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The Tuscaloosa News
Why Kalen DeBoer, Alabama football took chance on Weber State tight end Peter Knudson
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- Why Kalen DeBoer, Alabama football took chance on Weber State tight end Peter Knudson
Weber State football tight end Peter Knudson had scholarship offers to play elsewhere, offers he read to his former high school coach in Idaho Lee Leslie.
But once Knudson got to Alabama football , Leslie stopped him.
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"'The second you said Alabama , you need to be done,'" Leslie told Knudson. "'Your decision's made. I mean, this is an opportunity of a lifetime.'"
It's the opportunity Knudson couldn't say no to, committing to the Crimson Tide as a walk-on for his final season of collegiate eligibility, and joining Alabama's tight ends room for 2025.
"When Alabama's on the other end of the phone, it's hard to take anything but that," Knudson said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Growing up, whether you liked them or not, you knew about them."
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What Peter Knudson brings as Alabama football tight end
Tight end wasn't Knudson's first position, even though it's the one Leslie would have kept him at.
Knudson joined Weber State as a quarterback, a former Idaho High School Player of the Year for McCall-Donnelly who you wouldn't think is fast, Leslie said, until "nobody could catch him."
But Weber State needed a linebacker, a position Knudson gladly moved to. The Wildcats then needed a tight end the day before fall camp in 2022, a position Knudson gladly moved to.
"It was just what the team needed me to do," he said.
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Knudson learned the tight end position from older players in the room. He saw the physicality he needed to have and the knowledge he needed to have in understanding the entire offense around him.
Knudson then became the player that caught Alabama's attention as soon as he went into the portal, one who was physical at the line of scrimmage, who was "willing to go put my head on someone for the sake of the team and trying to win," who could be a run blocker, a pass blocker and a pass catcher.
At Weber State in 2024, Knudson, standing at 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, had six catches for 63 yards and a touchdown.
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Why Peter Knudson picked Alabama football
While Alabama may have not been a scholarship opportunity, Knudson saw his best chance to get on the field with the departure of both CJ Dippre and Robbie Ouzts as graduating seniors, and Ty Lockwood to the transfer portal.
"It just seemed like it's the best one I'll ever have at Alabama, especially being a walk-on," Knudson said. "It seems like I'll be able to go into the room and compete my hardest for a spot just like everyone else will do. And, hopefully, it all pans out perfectly."
Leslie has seen this story before. He's seen what Knudson's future could look like.
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But Leslie didn't sugarcoat things for his former quarterback. Leslie told Knudson playing for Alabama would be one of the hardest things he would do. But it's one Knudson would be grateful for.
"Go have a great time and learn what you can learn and be a part of something amazing," Leslie said.
Coming from a 2,000-person Idaho town, having played 2A high school football, Alabama was not the stage Knudson felt he would play on.
But as he looked at his graduate school application with plans to move to Tuscaloosa in the next week ahead of spring practice, Knudson said he knows how to approach the stage he's about to take.
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It's what Knudson's always done.
"I just need to be willing to put my nose to the grindstone and do whatever the team needs me to do, and do what I need to do to be able to succeed there," Knudson said.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why Alabama football took chance on Weber State tight end Peter Knudson
