Newly signed Peach eager to join Stamps
Billy Peach made a trip to Calgary last month and didn’t see it at its best.
The Calgary Stampeders’ third-round draft pick from the 2012 Canadian Football League talent-grab paid a visit with his dad the week before the West Division semifinal against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Peach, understand, has spent the past five years playing football in Jacksonville, Fla. — one year in high school and the following four at Jacksonville University — so despite his Canadian upbringing (the first four years in Newfoundland, the rest in Kingston, Ont.), he’s become accustomed to sunshine and warm weather.
Which he saw none of for his first visit to Calgary — “I don’t think I saw a break in the clouds,” he said with a laugh on Wednesday.
But that visit was more than enough to convince Peach, the Stamps’ 19th-overall pick last May, that Calgary would be a great place to play football, and made the decision to sign his first pro contract — announced Wednesday by the team — that much easier.
“I was really looking forward to getting it done,” said Peach, 22, after getting out of one of his final classes at Jacksonville (he’ll graduate later this month with his degree, double-majoring in business administration and marketing. “I had some free time this semester to get out to Calgary, and I had never been in that part of the world. I fell in love with the city, the people there are amazing, and the city is way more than I ever expected. Lots of opportunities there, and I look forward to getting out there and calling it home.”
The six-foot-five, 305-pounder spent three seasons with Jacksonville, making 10 starts (nine at right tackle, one at left) in his final year, 2011. He chose not to use his final year of football eligibility, in 2012, so that he could concentrate on his education and his training.
An added bonus was that during the U.S. Thanksgiving break, he was able to fly to Ontario and go to the Grey Cup with his father.
“One my dad’s best friends is a Molson rep, so he gets us tickets to a lot of events,” said Peach. “I was going whether it was B.C. or Calgary, and it just so happened to work out great that it was Calgary.”
After graduation, Peach will take some time off before heading to Los Angeles to train at the prestigious Athletes’ Performance facility to prep for his first pro camp next June, where he expects to be tested at various O-line positions.
“They told me they like the fact I’ve started at every position,” he said. “I’ll go where ever I can play.”