Making the secondary a recruiting priority, the University of Hawaii football team secured a commitment from one of the state’s top high school defensive backs.
“There were a lot of factors going into choosing Hawaii,” said Tiger Peterson, who will be a senior at Kamehameha this fall. “The main thing was playing in front of my family. They’ve always been there for me. I didn’t want it to stop. I wanted to continue playing in front of them.”
Peterson said he plans to graduate in December and enroll at UH in January. The timetable would enable Peterson to participate in the Rainbow Warriors’ offseason conditioning program and spring training ahead of his freshman season next year.
Peterson is following in the cleats of his father, Ronald Peterson, a standout safety at Waianae. The elder Peterson was named to the All-State first team in 1989 and 1990.
“Growing up, whenever we would go to parties, people would say, ‘Your dad was a beast in high school,’ ” Peterson said. “He was like the man at Waianae. ‘Oh, your dad could hit hard.’ ”
Peterson said his father’s legacy has served as motivation. “I had to make my own name,” said Peterson, who was not named after the famed golfer. His younger brother’s name is Bear.
Peterson said he studies videos of defensive back Tyrann “Honey Badger” Mathieu of the Houston Texans.
“When I was younger, I always made my dad take me to the Punahou games to watch Manti (Te’o),” Peterson recalled. “I was a big Manti fan back then.”
Peterson said he is 6 feet 1 and 195 pounds. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.60 seconds at the Nike Combine in Texas. At UH, Peterson projects to compete at rover, a hybrid safety/linebacker position.
“Hopefully, I get to rush and drop back in coverage,” Peterson said. “That would be sweet.”
He said he plans to take courses that will lead to a post-football career in business or criminal justice. One of his aspirations is to be a detective.
“I like the life after football, the connections, that UH has,” Peterson said. “After football, I plan on living in Hawaii.”
