A homegrown Hall of Famer: Julius Peppers makes history for the Carolina Panthers

Julius Peppers, one of the greatest Carolina Panthers players in franchise history, was officially announced as a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer on Thursday night.

Peppers, a defensive end who played 10 of his 17 seasons with the Panthers, was elected in his initial year of eligibility. He also made history by becoming the first member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to have played the majority of his career with Carolina.

Kevin Greene, Reggie White and Sam Mills are among the 300-plus members of the Hall of Fame, and all were former Panthers, too. So is former Carolina general manager Bill Polian, who’s also a Hall of Famer. But all four of those men spent well over half their football careers in other cities.

Peppers, on the other hand, is truly a homegrown Panthers Hall of Famer, as well as the first player the Panthers drafted to be enshrined. He was born and raised in the tiny town of Bailey, N.C., 35 miles east of Raleigh. Then he went to school at UNC, making such a name for himself that he was the No. 2 overall pick of the 2002 draft — by Carolina. He was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2002 and would eventually set all sorts of records as one of the greatest Panther players of all time.

Even among elite athletes, Peppers was extraordinary.

“Probably the biggest human being I’ve seen in my life on the football field,” Panthers quarterback Cam Newton once said of the 6-foot-7, 295-pound Peppers, and Newton is no small man himself.

“I’m just happy I’m No. 89 and he’s No. 90, so I get to stand next to him in team pictures,” wide receiver Steve Smith told me once when he and Peppers were Panthers teammates.

“He’s the first time I ever saw somebody who weighed almost 300 pounds and had a six-pack,” former Panthers wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad said.

When Carolina was playing Chicago in 2012, the Panthers had a rookie linebacker named Luke Kuechly. Peppers was gone from the Panthers by then — he spent the first eight years of his career in Carolina as well as the last two, but took a break in the middle of his career to see what the world outside North Carolina looked like. First he played in Chicago, and Green Bay.

During warmups, Kuechly sidled close to Peppers, just to take a look at him, the way an 8-year-old kid might do to one of his athletic heroes. Then Kuechly scuttled off, without saying anything.

Peppers was joined in the seven-person Class of 2024 by edge rusher Dwight Freeney, kick returner Devin Hester, wide receiver Andre Johnson, linebacker Patrick Willis, linebacker Randy Gradishar and defensive lineman Steve McMichael. Former N.C. State star wide receiver Torry Holt, also a finalist, fell short. All new Hall of Famers had the news broken by previously inducted Hall of Famers who knocked at their door: for Peppers, that knock name from defensive end Bruce Smith.

For the Panthers, Peppers remains the team’s sack leader (97), forced fumble leader (34) and blocked field goal leader (eight). He had 159.5 sacks in his NFL career, which is fourth all-time. He never won a Super Bowl — playing in the game of games just once, with the Panthers in 2003, and losing to New England. But his durability was unparalleled. In 17 seasons, Peppers only missed two games due to injury. He was a member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team in both the 2000s and 2010s, and only a few players and coaches have ever made two All-Decade teams (Tom Brady was another).

The Panthers occasionally lined Peppers up at wide receiver early in his career near the goal line. He never actually scored a touchdown on offense — all six of his career TDs came on defense — but it was a testament to his athleticism that the stunt was even attempted.

Although Peppers wasn’t ever much for individual honors, being elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was important to him. He told me in a recent interview: “I’m not going to downplay it. It’s important. My chances? I don’t know. I think the résumé is good enough, so we’ll just see. I’m hoping for the best.”

Peppers now lives in Miami with his family, but he also made a mark on the Carolinas with his community work. He traveled across both Carolinas as part of a hurricane relief effort, which earned him a Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination from the Panthers.

“He did so much in the community, but he didn’t hold press conferences to let everybody know he was doing that,” former Panthers teammate Mike Rucker said of Peppers. “He’s also a funny guy. He laughs probably 90% of the day. Believe it or not, he also reads a lot. Very smart. Very educated outside of the football world.”

Peppers will give his induction speech and receive his gold jacket on Aug. 3 at the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremony in July in Canton, Ohio.