He played college football at Michigan State University and was selected in the first round (seventh overall) of the 1957 NFL draft.
In the same year, Peaks was voted Most Valuable Player, and was named an All-Valley guard.
The 1956 Rose Bowl (played on January 2, 1956) was between MSU and the University of California at Los Angeles Bruins (UCLA).
[13][14] The Philadelphia Eagles selected Peaks, 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) and 218 pounds (98 kg), in the first round of the 1957 NFL draft (7th overall).
[3] Before the 1964 season, the Eagles traded Peaks and Bob Harrison to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Bill “Red” Mack and Glenn Glass.
[18] After his playing career, Peaks worked for General Electric [citation needed]and was a sportscaster.
[citation needed] In 1969, he became the radio color commentator for Eagles games on WIP,[19] and a television analyst for ABC.
[2] Peaks was inducted into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.
[20] He was inducted into the Greater Flint African American Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.