Peter Stefan Dyakowski (born April 19, 1984) is a retired

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

, who was most recently a member of the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded i ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

(CFL). He played for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

from 2007 to 2016. Dyakowski has also served as Treasurer of the

Canadian Football League Players' Association The Canadian Football League Players' Association (or CFLPA) represents Canadian football players in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The association was established in 1965, when local lawyer John Agro became concerned by the number of Hamilton ...

(CFLPA).

Early years

Dyakowski did not start playing football until he entered Grade 10 at

Vancouver College Vancouver College (abbreviated informally to VC) is an independent university-preparatory Catholic school for boys located in the Shaughnessy neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1922, it is the only independent Catho ...

. After high school, he signed a national letter of intent to play for Louisiana State Tigers and signed a football scholarship for the

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. In his early years at LSU he was nicknamed "The Mullet" because of his hair style, and captured a national title in 2004. In 2003 and 2004 he was a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. Then, as a senior at LSU he received the Southeastern Conference Community Service Team Player of the Week Award and was LSU's nominee for the 2006 Southeastern Conference Football Good Works Team. He was named to ESPN.com's All Bowl Team and played in the Inta Juice North-South All Star Game following his senior season at LSU.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

He was not picked by any team in the 2007 NFL draft, but signed a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

contract with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

shortly thereafter. Nevertheless he was subsequently released.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Dyakowski was drafted by the

in the second round of the

2006 CFL Draft The 2006 CFL Draft took place on Thursday, April 20, 2006. 50 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities Universities in Canada are established and operate under provincial and territorial government charters, ...

. In 2011 Dyakowski was the Tiger-Cats' nominee for the

CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award The Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award is annually awarded to the best offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Leo Dandurand Trophy winner from the East Division, and the DeMarco-Becket Memo ...

. In 2012, he was named a CFL Eastern Division All Star and was also named to the CFLPA All-Star Team. In 2013, he was again voted to the CFLPA All-Star Team. On February 16, 2017, the Tiger Cats released Dyakowski. Dyakowski played 10 seasons for the Tiger-Cats, playing in 148 regular season games.

Toronto Argonauts

After being released by the Tiger-Cats Dyakowski signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

later that same day.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On May 27, 2017, the Argonauts traded Dyakowski to the

in exchange for wide receiver

Armanti Edwards Armanti Fredrico Edwards Sr. (born March 8, 1988) is an American gridiron football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He most recently played for the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the Carol ...

. He played in all 18 regular season games, as well as the Riders' playoff games of the 2017 season. Dyakowski was released by the Riders on April 24, 2018.

Politics

In February 2019, Dyakowski was selected to run as the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

candidate for the riding of

Hamilton Mountain Hamilton is located on the western end of the Niagara Peninsula and wraps around the westernmost part of the Lake Ontario. Most of the city including the downtown section lies along the south shore. Situated in the geographic centre of the Golde ...

in the

2019 Canadian federal election The 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. Members of the House of Commons were elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. In keeping with the maximum four-year term under a 2007 amendment to the ''Canada Elections Act'', t ...

. Dyakowski vowed to fight for workers rights and to promote the economic revitalization of Canada.

Other activities

In 2012, he was named

Canada's Smartest Person ''Canada's Smartest Person'' is a Canadian reality television competition series. Contestants compete in a series of different challenges based on American psychologist Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences to earn the title of "Canada ...

by the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governme ...

. He defeated spoken word artist Greg Frankson and journalism student Laura Suen, both from Toronto, and science teacher Marshall Carroll from Winnipeg. Dyakowski appeared on an episode of ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given ge ...

'' broadcast on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, finishing in third place. Dyakowski attended the same elementary school as Canadian performer and playwright Katherine Cullen, and is the subject of the song "Peter Dyakowski Won" in ''Stupidhead!'', Cullen's autobiographical comedic musical about growing up with dyslexia.

Electoral record

References

External links

Saskatchewan Roughriders bioHamilton Tiger-Cats bio2006 LSU TigersLSU Tigers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyakowski, Peter 1984 births Living people Hamilton Tiger-Cats players LSU Tigers football players Canadian football people from Vancouver Contestants on American game shows Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Toronto Argonauts players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Players of Canadian football from British Columbia American football offensive linemen Canadian football offensive linemen Canadian sportsperson-politicians Players of American football from British Columbia Vancouver College alumni