{"id":276758,"date":"2026-05-03T04:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T04:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/276758\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T04:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T04:24:15","slug":"cowboys-undrafted-rookie-shiyazh-pete-is-making-navajo-nation-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/276758\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys undrafted rookie Shiyazh Pete is making Navajo Nation history"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRISCO \u2014\u00a0Shiyazh Pete, standing significantly taller than the Cowboys<\/a> media corps surrounding him, chuckled when he was asked a question about his 6-8 stature and whether he was always the tallest kid around.<\/p>\n

“Uh, yeah,” he said humbly and softly. “I was quite the specimen.”<\/p>\n

It wasn’t hard for Pete to learn that truth. He said his father is 6-1; his mother stands at 5-5. He then pointed out that the average man from the Navajo Nation is roughly 5-6 \u2014 more than a foot shorter than he stands today. He said he would often get questions about his height and how the weather was for him, being so much taller.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“But I’m happy to represent,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pete, an undrafted free agent left tackle out of Kentucky<\/a>, isn’t the first player with a Native American background to make it to the NFL, but he is the first, specifically, from the Navajo Nation. He went to New Mexico State originally as a preferred walk-on and spent three seasons as a starter. There, he played with quarterback Diego\u00a0Pavia, running back Seth McGowan<\/a> and tight end Eli Stowers<\/a> \u2014 all of whom were in this year’s draft as well. He then transferred to Kentucky where he started all 12 games this past season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pete went undrafted but signed with the Cowboys quickly after. Even the rumored interest of him signing with the Cowboys was significant in the Navajo Nation, according to The Navajo Times.<\/a><\/p>\n

“For many, it is more than a potential opportunity,” a story about Pete’s journey to the NFL read<\/a>, adding that support for the Cowboys runs deep in the Nation. “It is a point of connection \u2013 one of their own potentially stepping into an organization that has long been part of conversations, living rooms and Sunday routines across the Nation.”<\/p>\n

Pete spent Friday and Saturday getting familiar with the Cowboys. He said there’s a “library of knowledge” in the building that he’s been trying to soak up. He added that it’s been surreal for him to be at this juncture, as well.<\/p>\n

“It’s a great honor,” he said. “To put on the star is surreal. But I have to earn that star. I wouldn’t say I’m an official Cowboy yet.”<\/p>\n

Contractually, Pete is a current member of the Cowboys. He spoke to reporters inside the team locker room after his second rookie minicamp practice. He also understands there’s a long road of work between being on the 90-man roster and making the team’s 53-man roster. Pete also had a long road when he entered New Mexico State as a preferred walk on. He eventually became a starter and an intriguing prospect in the transfer portal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pete has familiarity with this experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Being a preferred walk-on, you’re going to have to outwork a lot of people and eventually earn their respect,” Pete said.<\/p>\n

It’s his plan now that he’s in the NFL. But even getting to this point is respectable. For those in the Navajo Nation, it’s certainly admirable, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRISCO \u2014\u00a0Shiyazh Pete, standing significantly taller than the Cowboys media corps surrounding him, chuckled when he was asked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1638,102,104,103,93042,88229,89124],"class_list":["post-276758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-brief","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-tp-dallas-cowboys","tag-tp-nfl","tag-tp-nfl-draft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}