FIU backup quarterback coping with family tragedy while adjusting to Miami
EOW are the three most tragic letters tattooed on the left triceps of FIU backup quarterback Chayden Peery.
The initials stand for “End of Watch.” Chayden’s uncle, Deputy Andrew Peery, was shot and killed in the line of duty on August 7, 2022.
He was just 39.
Peery had responded to a call of a domestic dispute in Colorado’s El Paso County. As soon as Peery arrived, he was ambushed by the ex-husband, who shot him multiple times with an AR-15. He also killed his ex-wife and then himself.
Chayden Peery, a native of the Los Angeles area, was just 19 years old at the time.
“I’ve always been raised to have integrity and a strong moral code,” Chayden Peery said, “and my uncle was the epitome of that. I looked up to him.
“He was always fun-loving and full of energy. When he would visit, we would wrestle, and I would try to find my way out. My mom would be chirping at my uncle, ‘Don’t hurt my baby boy!’”
Peery, who spent one year at Georgia Tech but did not get on the field, transferred to FIU in May of 2023. In June of ‘24, Peery was talking with FIU tight end Rocky Beers when they made a startling discovery.
Beers was shocked when he saw the aforementioned tattoo, which is a replica of Officer Peery’s police badge. It includes his badge number (16120), and it reads:
“IN MEMORY OF DEPUTY ANDREW PEERY, EOW AUG. 7, 2022.”
As it turns out, Beers’ father is also a Colorado police officer. In fact, that officer, Lakewood (Colorado) Sergeant Ike Beers, was the color guard at Andrew Peery’s funeral. In fact, he watched over Deputy Peery’s casket.
“Deputy Peery was beloved in his community,” Sergeant Beers said. “I remember his funeral, and what hit me the hardest was that he had a family (wife Meghan, son Matthew, 18; and daughter Amy, 13).
“It’s devastating.”
Beers said he tells his recruits at the. police academy that Job One is to return home safely at the end of every shift.
“Unfortunately,” Beers said, “some of our brothers and sisters don’t get to go home.”
FOCUS ON FOOTBALL
Chayden Peery’s football journey is interesting.
As a junior at California’s Sierra Canyon High in 2019, Peery was incredible, passing for 3,401 and 18 touchdowns with just one interception.
But when COVID struck in March of 2020, Peery graduated early and enrolled at Georgia Tech.
However, Yellow Jackets coach Geoff Collins was fired after a 1-3 start in 2022, and that led to Peery transferring to a junior college, College of the Canyons.
At FIU, Peery – who is listed at 6-1 and 222 pounds -- is a longshot to ever become the team’s QB1.
The starting quarterback, Keyone Jenkins, is just a sophomore. Second-stringer Amari Jones has two more years of eligibility beyond this season, which is the same situation as Jenkins and Peery.
FIU’s other scholarship backups are Haden Carlson, who is playing his fifth and (likely) last season of college football; and Clayton Dees, a first-year freshman.
Peery, who said FIU has “one of the closest QB rooms you can find,” doesn’t plan on transferring – no matter how bad the depth chart looks in terms of his prospective playing time.
For one thing, Peery loves the diversity of Miami. After all, his mother, Gabriela, was born in Nicaragua. Peery’s father, Mark, is White with some Native American roots.
A Communications major set to earn his Bachelor’s degree in December, Peery has embraced the 305.
“I don’t see myself living in California,” said Peery, who has. 3.6 grade-point average. “I want to live in Miami. I love the rich Hispanic culture.
“In California, I had to drive 90 minutes to get authentic Nicaraguan food. Here, I’ve got Madrono a couple of minutes away from campus.
“My girlfriend (FIU softball player Grace Helbling) is a ‘gringa’ from Pennsylvania, and she loves the food here even more than me.
“I can’t leave Miami. I feel too much at home.”
REMEMBERING DEPUTY PEERY
But no matter where Peery lives, he will always carry the memory of his fallen uncle.
Andrew Peery wasn’t just a cop. He was also a war hero.
Mark Peery, Chayden’s father, said his brother Andrew was a sniper/paratrooper in the U.S. Army. Andrew participated in the Iraq War (2003-2011).
In fact, Andrew earned a Gold Star for his service in Iraq, and he got a medical discharge in 2013 after serving 12 years.
He then graduated from the police academy in August of 2014 in Bakersfield, California.
“Andrew and his battalion went into Iraq, and they were the first American soldiers to parachute into a war zone since Vietnam,” Mark Peery said.
“But he never bragged. It wasn’t until his funeral that I learned about so many of the things he did.”
Mark said his brother was also a semi-professional mountain-bike rider.
After Andrew’s death, Mark said he suffered from night terrors and depression for about 18 months.
Slowly, the family is starting to heal -- to the extent that it’s possible -- and it’s certainly gratifying to know how much community support Andrew Peery received.
Thousands attended his funeral, including police officers from all over the country as well as members of the military and others.
As part of the ceremony, there was a 21-gun salute and a ringing of the bell for final watch.
“At his funeral procession (from New Life Church in Colorado Springs to the sheriff’s office 23 miles away), the freeway was shut down on one side. His face was on billboards, and people were lined up on the center dividers in order to pay homage.
“Firemen were lined up at every overpass. So many people wanted to pay tribute to what he sacrificed for his community.”