for me and prepared me for the NFL.”

Peters joked like most players, he wanted to “score touchdowns and ended up taking on double teams” instead.

“That happens with a lot of guys and how you envision things do not always work out that way,” Peters said. “I was incredibly blessed and able to overcome injuries. I did it so long that I did not think playing in the line was a dangerous job. What scared me was thinking about covering kickoffs and running full speed and being part of those heavy collisions. That is something I wanted no part of. I was very content to play in close quarters and be part of the grind.”

Peters has been married 11 years and has twin girls that he brought with him to UK for his Hall of Fame induction. Peters, who met his wife at UK, now lives in Pittsburg and works as a college scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I enjoy the challenge of scouting and being able to stay involved in football,” Peters said. “The pro game and college game are so different. In college you come in with a group of guys and build relationships. In the pros, guys come and go. In college, you are living in dorms and spending quality time with teammates so you have relationships you don’t have in the pros.”

Peters was a bit overwhelmed when he was introduced at Kroger Field during the Hall of Fame weekend, especially considering Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, was also one of the inductees.

“The ovation was awesome. Being back was really good,” he said. “I have always felt the fan support at Kentucky has been underrated. We’ve always had wonderful fans who are so, so supportive and I know I always appreciated it and so did the other players.”