Gig Harbor male athlete of the year: Two-sport star Samuel Peacock UW football bound
Coming into his final season with the Gig Harbor High School football team, Samuel Peacock had a completely different outlook on where he was going by the end of the school year.
He originally verbally committed to play football at Oregon State University, and was on a Tides team that was aiming to get back on track and into the playoff picture again.
Peacock reached one of his goals as the Tides made it to districts, but unfortunately lost 34-14 to Eastside Catholic. As for his commitment, Peacock chose to attend the University of Washington and play football for the Huskies, flipping from Oregon State.
“It’s always been in the back of mind,” Peacock said. “I went to a couple games there, and having that opportunity [to go there], you just can’t pass that up. Everything there is just perfect.”
It was Peacock’s desire to stay in state that led him to change his commitment from Oregon State to Washington and it will only benefit him in terms of his educational goals.
He plans to major in Medical Science. Once there, he will figure out which path he feels better suits him; either working in physical therapy or becoming a doctor. But the offensive tackle still has a lot to bring on the football field.
“I definitely learned in my high school days that team bonding makes the team better,” he said. “It makes your experience better, it makes the team better, it makes you better… You can find success wherever you’re at.”
Peacock not only has roots in football, but he has a strong game in throwing the shot put. So strong, that he was the 3A state champion in 2019 with a throw of 58 feet and 11 inches. For all these reasons, Peacock is The Peninsula Gateway’s 2020 Male Athlete of the Year from Gig Harbor High School.
Unfortunately, he won’t get a chance to defend his title due to schools being closed through the remainder of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and athletics being canceled as well.
“The final throw at the meet where I knew that I won [is my favorite memory],” he said. “I looked at my coach, I looked at my family and friends and knowing that all the time I spent working on that that it all just came together at the very end. It was a perfect moment.”
What makes Peacock’s accomplishment even more impressive was that he only began throwing the shot put the previous year as a sophomore.
But that speaks to his character of being a hard working athlete. Peacock was always the athlete that stood up to be the leader of drills, help guide his younger teammates and do whatever the coaching staff asked of him.
“He’s really big and he’s a physically strong kid,” said football coach George Fairhart. “As you get to know him, you start to see his work ethic. He’s so self-motivated and he works so hard on not just the physical part, but watching videos whether its throwing or football.”
Peacock is considered to be the ‘whole package’ by Fairhart. He will be in the workout rooms doing the extra reps and sets to build up his strength and agility.
He is not one to just cruise because he has immediate success. Peacock will always find something to improve upon. Fairhart even thought he would break 60 feet in the upcoming track season. But as there are no spring sports, it is unknown how well he would have performed.
“It’s so cool to see someone like him get a scholarship to Washington because I really think he’s going to make it,” Fairhart said. “He, like all incoming freshman, is going to struggle a little bit but then I think he is really going to turn it on. He will be challenged but I think he will rise to that challenge and it will be fun to watch.”
As Peacock’s high school career came to a premature end, he credits the environment he competed in to help shape how seriously he takes his athletics.
The coaching staff his freshman year particularly noticed his talent and told him that he could make it beyond high school if he focused up and worked hard.
And lo and behold, Peacock is going from the harbor to the Emerald City. Just like he wanted.
“I didn’t really start. I played baseball, I was alright at that. And football, I was OK,” he said. “I kept on working out and got stronger. I learned good technique stuff and finally got to where I am now. Hard work leads you somewhere where you can find success in your own form.”