Carl Peterson

Among the football gems that Peterson uncovered deep in the NFL Draft were DE Carl Hairston (7th-round, played 224 games), RB Wilbert Montgomery (6th-round, played 107 games), NT Charlie Johnson (7th-round, 117 games), DE Dennis Harrison (4th-round, 136 games) and LB Reggie Wilkes (3rd round, 137 games.) Three of those five earned Pro Bowl honors during their career.

Carl D. Peterson (born May 26, 1943) For more than 50 years, Carl Peterson was a creative force in the world of American Football, starting at the high school level, through small college ball, to major college football, and on to professional football where he enjoyed great success with the Philadelphia Eagles (NFL), Philadelphia Stars (USFL) and the Kansas City Chiefs (NFL.) Peterson stepped on every rung of the football ladder, working as an assistant coach, head coach, administrative assistant, scout, personnel director, general manager, president, chiefs executive officer and owner in his time in the game.

Carl Daniel Peterson was born on May 26, 1943, in the Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

He was the third of four sons born to Louise and Eric Peterson.

His father worked heavy construction jobs throughout the Midwest, helping to build various military sites in the throes of World War II.

When Carl was not yet four years old, the family moved to Long Beach, California, where Eric began a construction business with his brother-in-law.

Carl attended Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, participating in football and baseball for the Wilson Bruins.

It was there that the first steps on his future were written with the help of football coach Skip Rowland.

Peterson played end, doing more blocking than catching, and also kicked extra points in a straight-on style.

He was part of the graduating class of 1961 at Wilson and went on to earn three degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA): a bachelor's degree in 1966, a master's degree in 1967, and a doctorate in 1970.

His football playing career ended during a practice at UCLA (where he was a walk-on participant), when he suffered three torn knee ligaments.

His coaching career began soon afterwards, at his alma mater, where he helped Rowland with the varsity and coached the junior-varsity team.

He moved on to Loyola High School in Los Angeles, where he coached the offensive line for head coach Mario DiMuro, and also taught classes in math, geometry, trigonometry and health sciences.

In 1969, he applied for and was hired at a new college - California State Sonoma—now known as Sonoma State University—in the Santa Rosa/Rohnert Park, California area.

It was one of 18 California state universities.

He was hired as the head baseball coach and an assistant under head football coach Lloyd Helgeson.

Sonoma State competed the junior varsity level in 1969.

Peterson succeeded Helgeson as head coach in 1970 when Sonoma State moved up to varsity status, competing at the NCAA College Division level.

He led Sonoma State to a record of 6–12–1 in two seasons, 1970 and 1971, before the school disbanded its football program in 1972.

Peterson left Sonoma State in February 1973 to become an assistant football coach at UCLA under head coach Pepper Rodgers.

When Dick Vermeil took over as head coach of the UCLA Bruins in 1974, he retained Peterson on his coaching staff that eventually led UCLA to a Rose Bowl upset over head coach Woody Hayes' No. 1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on January 1, 1976.

Peterson's impressive track record as a talent evaluator began during his days with the Philadelphia Eagles (1976–82.) New Eagles head coach Dick Vermeil took him along from UCLA, where in 1976, Peterson served as tight ends coach, special teams coach and administrative assistant.

It was his ability to handle those myriad duties that led Vermeil to promote Peterson to a position in charge of player personnel with the Eagles in February 1977.

With Peterson finding talent (despite a dearth of draft choices that had been traded away by previous Philadelphia administrations) and Vermeil's coaching, they lead the Eagles to four consecutive playoff seasons and Super Bowl XV.

When the Eagles finally re-gained selections in the first round, they grabbed in 1979 LB Jerry Robinson (184 games played), in 1980 CB Roynell Young (117 games) and in 1982 WR Mike Quick (101 games).

All three of those players went on to Pro Bowl recognition.

In the spring of 1982, Peterson was contacted by the owners of a new team in Philadelphia scheduled to play in the United States Football League.

After conversations with partners Myles Tannenbaum, Harold Schaeffer and Arthur Powell, he was convinced to join the new venture.

In July 1982, Peterson was hired as president, general manager and part owner of the franchise that would eventually be named the Philadelphia Stars.

When Peterson began his new job, the team did not have offices, other employees, a practice field or training facilities.

He did however, have a head coach, as he was hired along with George Perles, then the defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Peterson began the process of finding everything from offices, to players, to assistant coaches, to paper clips and a coffee-maker.

The birth of the Stars was marred when Perles left in December 1982 to take the head coaching job at his alma mater, Michigan State University.

He is best known for his 20 years (1989-2008) as president, general manager, and chief executive officer of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL).

Since leaving the Chiefs, Peterson has worked in number of related football-areas, serving as Chairman of USA Football, the national governing body for the sport on the amateur level.

He's also served on a number of consulting committees for the NFL league office in New York and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

He was also a consultant for FanVision, an in-stadium fan technology device that served numerous NFL teams and Division I universities.

It was owned by Miami Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross.

Peterson is also a principal and partner with Dick Vermeil Wines, located in Calistoga, California, with his former head coach.

Peterson was among the finalist for consideration in the contributor category for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2023.