(Photo: The Riot Report)
I have a defensive background and I take pride in that. As a defender, you have one goal and that’s the prevent the offense from moving the ball down the field on you. Believe it or not, only one defensive player has won the league MVP and that’s Lawrence Taylor who’s arguably considered the best defensive player in the sport. I’ve said this many times over the years, but I’ve been blessed to watch many of greats over time and many of them built their legends and all have gold jackets. These last few years, I’ve seen Ray, Ed Reed, Champ Bailey, Troy Polamalu and DeMarcus Ware to name a few get that knock to the hall. There’s another name we can add to the list now. Julius Peppers is who I’m talking about. As expected, he was labeled a first-ballot Hall of Famer the second he retired. He can now add the gold jacket to his wardrobe. He’ll be the recipient of one this Summer. Now, he’s about to become the 377th member to join “football heaven”
Julius is one of the most imposing defensive players I’ve ever had the privilege to watch. This was the guy you created on Madden when you watched him play. Standing tall at 6’7, he used his length to his full advantage and also gave Offensive Tackles all the problems in the world. You could refer to him as a physical freak and I don’t think he would take offense to that because that’s exactly what he was. There was nothing this man couldn’t do on the football field. Stuffed the lanes and stopped the run? Check! Rushed the passer? no problem at all! Made tackles in the open field? Sure could and one of Julius’ best attributes in his arsenal was getting those arms up batting footballs down at the line of scrimmage. He was a naturally gifted athlete that used his abilities to get after the Quarterback and intercept passes. What always amazed me about watching this man was he weighed about 295 pounds and had the quickness of a Running Back out of the backfield. Julius had that explosive first step which allowed him to win a majority of his one-on-ones in the trenches. His motor was always revved up and ready to go. It’s safe to say Julius made many Offensive Coordinators and even Head Coaches stay up all night attempting to gameplan for him because that’s how dominant he was. In pass coverage, he was just as impactful as he was with his hand in the dirt. For a man of his size, he had the footwork of a Safety. That’s how smooth Julius was. When it came to rushing the passer, Julius didn’t always have to necessarily bring the Quarterback down. He could close in and help collapse the pocket which made a Quarterback hesitate and when it came to forcing fumbles, nobody did it quite like Julius. I’ve seen him sack Quarterbacks from Tom Brady to Cam Newton and even Michael Vick and we all know how quick Mike was during his Atlanta days. Even as he got older, he was still making plays. Pass rushers never lose it.
What a career Julius had. The Carolina Panthers drafted him with the second overall pick in 2002. The year prior to that, Carolina finished with a 1-15 record. After drafting Julius, the Panthers were in the Super Bowl two years later in 2003. What an athlete he was. Outside of football, Julius also played basketball and was a star for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Panthers before signing with the Chicago Bears in 2010 and played with them until 2013. Then, he signed a free-agent contract with the Green Bay Packers and spent three years with them before returning to Carolina and spending the final two seasons of his careers. He retired in 2019. The resume speaks for itself. He won the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2002, a nine-time Pro Bowler, a four-time first team All-Pro selection and three-time All Pro selection. Julius forced 52 fumbles in his career, recorded 11 interceptions and has 159.5 career sacks which ranks him fourth on the all-time sacks list behind Kevin Greene, Reggie White and Bruce Smith who is the all-time leader with 200 sacks. Well done Julius. Very done.
