Ravens Rookie DT Shares Story Behind Popular Nickname

Peebles' father named him after Hall of Fame safety Aeneas Williams and in his first media availability since getting drafted at the Ravens rookie minicamp on Sunday, he shared the backstory behind the nickname that is growing more and more popular among the fan base on social media.

"Well, I got the nickname 'Fub' when I was a little kid, so I rarely hear my government name nowadays," Peebles said. "But, when I was a baby, I was fat and chubby, so they always called me 'Fubby' growing up, and now that I got older it got shorted to 'Fub,' so I ran with it."

Peebles comes from a football family through and through as his grandfather, Doug Wilkerson, played 15 years in the NFL and was a three-time Pro Bowler with the then-San Diego Chargers. His father William Peebles was an All American defensive lineman at Appalachian State and played in the Arena League and named his younger brother after former Pro Bowl wide receiver Braylon Edwards.

"I've always been in a big football family, so seeing one of the legends named Aeneas Williams, it was just something that my parents just thought was amazing," Peebles said. "We have a whole big football family, and I hope to keep that tradition going on."

To make it farther than his father did in the sport and with a chance to live up to and perhaps someday even eclipse his grandfather's legacy is an opportunity Peebles doesn't take for granted. Even though he has yet to play in his first preseason game, he already feels like his childhood dreams have come true.

"It's everything I dreamed of," Peebles said. "It really takes me back to when I was a young kid playing in the backyard, envisioning all those fourth-and-longs, and third-and 15's, 'for the win' [plays]. Just being here and being in this amazing football environment and this culture of winning, it just takes me back to when I was a child, so I'm loving it."

When the former ACC standout who starred at both Duke and Virginia Tech walked into the Ravens locker room and saw an NFL jersey with his name on the back of it, he was nearly overcome with emotion.

"It almost brought tears to my eyes, and I'm not just saying that," Peebles said. "It just reminds me of my childhood, the thing I dreamed of my whole life, and it just coming to fruition. And I told my parents that this is just the beginning, and my job to them, and the standard I have to uphold is this is going to be the last time they see. So that's just what I try to go through every day."

Despite being one of the most consistently disruptive and polished interior pass rushers in the FBS the past few years, concerns about Peebles' size, or rather lack thereof at 6 feet and 289 pounds cause him to fall all the way to the bottom of the second-to-last round. While he is still grateful to have been drafted altogether, he plans on using that slight as motivation to prove that the other 31 teams made a mistake in not taking him when they had multiple chances.

"That's the same chip [on my shoulder] that I've had my whole life," Peebles said. "Whether that had to do with the NFL Draft, or whether that had to do with just how I came up in high school, I just feel like I've always had that chip on my shoulder, and it's helped to get me here. So, I just continue to let that fuel me."