Petaluman Perez has eyes on bigger prize

Petaluman Jack Perez wants to take his football career a big step forward.|

Petaluma High School graduate Jack Perez already has proven that a player from a small community can not only play with the big boys of college football, but also excel. Now he wants to take his career a big step forward.

Perez completed his career at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, with a helmet full of honors and accolades, including selection to two All-American teams. Now, the 22-year-old wants to keep his athletic momentum going by playing professional football in either the National Football League or Canadian Football League.

He knows it is a long shot, but he says he owes it to himself to try, and has plans to attend both NFL and CFL combines.

Perez says he is both optimistic and realistic about his chances of playing at the next level.

“I’m optimistic because I know what I can do,” he said. “If you’re going to bet on someone, why not put $100 on yourself? Someone is going to make it, why not me?”

He is realistic because, “I know the numbers. I’ll be the only guy representing D3 schools at the combine.”

Perez’s brother, James, and another Petaluma High grad, Andrew Ross, played professional football in Finland, but Jack doesn’t want to go that route.

“I want to play at the highest level I can,” he said.

A dedicated college career for Perez came to an exciting conclusion this fall in his senior year. Bouncing back from a year missed because of a freak injury, the linebacker was named first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association and second-team All-American by D3football.com. He is the first player from Pacific University ever to be recognized as a First Team All-American and the first to earn multiple All-American honors.

He also was first-team D3football.com, All-West Region, first-team All-Northwest Conference and the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Perez’s college career had a learning beginning as he played mostly on special teams as a freshman.

“It was a bit humbling,” he said. “You come from high school where you were all-league and a team leader, and then you discover that everyone was like that.”

He also played mostly special teams as a sophomore, but began to get more playing time at linebacker when the player in front of him on the depth chart got hurt. The starter returned to the lineup, but Perez continued to share playing time. In Perez’s junior year, he helped Pacific to a share of the Northwest Conference championship, just five years after football had been reinstated after being dropped for budgetary reasons.

The season was bittersweet for Perez. In the last game of his junior year, an opponent broke a bone in his eye socket. He tried to come back, but in the second game of spring ball, he fractured his hand in two places. The decision was made to red-shirt him to protect his final season of eligibility.

“That was tough,” he admitted. “My mom talked to me about looking at the big picture and staying positive. She told me, ‘God has a plan for you,’?” he said.

As it turned out, had Perez played as a four-year senior, he would have been competing with a friend for playing time. With Perez sitting out a year, his friend had his chance and the following year, the Petaluman came back faster, stronger and prepared for an exceptional season.

“Everything happens for a reason,” he observed.

The injuries aside, Perez’s Oregon experience has been one to remember.

“It’s a small college town, but the football team has a ton of support from the community,” he said. “It is crazy to see how quickly the fan base grew once we started winning. My five years here have been the five best years of my life.”

Perez has majored in sociology with the intent of someday going into the criminal justice field. That is if he doesn’t continue playing or go into coaching. He has already been offered a position on the Pacific football coaching staff.

He says his educational and football experiences have shown that much can be accomplished no matter what your background or where you come from.

“It doesn’t matter if you come from a small town, if you want to play on the next level, you can make it,” he maintained. “You can be the guy from your school that makes it at the next level.

“You have to believe in yourself and concentrate on controlling the things you can control,” Perez added.

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