Domata Peko Sr.

BIOGRAPHY

Domata Uluaifaasau Peko Sr was born on November 27, 1984, in Los Angeles, California. He is a free agent defensive tackle in the NFL. 

Peko was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Pago Pago, American Samoa. He played college football at Michigan State and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Peko started his college football at College of the Canyons before transferring to Michigan State University. He wore number 96 for the Spartans who were coached by John L. Smith at the time. As a senior, he made 53 tackles. One of the most memorable moments of his career was against archrival Michigan when he returned a Chad Henne fumble for a touchdown in front of a roaring crowd at Spartan Stadium. He was a sociology major.

Peko attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and completed all of the combine drills and positional drills. On March 18, 2006, he participated at Michigan State's pro day but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only ran positional drills. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Peko was projected to be a fifth or sixth round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the 19th best defensive tackle prospect in the draft by Scouts Inc. and was also ranked the 21st best defensive tackle prospect by DraftScout.com.

The Cincinnati Bengals selected Peko in the fourth round (123rd overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft. Peko was the seventh defensive tackle drafted in 2006. On July 28, 2006, the Cincinnati Bengals signed Peko to a four-year, $2.02 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $407,000. Peko entered training camp slated as a backup defensive tackle. Head coach Marvin Lewis named Peko a backup defensive tackle to start the regular season in 2006, behind Sam Adams and John Thornton. On January 15, 2014, the Cincinnati Bengals promoted linebackers coach Paul Guenther to defensive coordinator after Mike Zimmer accepted the head coaching position with the Minnesota Vikings.

On March 26, 2014, the Cincinnati Bengals signed Peko to a two-year, $9 million contract extension that includes $4.40 million guaranteed. Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther retained Peko as the starting nose tackle. He started alongside Wallace Gilberry and Carlos Dunlap in 2014. On October 4, 2015, Peko made two solo tackles and made a career-high two sacks on Chiefs' quarterback Alex Smith during a 36–21 win against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4. The following week, he collected a season-high four combined tackles in the Bengals' 27–24 win against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5. 

He started all 16 games at nose tackle in 2015 and recorded 35 combined tackles (17 solo), a career-high five sacks, and a pass deflection. The Bengals finished atop the AFC North with a 12–4 record in 2015 but were eliminated from the playoffs after losing 18–16 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wildcard Game. On March 11, 2017, the Denver Broncos signed Peko to a two-year, $7.50 million contract with $3.80 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1 million.

Head coach Vance Joseph named Peko the starting nose tackle to begin the regular season, alongside defensive ends Jared Crick and Derek Wolfe. On October 15, 2017, Peko collected a season-high seven combined tackles in the Broncos' 23-10 loss against the New York Giants in Week 6. On November 26, 2017, Peko made six combined tackles before exiting in the fourth quarter of the Broncos' 21-14 loss at the Oakland Raiders due to a sprained MCL. His injury sidelined him for the next two games (Weeks 13-14) and ended his streak of 123 consecutive starts. He started in 14 games in 2017 and recorded 38 combined tackles (24 solo) and a sack.
 
On November 12, 2019, Peko was signed by the Baltimore Ravens.

On November 23, 2020, Peko signed with the Arizona Cardinals.