Reaping What He Sowed
Cavs' Peerman Learned Work Ethic on Father's Farm

By Adam Kilgore
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 19, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Sept. 18 -- There is a patch of land in Gladys, Va., that was once a tobacco farm, before all the nearby markets shut down, before Samuel Peerman had his stroke six years ago and then, last summer, died. Only grass grows there now.

Cedric Peerman, Samuel's grandson, grew up on that farm in Gladys. He rode tractors when he was 8 and harvested tobacco through high school. The farm is fallow now, but its lessons remain with Peerman.

"If it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't be here," Peerman said. "It disciplined me."

Peerman has come a long way from Gladys, a rural town in southern Virginia with a population of roughly 4,100. After waiting for three years, Peerman has asserted himself as Virginia's featured running back while providing an identity to an offense that desperately needed one. Against North Carolina last Saturday, Peerman rushed 30 times for 186 yards, becoming the Atlantic Coast Conference's leading rusher at 113.7 yards per game.

"He really just decided, 'I'm going to take control of this offense,' " defensive end Chris Long said. "He's really just brought a new level of energy. After a big run, he looks at the sideline and just energizes guys."

Peerman, a junior, had never carried the ball 30 times before, not even in high school. Still, when he woke up on Sunday, he said, "I could have played that day if I had to."

Of course he could have. There was always work to do growing up for Peerman, and football never changed that. His family harvested tobacco during the fall, in the middle of the football season. Peerman would play his games at William Campbell High, starting on offense and defense for four seasons, on Friday nights. Then he would wake up Saturday at dawn and load 150-pound tobacco sacks onto a Ford pickup truck.

From his childhood, Peerman always wanted to help lift the sacks, because that's what the adults did. "I always wanted to do jobs that were bigger," Peerman said. So he would grab on the 150-pound bag and yank as hard as he could.

The muscle he packed on then shows today on his 5-foot-10, 208-pound frame, in his bulging shoulders and his punishing running style. He finished most of his runs Saturday with his legs churning and several North Carolina tacklers clinging to his body.

Peerman expected to do this from the moment he arrived here. He is one of only two scholarship players (tight end John Phillips is the other) at Virginia who played high school football in Class A, the smallest classification in Virginia. That never mattered to Peerman.

"I felt like I had enough ability to be able to play and actually do well," Peerman said. "I've always had that confidence in myself."

But Peerman had to watch as a procession of running backs, from Wali Lundy to Jason Snelling, received their turn. During his freshman and sophomore years, he returned kickoffs and averaged 26.5 yards. He carried the ball at running back 116 times in his first two seasons.

He ran track in the offseason while biding his time, and he continues to do so. (A track star at William Campbell, he once ran the 100 meters in 10.6 seconds.) He admitted he became frustrated at times, but he never vented. Back on the farm, Peerman marveled at how the plants could start an inch above the soil and grow to be taller than six feet. All you needed was time.

"I knew I needed to be patient, and I knew that my time would come soon enough," Peerman said.

Now that it has, Peerman has quickly become a team leader. He surprises Virginia Coach Al Groh at times with how mature and interesting his questions and comments are. He chooses his daily wardrobe with care, never putting on clothes without purpose.

"There's no nonsense about Cedric in anything that he does," Groh said. "There's a plan in everything he does."

He rarely speaks at practice or during games. But he stood before the team at halftime in North Carolina, the Cavaliers leading 16-7, and screamed, "This isn't good enough!"

"When Cedric talks, people listen," Virginia center Jordy Lipsey said.

During offseasons, Peerman returns to Gladys. He's becoming more well known at Virginia, his No. 37 jerseys popping up at Scott Stadium on game days more and more. That doesn't matter in Gladys, on the farm, which is how Peerman wants it.

"One of the things I love about being home, everyone treats me like I'm a normal person," Peerman said. "That's the way it should be. I'm a regular person. I'm just like everybody else, and I don't feel like I should be treated any differently."