INDIANAPOLIS -- The time had finally come for Marcus Peters to offer his mea culpa for his dismissal from Washington's football program, and he did just that when facing the media for the first time in months Saturday at the NFL Scouting Combine.
"I learned from my mistakes," Peters said. "I made some immature decisions at the University of Washington. It hurt me, truly. I go into interviews and accept full responsibility for what has happened. I take full ownership of it."
Some see Peters as the top cornerback available in the 2015 NFL Draft, but off-the-field concerns might be taken a number of ways by NFL clubs and keep him out of the first round despite how thin the position is this year. Peteres' interviews in Indianapolis will probably be as important as his testing results for most front offices, and it sounded as though he was being up front with teams about moving on from the incident.
Peters denied that he choked a coach during practice, among other things, but declined to go into specifics regarding the incident. Peters gave a generic answer when pressed for specifics surrounding his departure from the Huskies in the middle of last season.
"Everyone wants to know about my character, am I a hothead, which is false," Peters said when asked what teams want to find out in his interviews. "I made some immature decisions, and I learned from it, and I'll grow as a man."
One other thing teams might look to discuss with Peters is his relationship with Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch. The two have reportedly been quite close as Oakland natives who made their home in Seattle the past few years.
"That is somebody that has mentored me my whole life. I look up to him a lot. He's a great Oakland citizen," Peters said. "I've known him my whole life. I watched him playing Pop Warner football, I watched him in high school, and I watched him in college."
Soon, it will be Peters' turn to watch Lynch from across the sidelines in the NFL and maybe even have a shot at tackling him.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
