The games in Zach Peevey’s football careers are winding down. Depending on what happens over the next three weeks, Montana’s senior defensive tackle could have as little as three remaining. Or the Grizzlies could win out and Peevey’s football playing days will be put on a week-to-week schedule.
That timeline has been creeping into Peevey’s mind more and more as of late.
“I’ve taken every little practice, every film study a little more serious because I know I’m probably not going to do this much longer,” Peevey said.
What was supposed to be a last hurrah in maroon and silver has already been cut short. Peevey missed Montana’s first three games with an injury. He was inserted into the starting lineup in Week 8 when the Griz traveled to Northern Arizona. Fully aware of the sands running through the hourglass, the injury has heightened those senses some. Sitting in a news conference six days before Montana’s Saturday evening contest with Idaho State, Peevey admitted he has approached games with a little more urgency.
It’s to be expected of a senior who has already accepted that professional football is likely not in his future. Five years of early workouts, ice baths, nagging injuries, position meetings and locker room banter can endear a program to a player. Everybody goes through it, but Peevey’s connection to Montana spans more more than just those five years.
“My mom is from Butte and Griz football was even a big part of my life down in Texas where I was born,” he said.
Peevey’s parents met at St. Patrick’s Day party. Despite the Butte roots, the Peeveys kept the family in Houston until their boys, Travis and Zach, were approaching adolescence. Zach was 12 when the family left one of America’s largest cities for the mountains of Montana. They settled in Missoula and in a few years Zach was at Hellgate High, a place where he became a standout basketball player. His powerful leadership helped lead the Knights to an improbable third-place finish as a senior thanks to his freelancing, heart-on-his-sleeve style. But it was on the gridiron where Zach transcended Hellgate’s struggline football program.
He doesn’t remember the details, but the Peevey’s arrival in Missoula coincided with off-field issues that tarnished Montana’s legacy within the city. A portion of the population rethought their affinity as quarterback Jordan Johnson and fullback Beau Donaldson were put on trial for sexual assault charges — Donaldson was convicted — while others were rumored to be involved with another assault, but no charges were levied. Other off-field transgressions were reported and UM President Royce Engstrom, in a controversial move fueled by public perception, decided it necessary to remove Montana’s head football coach, Robin Pflugrad, and its athletic director, Jim O’Day.
Peevey redshirt his freshman year in 2012, the first full season under Mick Delaney, at the time Montana’s interim head coach. Without Johnson, the Grizzlies’ all-conference quarterback, Montana finished 5-6, it’s first losing season since 1985. A year later, the program was handed three years of probation and reduced scholarships as the NCAA determined the football program failed to properly conduct itself. The program has since returned to the playoffs three straight seasons and is the process of repairing its image.
Peevey and a host of fellow seniors have been at the epicenter of the makeover.
“Him being one of the couple Missoula kids on this team definitely kind of showed us the way as younger guys,” said junior linebacker Connor Strahm, who became a Griz a year after Peevey.
Peevey has routinely been asked to host certain recruits Montana’s coaches have identified as personalities that will help the program shed the reputation that has run amuck this decade. When Reese Phillips came to Missoula last winter to see if he wanted to transfer to Montana from Kentucky, Peevey was called upon to host the quarterback. A few days after his visit, Phillips signed his scholarship papers and credited Peevey as part of the reason he decided to spend the last years of his college career thousands of miles from his Chattanooga, Tennessee home.
“We all have a role other than playing football here as a Griz,” Peevey said. “Being a leader, being there for guys, getting on guys when they make plays on the field. Off the field getting in the community and helping out and volunteering as much as we can. The coaches emphasize that a lot so we make that a big part of our lives.”
While he has played a big part in that effort, Peevey has also been central to the cohesion that has often been cited by players and coaches for the current Griz. Peevey mentioned it on his Twitter account in mid October, posting that being part of this year’s team is just different than years past. Peevey is active on Twitter, displaying the sense of humor he says he models after junior offensive lineman Cooper Sprunk.
“It’s this big guy with a big old belly,” Peevey said of his offensive counterpart. “Everything he says I will laugh. I don’t know what it is, but he’s got the jokes and always has a smile on his face and is keeping the morale high.”
What isn’t always displayed on his social media account is the work Peevey has put in his five years. He arrived as a 220-pound defensive tackle with a buzzed head. He’s now a veteran of 41 college football games — four of them starts — 55 pounds heavier with considerably longer hair.
“He knows what Montana football is and what it means to people,” Strahm said. “He really shows what hard work can do over five years. He just keeps his nose down and makes some people laugh on the way, but really does his job and shows us the way.”
With at least three games remaining in his career, Peevey hopes that his character and on-field work has helped to exemplify what Montana football is about. Now, he would like to extend his final season in front of the city he credits for molding him into the person he has become.
“I’m blessed to be from Missoula and I’m proud to say I’m from Montana,” Peevey said adding, “We’re just blessed to be in the position we’re in with three games left and we’re going to go at it full steam ahead.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
