ATLANTA — Julius Peppers accepted a hug from commissioner Roger Goodell and congratulations from his fellow Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nominees Friday. Hours after announcing his retirement via video and a Player’s Tribune article, though, the Panthers’ legendary edge rusher decided to no-comment his own retirement. Rather than talk about leaving the game after dominant 17 years, he went about building a playground with his fellow nominees.
He leaves the game, then the way he played it — by letting his talent do the talking.
The 39-year-old is destined to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a Panther. Four of his stellar seasons, though, were spent in Chicago.
In March 2010, the Bears gave him a six-year deal worth $42 million guaranteed and $91.5 million overall to lure Peppers away from the Panthers, who’d chosen him second overall out of nearby North Carolina in 2002. In four seasons with the Bears, Peppers totaled 37 1/2 sacks and three Pro Bowl appearances. The Bears let him leave after going 8-8 in 2013, and he spent the next three seasons as an outside linebacker for the Packers.
Julius Peppers has something to say... pic.twitter.com/VKGjFmlWum
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) February 1, 2019
He returned home to the Panthers in 2017, totaling 11 sacks. In his final season, he had five.
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Peppers finished his career with 159 1/2 sacks, fourth-most in NFL history. He had 21 fumble recoveries and 11 interceptions. He played in 176-straight games to end his career — his last missed game was in 2007.
In a letter published by The Players Tribune, Peppers thanked linebacker Brian Urlacher for “leading by example and showing me the importance of paying attention to detail and the art of calling a game.” To Bears fans, he said he “could not have chosen a better place to make my first stop outside of North Carolina.”
