As coaches and players prepare for the return of high school football in California after a seven-month hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, we spotlight former Newport Harbor High quarterback Kasey Peters, whose whirlwind career has landed him in vacation paradise.
After nine different stops in the Arena Football League, Peters has dropped anchor in Cancun, Mexico, where he’s retired as a player, but involved with a nonprofit organization that teaches football to the locals who are hungry to learn the game. He’s also building a Fabio-type body to accompany his long curly blond hair.
“I didn’t look like that in high school,” said Peters, a former Newport Harbor High standout who earned All-CIF Southern Section Division 6 honors his senior year at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds – that’s 20 pounds more than he weighs now. “This is the skinniest I’ve been at 195. Even though I’m more muscular, I’m also leaner.”
Since arriving at the Mexican beach resort town four years ago, Peters’ goal has been to stay there, continuing to learn the Spanish language and earn an income.
In addition to teaching football, conditioning players with football-specific weight lifting and training and modeling on the side, Kasey sells Duffy Boats in Cancun. The boat brand was started in Newport Beach by Duffy Duffield, whose son, Travis, played football with Peters at Newport Harbor.
“My senior year, in the (CIF) semifinal game against Mayfair, we were down with a chance to tie it with 40 seconds left in the game,” Peters said. “Travis kicked a game-tying field goal, then we ended up winning the game (24-17). I was the holder of the football and Travis was the kicker, and now I’m selling Duffy Boats for his dad’s company.”
Football has always been Peters’ passion, and in Cancun he volunteers for Amor Ministries, teaching the game to youngsters the way legendary former Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley taught him.
“It’s a coaching paradise,” Peters said. “We train football players. When I came down here in 2017, there was an opportunity to play Arena Football League in Monterrey (Mexico). Things did not work out, as I got a concussion and ended up retiring. But it exposed me to what’s going on down here.
“They want teams in America to connect with their community and that’s how they build relationships. What I saw in Monterrey is that people are crazy about football,” he said. “There’s a lot of talent down here, but the culture and coaching had been done the wrong way. There are so many athletes down here. I know talent, and there’s real talent being underdeveloped and that’s why I’m down here.”
From 2012 to 2019, Peters played in the AFL for the Tri-Cities Fever in Kennewick, Wash., New Mexico Stars, West Texas Wildcatters, New Mexico Stars again, Duke City Gladiators in Albuquerque, Las Vegas Outlaws, New Orleans VooDoo, Portland Steel, Duke City Gladiators again, Monterrey Steel and Fundidores Monterrey. Peters had planned to play in a European league in Poland after his second stint with Duke City in 2016, but Monterrey Steel gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse – and his Mexican tour began.
Peters played college football at four different schools (Saddleback College, Santa Ana College, Grand Valley State University and Rocky Mountain College) after helping lead Newport Harbor to the 2004 CIF Division 6 championship game against Orange Lutheran at Angel Stadium.
He said he’s thankful for the community in Mexico “looking beyond my appearance and the fact that I grew up in an extremely blessed and rich environment, and fully accepting me based on my character. I plan to spend the rest of my life in this country, and will continue to commit my life to making a positive change throughout Mexico.”
Richard Dunn, a longtime sportswriter, writes the Dunn Deal column regularly for The Orange County Register’s weekly, The Coastal Current North.
from Irvine Business Signs https://ift.tt/3fdm4p8
via Irvine Sign Company
