Peterson enters senior season after seven years

Jake Peterson is the Van Wilder of Penn football — except for one huge difference.

While Van Wilder spent seven years at fictional Coolidge College in order to get more acquainted with new crops of “student bodies,” Peterson enters his senior year seven years after starting because of injuries and two years spent on a Mormon mission in Miami.

The senior linebacker — now a whopping 24 years of age — has gained a panoramic perspective on Red and Blue football in general, watching the team evolve through his extended tenure.

Peterson arrived at Penn in 2004, and sees a very different team dynamic now than he has witnessed in the past.

The current Quakers are quick to look out for each other, keeping their teammates’ success in mind as they drive them to excel.

“We all push each other, starting in the weight room,” the native of Gardnerville, Nev., said. “We’ll get on each other.”

This contrasts to other Penn teams of the new millennium, which Peterson contends were not nearly as cohesive nor as focused on team goals.

“With this team, I’ve noticed a very close, familial feeling,” he said. “It’s very special. We’ve become more than a team.”

Peterson is quick to emphasize how this community sentiment starts first and foremost with coach Al Bagnoli and his staff.

“[The family feeling] is a whole team thing, from the coaches on down,” Peterson said. “[The coaches have] always got our back.”

A more congenial atmosphere, Peterson said, leads to a happier team, more effective training and ultimately, greater success on the gridiron.

In addition to being conducive to team success, this others-first mentality was something that Peterson made frequent use of while working with a very different type of team while in Florida.

Missionary experience has been similarly helpful for fellow Mormon and sophomore running back Jeff Jack.

Jack spent two years on the African island of Madagascar before matriculating at Penn. As a freshman last year, Jack was 22 years old.

“I do think there are some definite advantages,” Jack said of missionary work. “You come back a little bit more mature.”

But unlike fine wines and soccer moms, football players generally get worse with age.

Youthful explosiveness fades as muscles become less and less taut, and speed tends to decline.

But Peterson has proven this theory as wrong as his flowing golden locks are long, winning the overall ‘Iron Quaker’ award — given to the strongest weight lifter on the team — two out of the three years he has competed.

Age has proven more of a benefit than a detriment for Peterson and Jack.

And the Red and Blue are hoping that it will in turn help the team on its own mission — to win a second consecutive Ivy League title.

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