KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters stood at this locker Friday afternoon holding a bottle of Napa Valley wine he just unwrapped, a holiday gift from an unknown well-wisher.
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters returns an interception during the team’s 30-13 win over the Los Angeles Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 16, 2017. (Photo courtesy Chiefs PR, Chiefs.com)
“I need to thank you for whoever sent me this,” Peters said. “I don’t know, I’m about to figure it out.”
Does Peters like wine?
“I like cognac,” Peters said, suddenly diverting his attention the crowd of reporters gathered around him. “How are you all doing? I’m sorry. I’m just (messing) with you all. My fault.”
This marked Peters’ first time talking to the media since his one-game suspension following a series of incidents against the New York Jets three weeks ago. Peters disputed a call on the field late in the game. He picked up the official’s yellow penalty flag and hurled it into the stands. He walked off the field, and after the game reportedly engaged a member of the coaching staff on the team bus.
He made a dramatic return to the field last Saturday night against the Los Angeles Chargers. He intercepted two Philip Rivers’ passes en route to earning AFC defensive player of the week honors.
“What game? Football?” Peters said when asked about the performance. “It’s the same football game I play every week.”
The conversation quickly turned to the suspension handed down by head coach Andy Reid.
“Damn, I got suspended for throwing a flag,” Peters said about his reaction to the suspension. “Shouldn’t have did that (stuff).”
Peters said Reid explained his suspension to him.
“You can’t throw a flag,” he said. “You throw a flag, what’s going to happen to you. They’re going to suspend you, right?”
A reporter asked Peters what it was like in the moment when he threw the flag into the stands?
“I don’t know, what is it like when you do some (stuff) you ain’t supposed to be doing?” he asked.
The questioner replied that his mind probably wasn’t there.
“It was there because you was thinking about doing it so you chose to do it,” Peters replied. “I chose to do it so I chose to do it so I got to choose to deal with the consequences.”
After a brief line of questioning about the suspension, Peters wanted to change the subject to Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.
“Yeah, I thought I was ejected,” Peters said. “But you’re all talking about some (stuff) that happened three weeks ago. I know if we win this game on Sunday we win the AFC West, so how about we talk about that.”
When the question turned to Sunday’s home finale against the Miami Dolphins, Peters called it the same game, with a minor difference for the fans.
“I hope they come out, we give them a nice Christmas Eve and then they can go home and put the cookies and milk for Santa out with the kids and do all that,” Peters said about the team’s fans.
The next question to Peters inquired about Dolphins’ quarterback Jay Cutler.
“Good quarterback,” Peters said. “I played against him my rookie year. He threw a game-winning tug on our (butt). Appreciate you all.”
And with that, Peters turned back to discovering who sent him that bottle of wine.
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Matt Derrick is the lead beat writer for ChiefsDigest.com. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @MattDerrick.
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