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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 [1]. 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.
[edit] 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 [2].
[edit] College career
[edit] 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.
[edit] Awards and honors
[edit] 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 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. 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 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]
[edit] Career stats
[edit] 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 |
35 |
28 |
7 |
12.0 |
4 |
1 |
21 |
21.0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2003 |
Carolina |
16 |
44 |
37 |
7 |
7.0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2004 |
Carolina |
16 |
64 |
52 |
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 |
57 |
48 |
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 |
288 |
233 |
55 |
56.0 |
31 |
5 |
164 |
57.4 |
1 |
99 |
20 |
6 |
70 |
1 |
[edit] 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 |
[edit] NFL awards and honors
- Peppers has blocked the second most field goals in the NFL (behind Shaun Rogers) since he entered the league in 2002 with 6 blocks.
- Has one sack in his three Pro Bowl appearances.
- Peppers was mentioned in Nelly's song "Heart of a Champion", along with Ray Lewis and others, and made a cameo appearance in Nelly's 2002 video "Hot in Herre".
- As of April 6, 2007, the Panthers had the top two draft choices of 2002, with Peppers (second pick) and quarterback David Carr (first pick). David Carr has since been released.
[edit] External links
