Carolina Panthers select 2 more former stars to join team’s Hall of Honor

Julius Peppers and Muhsin Muhammad will be the next two former Carolina Panthers to be inducted into the team’s Hall of Honor.

The Panthers will honor Peppers and Muhammad at halftime of the Panthers’ home game Oct. 29 vs. Houston, Carolina owner David Tepper announced Monday.

Both Peppers and Muhammad were major keys to Carolina’s 2003 postseason run to the team’s first Super Bowl. Peppers, a defensive end, and Muhammad, a wide receiver, both were drafted by the Panthers and played the majority of their careers in the Queen City.

“Both became All-Pros here,” Tepper said in the press release announcing the honor. “Both came back to Carolina to finish their careers. This is another homecoming, a permanent one. Not only did Muhsin and Julius set high standards on the field, they were also selected as Panthers Walter Payton Man of the Year team winners (for their community service). Having gotten to know both these fine men, I have no doubt that they deserve to join the distinguished group of Panthers in the Hall of Honor.”

The Panthers now have nine Hall of Honor members. There aren’t more than that owing in part to an odd 15-year gap between the inductees in 2004 (the team’s PSL owners) and the four-man class of 2019 (Jake Delhomme, Jordan Gross, Steve Smith Sr. and Wesley Walls). The first two inductees were former Panthers team president Mike McCormack (1997) and former linebacker Sam Mills (1998).

Still not in the team’s Hall of Honor but likely to be there someday: quarterback Cam Newton, linebackers Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly, tight end Greg Olsen, center Ryan Kalil and placekicker John Kasay.

Nicknamed “Moose,” Muhammad played for the Panthers from 1996-2004 and then again in 2008 and 2009. He ranks second in most team receiving categories to Smith. He set a Super Bowl record for longest TD pass when he caught an 85-yarder from Jake Delhomme against New England on Feb. 1, 2004.

Peppers, who is considered a shoo-in for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, made the NFL’s All-Decade team for both the 2000s and 2010s. He grew up in Bailey, N.C., and had a standout career at UNC before being drafted No. 2 overall by Carolina in 2002. He then played for the Panthers from 2002-09 and again in 2017 and 2018 at the tail end of his career, following four years with Chicago and three with Green Bay. Peppers ranks fourth in NFL history with 159.5 sacks (trailing only Bruce Smith, Reggie White and Kevin Greene), and his 11 career interceptions are the second-most by a defensive end in NFL history.