# Peter Dyakowski

Peter Stefan Dyakowski (born April 19, 1984) is a Canadian former professional football offensive lineman, who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 2007 to 2016 and the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2017. Dyakowski has also served as Treasurer of the Canadian Football League Players' Association (CFLPA).

## Early years

Dyakowski did not start playing football until he entered Grade 10 at Vancouver College. 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.
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 contract with the New Orleans Saints shortly thereafter. Nevertheless he was subsequently released.

### Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Dyakowski was drafted by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the second round of the 2006 CFL Draft. In 2011 Dyakowski was the Tiger-Cats' nominee for the CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award. 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 later that same day.

### Saskatchewan Roughriders

On May 27, 2017, the Argonauts traded Dyakowski to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in exchange for wide receiver Armanti Edwards. 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 candidate for the riding of Hamilton Mountain in the 2019 Canadian federal election. 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 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 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! 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

vte2019 Canadian federal election: Hamilton Mountain :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Scott Duvall | 19,135 | 36.1 | +0.21 | $49,075.51 |
| | Liberal | Bruno Uggenti | 16,057 | 30.3 | -3.22 | $69,313.38 |
| | Conservative | Peter Dyakowski | 13,443 | 25.5 | -0.20 | $95,613.48 |
| | Green | Dave Urquhart | 3,115 | 5.9 | +3.31 | none listed |
| | People's | Trevor Lee | 760 | 1.44 | - | $668.87 |
| | Christian Heritage | Jim Enos | 330 | 0.6 | -0.24 | none listed |
| | Rhinoceros | Richard Plett | 109 | 0.2 | - | none listed |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 52,949 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 489 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,438 | 66.0 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 80,992 |
| | New Democratic hold | New Democratic hold | Swing | Swing | +1.72 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||