EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Spurned draft choice Christian Peter had to undergo psychological and alcoholabuse counseling and met other rigid standards before the New York Giants decided to give him a second chance at becoming an NFL player.
The Giants acknowledged Friday that they plan to sign Peter before the season ends, but added that the former Nebraska defensive tackle with a sexual assault record will continue his rehabilitation rather than play this year.
The move, reported in the Friday editions of The Star-Ledger of Newark, was somewhat surprising since the Giants, have long been viewed as one of the NFL's family-value organizations, although they have had a few misfits.
"There's two words that come to mind when we discuss: this issue, sensitivity and compassion," Giants general manager George Young said Friday. "We 're aware,of the sensititity of the issue and all the problems. We certainly don't disregard any of that. We're very sensitive to it.
That's why, when we decided to do this, we set down a set of criteria that had to be met."
Peter, of Middletown, N.J., was released by New England in late April, just days after he was drafted. The Patriots claimed to be unaware of his sexual assault record when they picked him in the fifth round of the NFL draft, and set him free-after determining that his behavior was not "acceptable conduct."
Since meeting with Giants officials in May, Peter has been immersed in a comprehensive rehabilitation program led by Joel Goldberg, a Union Township, N.J., psychologist who does work for the Giants, The Star-Ledger reported.
Peter has a counseling session with Goldberg once a week and also meets weekly with a certified substance-abuse counselor.
Peter reportedly also is attending Fairleigh Dickerson University, where he is working toward a degree in hotel and restaurant management.
"A long time ago, before I came into the league, I learned young people who really want something, if you make the demands necessary and if they want it enough, they'll live up to the demands," Young said. "The whole idea is that he's accepted that. He had a chance to not do that and go another way, and he never blinked on it.... He's taken responsibility for his life." Giants co-owner Wellington Mara acknowledges the team might come under fire for signing Peter, but he intends to stand behind the move.
"We decided he'd have to have a year of satisfactory rehabilitation," Mara said. "He's not all the way up the mountain, but we have every reason to believe he'll continue."
A starter on two national championship teams at Nebraska, Peter is an outstanding talent who may help the Giants.
However, Ralph Cindrich, Peter's agent, insisted the Giants weren't looking to upgrade the team in signing his client.
"I'm absolutely convinced that with the Giants, this was not football motivated," Cindrich said in a telephone interview from his office in Pittsburgh. "This has more to do_ with giving someone a second chance and helping him. If it were the other way, they would have done something earlier like several other clubs."
Cindrich refused to Identify the other clubs, but he said several tried to sign Peter in recent months. Peter refused while undergoing treatment. Peter was at work and not immediately available for comment, a man who answered the telephone at his parents' home said.
"I've learned a lot about myself," Peter told The Star-Ledger. "I have had to come to terms with the fact that I'm an alcoholic. That really came as a shock to me. The only times I've ever been in trouble is when I was drunk."
Cindrich said Peter's contract has not been finalized.
"It would be fair to say the Giants, after a lot of consideration and a lot of negotiations on Christian Peter, have elected to give him an opportunity," Cindrich said.
The Star-Ledger said that Peter will continue to meet regularly with his substance abuse counselor as part of any agreement.
Peter, who went to high school at Middletown South, has been living with his parents in Middletown since June, the newspaper said. He has admitted to a drinking problem that has triggered problems with women and the law.
In August, he was sentenced to 10 days in jail and ordered to pay $300 fine for disturbing the peace - the only charge prosecutors in Nebraska said they could prove after a 21-year-old woman complained that Peter had grabbed her by the neck."