Francis Peay

Francis G. Peay (May 23, 1944 – September 21, 2013) was an American football offensive tackle and head coach. William N. Wallace of the New York Times once described him as "an intelligent beautifully constructed athlete". He was named to the 1961 All-City (Pittsburgh) League team at guard. Schenley did not win any football games during his freshman and sophomore years, but in his senior year it only lost one game. As a high school player, Peay idolized New York Giants' Hall of Fame offensive tackle Rosey Brown (who retired the year before Peay joined the Giants).

Among other notable people who attended Schenley before it closed are National Football League (NFL) running back Larry Brown, artist Andy Warhol, Nobel Prize winner Clifford Shull, musician George Benson, Harvard's first black tenured professor Derrick Bell, National Basketball Association star Maurice Lucas, and professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino.

College Peay received an athletic scholarship to the University of Arizona, but then transferred to Cameron State Agricultural College (now Cameron University) in Lawton, Oklahoma, playing college football (1963-64) as an offensive right tackle at 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 230 pounds (104.3 kg). While at Cameron, his team had an 8–2 record and averaged just over 230 rushing yards per game, mostly running the ball behind Peay as a blocker.

Professional football Peay was selected in the first round of the 1966 NFL draft by the New York Giants (10th overall). The Kansas City Chiefs selected him in the second round of the 1966 American Football League draft (15th overall). Recently retired Giant Rosey Brown befriended Peay during the college all-star camp, and had Peay to his home. He played two seasons for the Giants (1966-67), starting eight games as a rookie at right tackle, but fracturing a bone in his foot during the second half of his rookie season. He only started two games in 1967, playing behind Charlie Harper at offensive tackle. He had a knee injury in training camp and chronic foot issues that delayed his development. He had never been injured before in high school or college.

Before the start of the 1968 season, the Giants traded Peay to the Green Bay Packers for linebacker Tommy Crutcher and offensive lineman Steve Wright. He started only one game in 1968, but was the Packers starting left offensive tackle from 1969-71.

Coaching career When his playing career ended, Peay became an assistant coach at the University of Notre Dame for two years, under his former Missouri coach Dan Devine, beginning as coach of the freshman team in 1976. He then coached the defensive line and outside linebackers at the University of California for three years. He was succeeded at Northwestern in 1992 by Gary Barnett.

Honors In 1990 he was named to Missouri's All-Century team, and in 1991, Peay was inducted into the University of Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2017, he was inducted into the Cameron Athletics Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record