Peyton Head

• Name	Peyton Head  [1]
  Gender	Male
  Origins
  Person ID	I4810	1665 GOUGH/GOFF (US-MD-STM/US-VA-LOU) I-Y6902-A
  Last Modified	20 Oct 2023

  
  

  Father	Kenneth Charles Head
  Mother	Michelle Lynn Mattingly,   b. Abt 1966   d. 11 Feb 2004, Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, USA (Age 38 years)
  Family ID	F2371	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Although it wasn't necessarily by design, Peyton Head was given the same uniform number (83) as his grandfather, Jerry Mattingly. "He plays the same position and wears the same number. It kind of gives me the chills," said Peyton's grandmother, Karen Mattingly-Brucken, Jerry's wife. "It just happened. I didn't know it." Head, a senior wide receiver who has 49 receptions for 608 yards, a 12.4 yards-per-catch average, will help lead Memorial's football team (2-7) against host Princeton (7-2) at 7 p.m. Friday in the first round of Class 3A Sectional 32. Asked to write a paper about his grandparents, Head researched his grandfather's legacy. His grandmother told Peyton that Jerry was Rex Mundi's Kiwanis Award winner in baseball, basketball and football. Jerry, who died at age 23 in an accident on an Interstate 64 construction project in Griffin, Indiana, in 1969, was one of Don's older brothers. His death came two weeks before he was to become Day School's athletic director, Karen said. Although Jerry died long before Peyton was born, Don - who wore No. 23 in his playing days with the New York Yankees - makes sure he feels like part of the family. "We usually try to go to dinner at the Log Inn before (Don) has to go to spring training," said Head, who has caught eight touchdown passes and has run for another score for the Tigers. "My grandma keeps me up to date. We go and visit him sometimes in California. It's cool knowing the (Los Angeles) Dodgers manager is my great uncle." Jerry led Rex Mundi's basketball team to the 1964 state tournament semifinals. He was a starting guard for two years on the University of Evansville basketball team, but was not a member of the 1965 College Division national championship team because freshmen were ineligible back then. Like his grandmother, Peyton has experienced more than his share of pain. His mother, Michelle, died of breast cancer in 2004. "I was young, but I remember the little things," Peyton said. "Nowadays everything I do I try to make her proud any way I can." His brother, Colton, a junior at Indiana University, was a member of Memorial's 4 x 800-meter relay team that advanced to the 2013 state track meet. His sister, Lauren, played softball and volleyball at Memorial and is currently a teacher at Glenwood Leadership Academy. "I try to live up to their expectations," Peyton said. "They were great students. They are always cracking down on me about my grades." Memorial coach John Hurley said Peyton is a low-maintenance type of player. "You don't have to worry about him putting work in or what he's doing off the field," Hurley said. "He's a hard-working, accountable kid." Kenny Head, Peyton's father, is a few years older than Hurley and a former Memorial football player. "At Memorial he was one of the guys I looked up to as a player," Hurley said. Watching Peyton since he was in the feeder league, Hurley has seen him grow and mature. "You could see coming up that he had some natural ability," Hurley said. "His improvement from last year to this year is strength and, overall, he has picked up some speed and quickness." Karen Mattingly-Brucken is upset that a proposed UE scholarship in Jerry's honor did not come to fruition. However, Peyton is certainly continuing the family's tradition of athletic excellence. "Peyton is a pretty quiet kid," Hurley said. "He's a social kid; he gets along with the guys. But you're not going to hear him talk about himself too much."

  
  

• Sources

  [S3446] Browning Geneology, Evansville, Indiana Area Obituary Search.