The tales of Julius Peppers: From hooping at UNC to knocking them down in Charlotte
In the hours after Julius Peppers’ retirement announcement Friday, there were many fitting tributes about the Panthers defensive end’s Hall-of-Fame body of work.
The 17 seasons, the 266 games, the nine Pro Bowl appearances, the six All-Pro selections and, especially, the 159.5 sacks, which rank fourth all-time.
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I’ve always been fascinated by the start of Peppers’ career, in part because I wasn’t in Charlotte to cover it. Of course, I remember watching Peppers attack rims and quarterbacks as a two-sport stud at North Carolina.
But he had left for Chicago just before I joined the Panthers beat in 2010, and the stories of his athletic feats and derring-do had an apocryphal ring to them.
And then I saw him play in person.
Granted, it was Jimmy Clausen. But Peppers’ interception of a pass by the Panthers’ overmatched rookie quarterback in Peppers’ 2010 homecoming game encapsulated everything I’d heard about him. The 6-7 Peppers easily shed tackle Geoff Schwartz’s cut block, jumped to bat Clausen’s pass high into the air, then laid out from his knees to snag the ball before it hit the ground.
Ridiculous.
Peppers then ran away from the pile, put his left index finger to his facemask and shushed the crowd of 73,464, half of which seemed to be cheering him while the rest booed him.
It was both the best and worst script that could have been written, depending on your point of view.
It was also my favorite Peppers moment. But over the course of nearly two decades in the NFL — not to mention his years at UNC, Southern Nash High School in eastern North Carolina and on the AAU basketball circuit — Peppers created hundreds of moments for teammates, opponents, coaches and fans.
These are just a small sampling of them.
Julius Frazier Peppers was born on Jan. 18, 1980, in Wilson, N.C., named for his father’s two favorite basketball players — Julius Erving and Walt Frazier.
Given his name and his size, it was a given that Peppers would play basketball. And he did — at a high level.
Pitt assistant basketball coach Jason Capel, who played with Peppers at UNC, said Peppers stood out on a basketball court, even when surrounded by some of the country’s best players.
Capel: I had heard of him by the time I got to eighth grade. Ninth grade we moved from North Carolina to Virginia, my dad got the job at Old Dominion. But in playing in AAU, I kept hearing about this kid from North Carolina, who was bigger than everybody. Played football, super athlete, played basketball as well — and could jump out of the gym. The first time I actually saw him. It’s funny. We were playing in an AAU tournament in Orlando. And I played for Boo Williams out of Virginia. Ronald Curry and I were teammates. He went to Carolina, played football as well. The team we played, they were called the Carolina Warriors. They had Brendan Haywood, Kris Lang, Craig Dawson, Antwan Scott, Ervin Murray — guys that went to Wake. And then that’s when I saw this guy that was 6-6, probably at the time around 260 and he was everything I had heard he was. He was bigger, faster and he was super athletic. He was just a super athlete. He was a guy that could run and jump at that size. You just hadn’t seen anybody that size, with probably zero body fat on him, that could do the stuff athletically he could do.
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After redshirting as a freshman at UNC in 1998, Peppers played both sports the following year. As a reserve forward, he averaged 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds for a Tar Heels team that advanced to the Final Four.
He averaged 7.1 points and 4.0 rebounds and started three games in 2000-01, before concentrating on football his final year in Chapel Hill.
Capel: He was my suitemate in the dorm. … Our freshman year, Pep didn’t play. I think they were trying to make him play JV. But at the time, the JV was wearing the uniforms that coach Phil Ford played in. They were really small, tight, and Pep just wasn’t about that. So sophomore year, Ed Cota and myself told coach (Bill Guthridge), ‘Hey, man, we need this kid. He can help us. He can really, really help us.’ And he was a contributor his first year playing college basketball as a sophomore on a Final Four team. He changed the dynamic (with) how he played. You have this all-conference defensive end now on the basketball court and we could trap everything. With him in a trap, you weren’t getting around him. He could run you down. He could close the trap. He could go in a crowd and get a rebound. He just brought such an intimidation to the court.
Julius Peppers (UNC Athletic Communications)And then the following year, I remember the first game he started. Kris Lang was hurt, we were playing at home vs. Maryland. We were the No. 1 team in the country, Maryland was somewhere in the top 15 (13th). And that’s his first start. You would think a guy playing against a front line of Terence Morris and Lonny Baxter and really good players, he goes out and has 19 and 10 and posterizes Lonny Baxter two or three times in the game. He and Ronald Curry — you talk about a team No. 1 in the country starting two football players. Guys that just got to the team in January. They were just superb athletes. Pep was maybe the best athlete I’ve ever been around. People talk about his athletic ability, but he was so smart as well. To be a guy that can come and play both sports at such a high level.
The Panthers and every other NFL team were aware of Peppers’ athleticism before the 2002 draft. Carolina had gone 1-15 in 2001 with Chris Weinke at quarterback and had the second overall pick behind the expansion Texans.
While media members were imploring the Panthers to draft a quarterback, general manager Marty Hurney and first-year coach John Fox thought Peppers’ skill set was too unique to pass on. But some Panthers scouts and personnel officials — including area scout Ryan Cowden, now the Titans’ VP of player personnel — questioned whether Peppers had a passion for the game.
Fox: It was weird because everybody was questioning — which by everybody I’m talking about the personnel people — does his motor run all the time? Is he aggressive? Really, the thing that stuck out to me is he was one sack away from the school’s sack record. And the guy that held that, and he did it in four years, not three, was Lawrence Taylor.
Cowden: It wasn’t always a slam dunk. One of the things you had to gauge was how much he loved the football part. It’s a crazy thing to think about 17 years (later) and the fourth all-time sacks leader, going, ‘Wait? You’re saying that he didn’t really love ball?’ It’s a silly question at this point. (But) it was legit.
Former Panthers LB Dan Morgan: Coming out, I think people were worried about his motor. And obviously, that wasn’t a problem. It’s just funny to see some of the things you worry about front office-wise that sometimes are the farthest thing from the truth.
After Peppers chose not to work out at the combine, the Panthers sent a contingent of coaches and scouts to Chapel Hill for his pro day. Fox and others worried Houston might take Peppers with the No. 1 pick. But two and a half weeks before the draft, the Texans announced they were drafting Fresno State quarterback David Carr.
Former Panthers WR Steve Smith, now an NFL Network analyst, said last week that Fox preferred Texas cornerback Quentin Jammer (who went fifth to the Chargers), and it was Panthers owner Jerry Richardson who essentially picked Peppers. Fox said Monday that was not the case.
Hurney had several pre-draft meetings with Peppers, and Panthers scouts watched tape of his basketball games, in addition to breaking down his football film.
Fox: There was an inside, close-up of a rebound and a jam that actually I saw from a basketball clip. Nobody questioned his athleticism. Nobody questioned that. There was another (UNC) defensive lineman there, (Ryan) Sims, that came out. I think he was the (sixth) pick by Kansas City. And a lot of the talking heads said, ‘Oh, yeah, he’s better than Peppers.’ Because we got killed when we took him. They thought we should take (Oregon quarterback) Joey Harrington because David Carr was picked first. Everybody thought we should have gone after a quarterback. Kind of a little bit like New York this year when they took Saquon (Barkley). It was at least that bad, maybe worse.
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Cowden: There was a dunk rebound he got — ricochet off the rim and he catches it. And he did almost like a throat-slash type gesture coming back down the court. And I was like, ‘Whoa, OK. There’s something in there now. This guy’s got a passion.’
Cowden: It was something we talked about. There we times (we asked), ‘Did he strain?’ Then I look back and I go, ‘Well, I don’t know if he didn’t strain. I think it was just so easy, like, this is pretty easy for him to do.’ It’s technical, but he would get cut a lot. Like, why can’t this guy play a cut block? I feel like it was the Wake Forest game his junior year and you’re like, ‘Man, this guy gets cut all the time.’ And then all of a sudden, he jumps up, tips a pass, intercepts it, runs it back.
Fox: In drafting, I always wanted there to be a blue-chip quality. That’s why you take guys high. Otherwise, you take guys later — if they’re shorter or they’re not as fast or if they have a hole. First of all, you want a football player, and I knew the guy was a football player. He played three years there, never had a spring ball. Went right into basketball. I think they made it to the Final Four his (first) year in basketball. He wasn’t just some kid that was an eighth man at a small school. I’m talking about big-boy basketball.
Cowden: There was a private meeting. This was Marty. I’ve got to remember if Foxy was with him. But they drove up and kind of met somewhere in the middle. And it was one of those sitdowns outside of OK, you’re coming in our building, OK, we’re at your campus. This is like, we’re on neutral turf here. Who is this guy? Because he doesn’t have a lot of words to say.
Fox: There was never any doubt we were taking Pep. My only fear — and I said this post-draft and I think I said this to Mr. Richardson — my exact quote was, ‘My only fear is that Houston will take Pep because Pep’s the best player in the draft.’
Fox: Did I like Quentin Jammer? Yeah, I liked multiple guys when we took Von Miller (No. 2 overall in 2011 in Denver). But there was no doubt Von Miller was the guy. Same thing with Pep. … I did like Quentin Jammer. He played a long time. But the best pass defense in the world is a pass rush.
Julius Peppers (Craig Jones / Allsport)Peppers joined a strong Panthers front four that included defensive end Mike Rucker and defensive tackles Kris Jenkins and Brentson Buckner. But Peppers brought juice to the pass rush, recording 12 sacks in 12 games in 2002 and winning the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
In his first NFL game, Peppers tipped a Chris Redman pass that Morgan intercepted to preserve a 10-7 win against Baltimore.
Fox: He started Day 1. We weren’t worried about hurting feelings. It was like, look, we’re lining him up and fortunately, we had Mike Rucker. And then inside we had Kris and Brentson Buckner was the brains of the operation. He could make all the calls and communicate.
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Rucker: I remember we just went 1-15, so you know that things are gonna change. We had the quarterback situation. But we had an opportunity to get a guy that would be a difference-maker. All I remember is the comparison to Lawrence Taylor. It was just funny because the first time I met him, being around other guys in the league, there was nothing like him. When you would just physically see him — his size, his length, his speed, his tape — right then you’re like, ‘OK, this guy, he’s a game-changer.’
Former Panthers play-by-play announcer Bill Rosinski: Rodney Peete was quarterbacking that game. They opened up against the Ravens at home. It was 10-7. There was nothing going on through the whole game. The Panthers were winning. And the Ravens had the ball with less than a couple minutes to go, and they’re driving. I remember whoever was quarterbacking the Ravens threw a pass and Peppers tipped it and Dan Morgan picked it off. Morgan came to the near sideline with the ball and they finally tackled him. And I’ll never forget (as) Peppers was coming off, that’s when I said, ‘Here’s your last two No. 1 picks making the play to seal this game.’ And then I look down on the field and (defensive coordinator Jack) Del Rio’s got these guys in a bear hug, celebrating on the sideline. And I think it was a moment that set the stage for probably what happened the next season going to the Super Bowl and all that, the way those guys played.
Morgan: That kind of started our upward trend towards the 2003 Super Bowl. Kind of little by little, we started making some big plays and coming together as a defense. And obviously, Pep was a huge reason for that once we drafted him.
The Panthers finished 7-9 in 2002 in Fox’s first season. The following offseason they signed free-agent quarterback Jake Delhomme to compete with Peete and drafted Utah offensive tackle Jordan Gross with the No. 8 pick.
Gross would become an 11-year starter and three-time Pro Bowler — thanks in part to lining up against Peppers every day in practice.
Gross: The very first pass play of my NFL career, trying to block someone live, is against Julius Peppers. It was a dropback. And I remember he came — I was thinking he’s quick, he’s fast, he jukes, be ready for anything — and he came with a 23-year-old Julius Peppers’ bull rush and knocked me flat on to my back. Not even my ass, (but my) back. He just sent me flying. I’d never felt anything like that. Like how quickly he got on me with how much power. He was the No. 2 pick the year before. I was the No. 8 pick. The whole team erupted. And I couldn’t do anything. I got up and I remember (thinking), I can’t block this. This is impossible. And as Pep would do, he didn’t say a word. He went back (to the defensive side). It really was the perfect introduction to what the job would be to block him and others in the NFL.
Ex-Panthers guard Kevin Donnalley: Probably the first 1-on-1 rep Jordan Gross ever took and Peppers just deposited him right on his backside. I’m the right guard, he’s gonna be the right tackle. He’s gonna play next to me the whole year. I’m supposed to mentor him and bring him along, and that’s the first rep I see? And I’m watching it and I’m like, ‘Oh, Lord. We’ve got a lot of work to do.’ But Pep was just that good.
Gross: Whenever I did block him 1-on-1 completely, I had so much pride in myself. Especially when we were both young — and he’s always been good. But he was so gifted and worked so hard in practice. He never went easy on me. But if he had me in a vulnerable position where he could have dumped me over after that, he never did.
Donnalley: Gross really became a great tackle because of all the reps he would take in practice against Peppers.
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Gross: I’ve said it before, but I had to get so good technically to even be able to stay in front of him. I owe him a ton for my ability to play for a little while because it was so hard going against him. We’ve talked more since he came back to the Panthers than I ever did in seven years going against him. He was so damn quiet. It was an odd relationship. But I just think the world of the guy, just a good guy and a great player.
With his combination of strength and agility, Peppers did things on the football field his teammates hadn’t seen — and did them effortlessly. His exploits — in practices and games — became the stuff of legend.
Peppers became the only player in NFL history with at least 150 sacks and 10 or more interceptions. One of those INTs came in 2004 at Denver, when Peppers picked off a Jake Plummer pass and returned it 97 yards.
Rucker: I can’t remember what game it was. And I tell this one all the time because this is something that you’ve just never seen before. They tried to slide the protection and tried to use a running back to cut Pep. And the running back did a great job of cutting him. He goes down low, he cuts Pep. We probably watched this play 1,000 times. So Pep gets cut. He’s in midair, and he does a somersault. He literally does a 360, somersault in the air. He lands on his feet and takes off. It was the most unbelievable play that I’ve ever seen anybody do in all the years of playing football. … To everybody else, that play — we would have been broken up, we would have pulled something, you would have had to put us back together like Legos. But he’s just so nimble.
Morgan: You’ll spend all morning warming up and getting ready for practice. And this is a guy that never had to warm up. He literally just runs out to practice, doesn’t even have his jersey on. And then his pads, he’s putting everything together. And then he’s out there and he’s just flying around. The guy never had to warm up, ever. And I was sitting there and I’ve got to warm up, I’ve gotta do like an hour of warming up before practice. And this dude just runs out, he doesn’t even have his shoulder pads strapped. And he freaking picks a pass off and runs it back for a touchdown. He’s just a freak of nature. He literally was effortless in everything he did.
Rucker: Barely ever has missed any games. Barely ever hurt. Durable. And that play right there when he was cut, we sat there just like, wow. And typical Pep, everybody’s trying to have a conversation and he’s just sitting, he’s got this little bitty laugh and he’s just smiling in typical Pep fashion.
Donnalley: He was mostly an outside rusher. But in certain packages in John Fox’s defense, they would drop him down to the three-technique. So he’s lined up dead-head, right over me (at right guard). I had a chance, I would block him pretty well in practice and all that. I remember thinking to myself he was an incredible athlete, it feels like if he wanted to, he could just whip my butt anytime he wants to. But I remember thinking, he’s so much better in space. Like, why would you move him down inside?
Cowden (on Peppers’ play before the interception return at Denver): Plummer was the quarterback. There was an unbelievable effort play (by Peppers). I think it was on a bootleg. The guy’s probably playing at the time (in the) 290s. It was a boot play he chased, and kept Plummer short of the (end zone). It forced the next play, which ends up being the 97-yard return he had. And it’s like, man, I just watched the guy run 50-some yards the play before at a full sprint to force a skill player out of bounds and not score. You thought the guy’d score and he makes an unbelievable range play at his size. Then he turns around the next play, 97 yards and almost scores on a return. That’s what got the headlines. But the play before I thought was equally special.
One of Peppers’ 159.5 sacks in the NFL — this time he caught Aaron Rodgers. (Bob Donnan / USA Today)Peppers is the only player ever to appear in both a Final Four and a Super Bowl. Capel, Peppers’ UNC teammate, is convinced Peppers could have succeeded in any sport he chose. In fact, Capel says Charlotte’s NBA team discussed having Peppers come in for a workout early in his NFL career.
Capel: My father (Jeff) was an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats when Pep was playing, when he started out with the Panthers the first time around. That’s in the early stages (of) the Bobcats, expansion team, and really just getting started. They had conversations about bringing Pep in, and I’m not just saying that. They had conversations as an organization about bringing Pep in. Look, I think if he played basketball full-time, he would’ve been a pro. Whatever sport that he played, he could have done it at a very, very, very high level. You’re talking about a guy that wouldn’t pick up a basketball until January. And then come in and be not just a rotation player, to be a sixth man, to be a starter on a team that was ranked No. 1 in the country. Playing in the ACC, the toughest conference in the country. Call me crazy, whatever. But before there was a Zion Williamson, there was a Julius Peppers. That’s just the way I look at it.
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When I would come home from overseas, we would go to (Bobcats) games, we’d sit in the front row. And I said, ‘Look, man, they’re serious. They want to bring you in and work you out.’ But I think at the time with what he was doing in football and what he was accomplishing on the field. He didn’t play (basketball) at all our senior year. He just turned his attention to football and training, being the best he could be at that. But he’s a legend in Charlotte playing at the YMCA, I will say that. He did pick up the ball in the summer, he still played some ball.
For a player as accomplished as Peppers, he managed to keep a relatively low profile. For all the sacks, records and various achievements, several of Peppers’ peers agree that his quiet humility was among his greatest attributes.
Former N.C. State and NFL wideout Jerricho Cotchery: I played against him in college. Whenever I crossed paths with him, he was just such a down-to-earth guy. Everybody knew him as Julius Peppers. You say Julius Peppers’ name, everybody knew him. He was a superstar. Even in college, playing football and basketball, he was the guy. But every time I crossed paths with him, I just always remembered him being a down-to-earth guy. Him being from eastern North Carolina, and everybody that crossed paths with him always said the same thing. So, I think that will always be my lasting memory of him. He was just so down-to-earth. I think a lot of guys can learn from him and the way he approached his career, approached his game. Just constantly went out and dominated each and every year, and just humble about going about it.
Gross: I always felt like he was so comfortable in his own ability that he wasn’t the kind of guy that would ever try to embarrass you. I could get beat clean and he would run clearly away from Delhomme, run by him. Everybody knew what had happened, but he wasn’t trying to disrupt practice, cause a scene.
Cowden: Maybe the most under-the-radar personality. Has he ever done an endorsement, a marketing campaign? Is there one ever attached to the guy? He shows up in the Nelly video (2002’s “Hot in Herre”) and that was about it. And that was how many years ago? While so many others seek the spotlight, here’s one of the most talented players in this generation that wanted to avoid it as much as possible.
Capel: A man of few words, and I’m someone that was around him a lot. Didn’t talk a lot, didn’t say a lot. But when he did speak, you listened. Because you knew if he had something to say, it was important. … He’s a guy that probably could have had so many endorsements and made a ton of money. But he just wanted to hoop. He just wanted to play football, be with his family and be about his business. He never wanted a lot of attention. His God-given ability brought the attention to him. But he’s a guy that just wanted to do the things — the gifts he was blessed (with), he wanted to put them on display and be about his family. That’s something I always respected about him.
Morgan: The best part about him is he’s so quiet and unassuming that it made you love him even more. Because he’s such a good dude. He never tooted his own horn or tried to get the attention.
Capel: It’s time to hang ’em up. What a great career. It’s cool that he ended it his way. Coming back home to Charlotte and ending it the way it was supposed to be ended.
(Top photo of Julius Peppers: Bob Donnan / USA Today)
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