North Carolina will always be home to Julius Peppers. But leaving ‘was life-changing’

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Julius Peppers has nothing but love for the state of North Carolina. He said as much Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours before he’d deliver his 10-minute speech in Canton, Ohio, as a member of the class of the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He said North Carolina is “a special place.” That “North Carolinians are a special people.” The state, after all, is where he was born, in a small central-east town called Wilson. It’s where he grew up, in a smaller town nearby called Bailey. It’s where he reached national acclaim as a two-sport athlete as a Tar Heel and where he landed after being selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2002 NFL draft — his home-state expansion franchise refusing to pass up on Peppers’ promise.

But as much as North Carolina is home — as much as it “always will be home,” he said — among the most legacy-defining moments of his career happened when he decided to leave.

The first departure from Carolina, where he ultimately spent 10 seasons in two separate stints, happened just after the 2009 season. Peppers, then 30, was fresh off a season where he produced 10.5 sacks, two interceptions and five forced fumbles. The team placed the franchise tag on him in 2009 but wouldn’t do it in 2010 — and negotiations between him and the team stalled to the point where the team let him walk as an unrestricted free agent.

Peppers told The Charlotte Observer in an interview at the time that the two sides were split by $6 million: Peppers wanted a four-year, $60 million deal; Carolina was offering four years and $54 million.

“I think the major thing that was different was just the notoriety aspect of it,” Peppers said on Friday, when asked about leaving his home state for the first time. “I thought people knew that I was a good player in Carolina. But a lot of people nationally didn’t really know who I was. So I think when I went to Chicago, that changed a little bit. Just the recognition piece of it. And I think that was the main difference.”

Peppers signed with the Bears on a six-year deal worth up to $91 million with $42 million guaranteed.

“The financial piece of it was life-changing,” Peppers continued. “So that was another thing. But those were the two things.”

The spotlight thrust upon him in Chicago might’ve introduced him to a broader audience. It also might be a reason he’ll be inducted in the Hall on Saturday: For a quiet giant who had neither the beautifully boisterous personality like Warren Sapp nor the “signature move” like Dwight Freeney — who will be inducted along with Peppers — many think he didn’t get the attention he deserved.

His teammates thought as much, at least, from his pass-rushing partner-in-crime Mike Rucker to Brentson Buckner, the veteran defensive tackle who took Peppers under his wing. Said Buckner for a story in the Observer last week: “If he had one showboat, salesman cell in his body, he would be Deion Sanders of the defensive line.”

After four years in Chicago, Peppers spent three seasons with Green Bay before returning back home in 2017. He was 37 upon arrival back to Carolina and left when he was 38, at the conclusion of the 2018 season. Those same teammates of his thought he could “probably still go and get 10 sacks right now.”

Looking back on it now, did he retire too early?

“As far as the retirement piece of it, I think I retired at the right time,” Peppers said Friday. “Could I still do it physically? Yeah. But mentally, was I still there? It was declining mentally. Like it was hard to go through the offseason and work out for a whole offseason and stay ready. The preparation was the part that was getting harder to do. So that’s when I realized it was probably time to let it go.”

Peppers finished his career fourth all-time in sacks in NFL history with 159.5. He retired as the first NFL player with 100 career sacks and 10 career interceptions. He has several nicknames bestowed by teammates, from “Pep” to “The Classified Mutant.” He had a distinct if understated style, one that current say-more-with-your-play Panthers defensive lineman Derrick Brown can relate to. Said Brown, in part, when asked about Peppers’ legacy: “I remember the black visor.”

The bulk of the work toward those statistical achievements was done in Carolina. Those aforementioned nicknames? Offered by Carolina teammates.

The home-state hero’s life in and love for North Carolina propelled him into his sport’s hallowest hall, no doubt.

But leaving North Carolina was important, too.