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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Sherborn resident Kyle Peck is following a similar, yet at the same time complete opposite path taken by his older brother, Connor. The standout BB&N offensive lineman chose to attend Bentley University on Wednesday on national signing day, surrounded by his family.
Unlike Connor, who captained the Falcons this past season and served as a four-year starter, Kyle took a very different road to Waltham. Football wasn’t even really apart of Kyle Peck’s upbringing like it was with his brother.
“I only played one year of Pop Warner when I was in the first grade,” said Peck. “Due to the weight limits teams had, I was playing with kids a year or two older than me. I was pretty good at soccer goalie at the time, so I did that instead up until the eighth grade when I transferred out of Dover-Sherborn. My second year of football was as a freshman at Catholic Memorial and I got to play with my brother Connor. And that’s when I really found my love for the sport.”
After his freshman year at CM, Peck transferred to Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (BB&N) and did a repeat year, therefore making him eligible for four years of varsity football with the Knights. It was at BB&N where Peck was coached by Mike Willey and offensive line coach Tim Fledderjohn, both graduates of Dover-Sherborn Regional High School. Peck served as a four-year varsity player for BB&N from 2013-present, three of which were as the team’s center. Along with football, Peck also served on BB&N’s lacrosse team as the starting goalie and was voted captain as a junior last spring.
Being captain at BB&N for two sports and being recognized as one of the top offensive lineman to come out of Massachusetts this year put Kyle on the radar of Bentley head football coach Bill Kavanaugh.
Watching Connor Peck, who served as CM’s left guard and twice earned second-team All-State honors as well as Catholic Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year following his senior season, had a massive impact on Kyle’s mentality when it comes to competing athletically. Kyle says that Connor has always been one of his greatest motivations in life, and the single year that the two brothers spent together at CM allowed Kyle to start taking football more seriously.
“The biggest inspiration in my life has been my older brother, Connor,” said Peck. “Playing a year of high school football with him at CM enabled me to see his work ethic which led him to a lot of success, and I’ve definitely based my life off of that.”
As far as filling the void left behind by the older Peck, as Connor gets set to graduate from Bentley this May, Kyle says he’s up for the challenge, but he also understands that he has his own narrative to write during his tenure as a Bentley Falcon.
“Connor definitely left some big shoes to fill, being a four-year starter and senior captain,” said Peck. “But, the great thing is that I’m not Connor. Everyone’s journey is different and everyone paves their own path. So, I plan on just doing me and maybe then we’ll compare careers after I graduate.”
The family and coaching (Bill Samko, former BB&N coach now at Bentley) connections Peck has were obviously major deciding factors in Kyle’s decision to sign with Bentley. However, Peck also says that he liked the culture inside the Bentley football program, and that the opportunities the program gives to its players to prove themselves worthy of a starting job no matter their size or age was a huge reason why he chose to follow in Connor’s footsteps.
“One of the things I really liked the most about Bentley throughout my recruiting process was that they play the best 22 players, no matter what year you are,” said Peck. “So, if you’re ready to play then they’ll put you out there. The opportunity to fight for a position as well as receiving a great education will definitely be awesome.”
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0, or read his blog at www.flannylive.wordpress.com.
