Julius Peppers

Julius Peppers

Career history
Carolina Panthers

Julius Frazier Peppers (born January 18, 1980 in Wilson, North Carolina) is a professional American football player. He currently plays defensive end for the Carolina Panthers. It is believed that he is the only person to ever play in both the NCAA men's basketball Final Four and the NFL's Super Bowl [1]. He is named after legendary NBA players Julius Erving and Walt Frazier.

Early Years

The youngest of three children, Peppers was born in Wilson, North Carolina, and raised in nearby Bailey. By the time he was a freshman at Southern Nash High School, Peppers had grown to 6' 5", 225 lbs. Basketball was his first love, and the sport became his number one passion. However, Ray Davis, Peppers' football coach at Southern Nash, felt that the hulking teenager would be an asset on the gridiron for the Firebirds, despite the fact that Peppers had never played football before. Davis' gamble would pay off: during his high school career, Peppers played running back and defensive lineman, and finished his career with 3501 rushing yards, and 46 touchdowns, and was one of the most dangerous defensive linemen in the state. He also lettered in basketball (he was voted All-Conference as a power forward four consecutive years. In 1998 Southern Nash won the state championship in track for the first time in the school's history. Peppers contributed, as a sprinter winning the state championship in the 4x200 meter team relay and as a triple jumper. His senior year (1997-98), he was named to the Parade All-America team in football as an all-purpose talent, and was also named Male Athlete of the Year by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. In 2005, Peppers was named by the Rocky Mount Telegram newspaper as one of the 50 Greatest Athletes from the Nash/Edgecombe (Twin County) area [2].

College career

Football

Peppers played defensive end at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he won the Chuck Bednarik Award for the nation's top defensive player and the Lombardi Award as the best collegiate lineman in 2001. In his three seasons at North Carolina, Peppers started 33 of the 34 games he played in, and is ranked second all-time in UNC history with 30.5 sacks. He accumulated 53 stops behind the line of scrimmage, 167 tackles, five interceptions, two fumble recoveries, five forced fumbles, 13 passes defensed and 42 quarterback pressures and returned two interceptions and one fumble recovery for touchdowns.

Basketball

Possessing an unusual amount of quickness and agility for a defensive lineman, Peppers also played basketball for the Tar Heels, providing valuable minutes to a team that reached the Final Four in 2000. During his sophomore season, Peppers started, averaging 7.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game and led the Tar Heels with a field goal percentage of .643. He made 63 of 98 shots from the floor and at least 60% of his shots from the floor in 16 of 25 games. He scored in double figures six times, including 21 against Penn State, 18 against Maryland, 14 against Wake Forest, 13 against Marquette, 12 vs. Princeton and 10 vs. NC State. He made his season debut at UCLA after just three days of practice and had six points.

NFL career

In the 2002 NFL Draft, Peppers was selected by the Carolina Panthers as the second overall pick. Peppers made an immediate impact and was named The NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. During his rookie season, Peppers tallied 28 tackles, 12 sacks, 1 interception, and 5 forced fumbles. On October 13, 2002, Peppers became only the third player in NFL history to amass three sacks and an interception in the same game; but with four games remaining in the season, Peppers was suspended for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.

In 2003, during the Panthers' Super Bowl run, he had 37 tackles, 7 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles. The next year, Peppers was selected to his first ever Pro Bowl with 52 tackles, 11 sacks, 2 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, and two touchdowns. On October 15, 2006, Peppers became the Panthers' all-time sacks leader. [3]

He is a key member of the Carolina Panthers' front four, along with fellow defensive end Mike Rucker and defensive tackles Kris Jenkins and Ma'ake Kemoeatu. [4] He is one of the most explosive defensive ends in the NFL.

Trivia

• Peppers has blocked the second most field goals in the NFL (behind Shaun Rogers) since he entered the league in 2002 with 5 blocks.

• As of April 6, 2007, the Panthers have the top two draft choices of 2002, with Peppers (second pick) and quarterback David Carr (first pick).

External links

• Carolina Panthers team bio