Hamilton Tiger-Cats offensive lineman Peter Dyakowski. (file photo)JOHN E. SOKOLOWSKI
Hamilton offensive lineman Peter Dyakowski has already been crowned "Canada's Smartest Person." And now the 6-foot-5 325-pounder with a Mensa IQ has earned an invitation to appear on Jeopardy!
But the thing he really wants to win is Sunday's Grey Cup.
"Once I get that under my belt, then I'm going to put myself through a good trivia boot camp," the 29-year-old Dyakowski said.
But the big man with a big brain says lots of time the knowledge is already there. It's just finding it.
"Think about how much you've got stuck away in your head over the years," he asked. "Jeopardy!, for the most part, doesn't pull questions from left field. It seems like when I watch, if you don't get it right, you slap yourself on the forehead when you hear the answer. 'Oh, I knew that, I should have gotten that.'
"So it's all about pulling that tidbit of knowledge out of the back of your brain, blurting it out and knowing that it's in there somewhere and clicking the buzzer in time and getting the answer.
"It's not so much about knowing everything in the world. It's about quick recollection."
Dyakowski won CBC's Canada's Smartest Person show in March, 2012. Contestants went head-to-head in six categories of intelligence: musical, physical, social, logical, visual and linguistic.
So is Dyakowski, a seven-year CFL veteran who attended LSU on a football scholarship, really Canada's smartest person?
"He doesn't act that smart," Ticat linebacker Frederic Plesius said with a laugh. "In the bus, he likes to scream, make some noises to piss everybody off on purpose.
"But he's a cool guy. He's a leader, he's a good guy and he's an example for the team."
Paul Osbaldiston, Hamilton assistant special teams and kicking coach, also playfully wonders about how Dyakowski keeps getting smart-show invites.
"We don't see that, but somehow he keeps getting on there. Pete's a fun guy, he's a very good football player, he's a great character and you know what, he certainly lightens up the situations for us when we need to."
Fellow lineman Marwan Hage, a close friend, says Dyakowski's smarts are for real.
"I call Peter on a lot of advice, financial advice," he said. "Once you get through the fun part with Peter and he gets serious, when you catch him one-on-one, he's the smartest guy. Every other week I call him for some stock advice and this and that. He knows everything about everything."
Plus, Hage says his friend is a "flat-out excellent" football player.