HELENA — Carroll College’s football season might have ended over a month ago, but the awards and national recognition haven’t stopped rolling in for standout defensive lineman Hunter Peck.
Peck’s honors include but are not limited to: Cliff Harris Award finalist for best small college defensive player in the country; American Football Coaches Association first-team All-American; and semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, also known as the Academic Heisman.
"It definitely feels good,” Peck said of receiving recognition. “You put in countless hours of work, but not for the recognition at the end of the day, right? (It's) only to look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that you gave it everything you had. I like this quote, and it says, 'Are you able to become emotionally attached to the process without becoming emotionally attached to the results?'"
And it’s Peck’s process-first mindset that has helped him epitomize what it means to be a Carroll College Fighting Saint.
“I think the people of Carroll College, a Fighting Saint, is someone of high character, man,” said Peck. “And the first word that came to my mind was just tenacious. Like, Fighting Saints are tenacious, right? They refuse to quit, whether that’s in relationships, in school, on the field of play, wherever that might be.”
For as much as Peck has given to the Carroll football program during his four-year college career, he said the program has given back to him just as much if not even more.
“The Carroll football program, as a man, has developed me for greater things in life,” said Peck. “Coach (Troy) Purcell always talks about being able to look in the mirror at the end of the day and telling yourself that you gave it all you could — not only as a student-athlete, but as a husband in the future, as a father in the future. So, really just setting me up for success in life as well as on the field of play.”
