Washington Denies Report That Marcus Peters Choked an Assistant Coach

The Washington Huskies dismissed talented cornerback Marcus Peters from the team in November after multiple reported run-ins with the coaching staff, according to The Seattle Times' Adam Jude. The Huskies have denied a report that Peters was dismissed after chocking an assistant coach.

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Washington Coaches Deny Report of Peters Choking Assistant Coach

Saturday, Dec. 20

Adam Jude of the Seattle Times has Huskies' defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski's take on the report:

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“It’s bull(expletive),” UW defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said Saturday.

“We had our issues with Marcus,” Kwiatkowski said, “but there was never any physical altercation. Not with this staff.”

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Jude also had a response from Washington defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake:

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“That obviously never, never happened,” he said. “I’ve been for, what, 11 months now and that has never happened. I was very surprised when I read it. My first thought was, ‘Boy, that must have happened before I was here,’ because that never happened to anyone here — to our staff, to me, to my assistant, not to anybody here. That did not happen in 2014, for sure.”

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Peters Reportedly Choked Washington Assistant Coach

Wednesday, Dec. 17

NFL.com insiders Daniel Jeremiah, Bucky Brooks, Charles Davis and Lance Zierlein published a treasure trove of inside information on Wednesday about some of the 2015 NFL draft's top prospects. One anecdote about Peters states that he choked a Washington assistant.

"The veteran scout said he witnessed one argument escalate into much more; Peters grabbed the assistant coach by the throat and started choking him, the scout reported," says the NFL.com report.

This corroborates a report from December 6 by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Bob McGinn, who shared a similar quote about an altercation Peters was allegedly part of.

"He tried to strangle a coach on the sidelines," said a scout. "Then they let him back on the team and he did it all over again. Try selling that to your head coach."

Peters, who reportedly declared for the draft on Tuesday, as noted by Yahoo Sports' Rand Getlin, was referred to in the NFL.com report by one NFC East scout as the top cover corner prospect in 14 years.

But a story such as Wednesday's account is insalubrious for Peters' already questionable public image, and it won't quiet the off-field concerns about him.

It will take some serious convincing on Peters' part to persuade an NFL franchise to draft him on Day 1, should the surfacing of his alleged physical altercation from multiple sources prove to be true. Falling in the draft may be the hard lesson Peters needs to learn.

Kyle Bonagura of ESPN.com (subscription required) notes how his colleague, draft expert Todd McShay, still has Peters chosen in the opening round in his first 2015 mock, though:

That Peters has so much raw ability and was still kicked off his college team is quite alarming, especially if he got violent with a coach, as has been reported. A stable, winning organization will be the environment Peters likely needs to thrive in the pros.

It's difficult to say how much Peters' stock will be harmed, though, because the NFL values cornerbacks as much as ever with how often teams pass in the modern era. Given Peters' skill set, he probably won't tumble past the second or third round unless he has another mishap away from the gridiron.