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Julius Peppers

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. He and Donovan McNabb are the only people to ever play in both the NCAA men's basketball Final Four and the NFL's Super Bowl

He is named after legendary NBA players Julius Erving and Walt Frazier. Following Mike Minter's retirement, Peppers was named as the Panthers defensive captain.

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 Senior 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, the 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

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 (hurries) and returned two interceptions and one fumble recovery for touchdowns.

Awards and honors

Sporting News Freshman All-American (1999)
First-team All-ACC (2000)
Second-team AP All-American (2000)
Second-team Football News All-American (2000)
Consensus First-team All-ACC (2001)
Consensus First-team All-American (2001)
Chuck Bednarik Award (2001)
Lombardi Award (2001)
Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalist (2001)

Professional career

In the 2002 NFL Draft, Peppers was selected by the Carolina Panthers as the second overall pick behind first overall pick, quarterback David Carr. Peppers ran a 4.68 40 yard dash at 290 pounds and completed 22 bench press reps at his pro day. 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 36 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. With four games remaining in the season, Peppers was suspended for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy for taking a banned dietary supplement.

In 2003, during the Panthers' Super Bowl run, he had 46 tackles, 7 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles. The next year, Peppers was selected to his first ever Pro Bowl with 65 tackles, 11 sacks, 2 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, and two touchdowns. On October 15, 2006, Peppers became the Panthers' all-time sacks leader.

Julius Peppers is known as one of the most athletic players in the NFL. He has blocked at least one kick in 5 consecutive seasons. In one game against the Atlanta Falcons, Michael Vick dropped back for a pass and as he cocked his arm back to pass, it slipped out of his hand and Julius Peppers seemed to have snatched it out of mid-air and returned the fumble for a touchdown. Peppers has had double-digit sacks in all but 2 seasons.

Career stats

Regular season

Regular Season			Defensive					Interceptions					Fumbles
Season	Team	Games	Tackles	Solo	Assists	Sacks	Pass Def	Int	Yds	Avg	Td	Lg	Forced	Rec	Yds	Td
2002	Carolina	12	36	29	7	12.0	4	1	21	21.0	0	0	5	0	0	0
2003	Carolina	16	46	39	7	7.0	3	1	0	0.0	0	0	3	0	0	0
2004	Carolina	16	65	53	12	11.0	7	2	143	71.5	1	99	4	1	60	1
2005	Carolina	16	50	38	12	10.5	6	0	0	0.0	0	0	2	1	10	0
2006	Carolina	16	58	49	9	13	6	0	0	0.0	0	0	3	2	0	0
2007	Carolina	14	38	30	8	2.5	5	1	0	0.0	0	0	3	2	0	0

Total	6 seasons	90	293	238	55	56.0	31	5	164	57.4	1	99	20	6	70	1

Playoffs

Playoffs			Defensive					Interceptions					Fumbles
Season	Team	Games	Tackles	Solo	Assists	Sacks	Pass Def	Int	Yds	Avg	Td	Lg	Forced	Rec	Yds	Td
2003	Carolina	4	9	9	0	1.0	3	1	34	34.0	0	34	0	0	0	0
2005	Carolina	3	11	10	1	1.0	1	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Total	2 seasons	7	20	19	1	2.0	4	1	34	34.0	0	34	0	0	0	0