After being picked in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft, Corey Peters has played his way into a regular role with the Falcons. The former standout defensive tackle at Kentucky has started all but three games in which he has played over the last three seasons and he’s made just as big of an impact in the community.Peters was nominated for the Wuerffel Trophy in 2009 in part due to his service. As a professional, he has continued the work he began at UK:
Peters said that his willingness to help others was strongly encouraged at UK. “Coach Rich Brooks really did a good job in providing us opportunities to get out visiting children’s hospitals, going to schools, reading to kids, talking to high schoolers. For me, as an education major, that was something that I was really interested in, said Peters.”Since arriving in Atlanta, he’s worked with the Atlanta Fire Department, with breast cancer survivors during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. However, his “soft spot” is working with kids.“One of my big partnerships is with the Rally Foundation which is a childhood cancer research group. Their goal is to raise money to help childhood cancer. Childhood cancer is a completely different thing than adult cancer,” Peters said. ” And I’m still in the schools, I visit a lot of schools.”As did Kentucky, the Falcons encourage community, too. “Mr. (Arthur) Blank makes it a point to get everybody involved in the community. We have days where everybody in the organization from players, coaches, people from the front office, are all out in the community doing something, building houses, whatever that might be. I think that’s incredibly important this organization just doesn’t talk about it, they put a huge emphasis on getting out and improving the community,” Peters said.
