Julius Peppers: A Carolina Tragedy

[truthjuice]

10 hours ago, Saca312 said:

Oh, you don't say...

This was one of the most classless and butthurt things I saw that season and I was a fan of his. 

[imminent rogaine]

1 minute ago, mjligon said:

The bottom line is that Peppers is the type of player in the twilight of his career that Gettleman covets.

Has nothing to do with this sappy weird love story obsession the fanbase is trying to picture.

Peppers potentially coming back isn't some grand finale homecoming exercise...it would be the equivalent of us bringing in a Jared Allen or Charles Tillman. 

I agree, from the age stand point. I also agree that if he comes back, it is solely because DG believes he can contribute to this defense and is worth whatever price he commands.

Those two that you referenced were respected leaders  - which something DG also looks for when he brings in old Vets - other examples are Harper, Cotchery, and even Blackburn. You will never hear anyone question the effort or heart of Allen or Tillman. Peppers, on the other hand, will leave you questioning his effort after one series.

The break-up with him didn't bother me; nor did it with anyone else who has left the Panthers. Repeatedly seeing his habit of refusing to be involved in plays over and over and over again is what really irked me. Sure, he is a great pass rusher. Sure, he will stop a run if it comes right at him. He will not assist in tackles and he rarely pursues a running play that is away from him. 

He really is an enigma... insane talent, HOF production, unbelievable plays, but still leaves you wanting more and never reached his potential.

[electro's horse]

The Conflict

Just a quick recap of 2003-2006. I'm not looking at stats; I remember it all too vividly. 

2003: Peppers actually failed to live up to many people's expectations. This was probably a combination of teams focusing their whole gameplans against him, and those expectations essentially being him turning into Luke Skywalker. Much like the rest of the defensive line, he was nowhere to be seen against the Patriots in the Super Bowl, though Brentson Buckner has been fairly vocal in blaming the offense for their woes. Still, good season. 

2004: This was his year. He was one of the most dominant players in the league. With the rest of the defense reeling from injury, Peppers played his ass off and along with the dramatic return of Mark Fields was as big a reason as any the Panthers nearly snuck into the playoffs. Earned him a contract restructuring.

2005: This was real good. Go back and watch the Bears playoff game. Peppers played with a broken collarbone. 

2006: Just an overall blah, meaningless year for the Panthers, and a disappointing year for Julius

I'm going to start with the good: you look at the net production over this time period, and anyone would take it. 40.5 sacks over 4 years is nothing to sneeze at. Sure, he never lived up to the astronomical expectations of his rookie year, but you take this. This is good production. But people were starting to notice some things, especially in 2006, about Peppers' playing style. 

Peppers was not the kind of player that was going to give every ounce of energy every single play. It just wasn't his style, it wasn't his personality. Julius is actually a fairly quiet guy, and back then he still avoided the spotlight as much as possible. He might have been the name on all the fans jerseys, but the real players on that team were Rucker, Minter, Morgan, and Jenkins when he was healthy. If Peppers was the rims on the car, they were the drivetrain. 

This observation was only exacerbated by how different Peppers played when he wanted to. It wasn't just the numbers in the newspaper the next day; you couldn't miss the difference. In particular, Peppers against the Bucs was the greatest player in NFL history. Tampa Bay had drafted Kenyatta Walker when Gruden got there, and this guy was a total piece of poo. He'd grow his nails long so he could claw at defenders eyes, he's grab people by the balls, he'd pee on people in the pile. He also sucked. As soon as Peppers and him made contact, Julius achieved his Final Form and the Bucs would spend the rest of the game sending tight ends and running backs to help chip, or moving Kenyatta all over the line to try to get away from Peppers. 

Even for Peppers most ardent defenders, it's impossible for them to deny he played when he wanted to. 

The Panthers really did catch lightning in a bottle for this three year period, and looking back they did a very poor job adjusting as the team naturally changed. Hurney had an idea where he wanted the team to go, and Fox was resistant to it. Schematically, the strategy changed as Rucker began to show his age, Jenkins continued to miss time with a bad knee, their big FA defensive tackle just turned out to be...big. Peppers became the center from which their defensive gameplan was designed.

More often than not, this gameplan just assumed Peppers was going to be the target of the other team's offense.

This should be obvious, but what it meant was Peppers job was basically to get double teamed. If they could turn the game into 10v9, they'd have the advantage, and Fox's relatively simple scheme would be able to dominate, force turnovers, hold fast in the red zone, etc. Fox was a very conservative coach even when he was having success. When he had those great defensive lines, it worked great. He would tell his players "I'm going to put you in position to beat your man and make a play." Players really responded to that. 

But that message got old. Time and time again, even with Peppers eating up a tackle and a running back or tight end, the Panthers started to lose those one on one battles. With every passing season, the players became less and less able to "make that play." Fans see what they want, but there's no way to hide in the film room, and Kris Jenkins was very vocal about what was happening. "It is what it is," Fox would famously say. Even in his final days as a coach, when the team couldn't stop a high school offense, he'd shrug and say "the players aren't executing." 

But he never said these things to Julius. 

For whatever reason, Fox never held Peppers up to the same standard he did other players. Again, there's nowhere to hide in the film room. Rucker and Jenkins especially (and it really can't be overstated just how vocal Kris Jenkins was during this time period) would just berate him for his lack of effort. Both those players were playing through serious injuries in every game, and there would be Peppers, dancing with the offensive tackles. They really good cop/bad cop'd him during 2006, but Peppers was tuning them out. 

To Fox, as long as teams were still double teaming Peppers, he didn't really care. John Fox wasn't a motivator, rah rah, coach them up type guy. He didn't want young players, and he didn't want to coach anyone up. Maybe with a different coach Peppers becomes a better player, but Fox didn't see him as that; he was just a valuable cog in his precious scheme. The other guys needed to step up. 

Another part of this was the budding war between Fox, Hurney, and Richardson. Jerry was gravitating towards Hurney more and more, and Fox could see he was losing influence. Never let it be said that John Fox wasn't a passive aggressive little man. When Hurney started whispering that Peppers needed to do more, Fox naturally positioned himself to oppose that. 

Part of it's understandable. Peppers always had longevity in mind. Why should he get himself hurt trying to beat constant double teams? His numbers look fine at the end of the day, even if he knew they were a little hollow. He was meeting the expectations of his contract. Also, how could he take a scheme seriously that dropped him into coverage (something that was ahead of its time)? The organization was starting to rot from the inside out, and anyone who's worked somewhere the bosses were fighting knows that poo rolls downhill. Players (especially Jenkins) were talking about getting out. 

On the other hand, he could have become that player he always had the ability to be. He could have tried to split those double teams. Maybe Rucker and Jenkins stay a little healthier if Peppers plays harder. Maybe one or two bounces go their way. Peppers had the ability to be the glue that held everything together. For all the problems with Fox, and Rucker and co getting old, and a generally ineffective offense in 2006, Peppers could have made it all work. 

There's another factor here: Carl Carey. Carey first came onto the scene in the early 2000s as an adjunct professor at UNC. He was teaching one of those joke classes the university got in trouble for, and that's when he met Julius. Officially he was Peppers' tutor, so take that for whatever it's worth. Unofficially he became Julius' closet confidant. When Peppers went pro, so did Carey, starting a company "advising" players that wanted to go to the NFL. This typically meant fronting them some cash (supplied by Julius, Jason Capel or Ryan Sims) to pay for their clothes, cars, training, whatever while they were going through the pre draft process. Then he'd recoup his expensive plus interest when they got drafted. 

Carey used Peppers as his way in, and of course agents used him as their way to UNC players, both basketball and football. It was a tidy little business. 

Eventually, Carey managed to convince Peppers to hire him as his agent, and following the 2004 season, Carey negotiated Peppers' contract extension. Remember, at the time, Peppers was Carey's only client. 

He's a hustler, pure and simple. Agents for the most part make their money when contracts are signed. Everyone knew what Carey was, and while he was fine as a tool to get access to players, no one was going to deal with him as an agent. Surely nowhere with any respectability. So with only one client, he needed a way to make consistent money, and Carey's idea was to get endorsements. However, Peppers was going to need the flashy stats to back this up, and he was going to need a bigger market. He needed sacks, he needed to play standing up, he needed to be in a 3-4. He wasn't going to get commercials absorbing double teams.

That's when the whisper campaign started. 

There's one more big moment here, before the wheels started turning that would eventually end with Peppers in Chicago. During 2007 training camp/preseason, Mike Minter retired. He'd been on a pretty steep downward slope, and it was clear to all observers it was time to hang em up.

The entire team showed up for his retirement press conference. 

At one point, Jerry Richardson came up, said some nice words about Minter (a player he loved) then pointed his finger at Julius Peppers.

"Julius, your time is now," Richardson said. "This is your time to step up and show leadership. I'm not talking about sacks, I'm talking about leadership."

Boom. Richardson said what everyone on the team was thinking. Now sure, he said "leadership," and not "start playing harder," but to people who knew what they were listening for, the message was loud and clear. 

Some people respond well to public challenges like that. "You're right. I will try hard." or "fug you you can't talk to me like that in public, I'll show you bitch."

It's a risky management move. You're putting everyone's cards on the table. In front of the whole world, the owner called out his star player. At the time, Peppers nodded slowly. Beat writers breathlessly praised Richardson's bold moved, and predicted Peppers would FINALLY take that next step they'd been waiting for his entire career.

Instead, Peppers took the whole season off. 

[Steve_Smith_Sr.]

Peppers can suck it.  I hope he retires a Packer and never gets the ring that he so desperately wants.

F - THIS - DOUCHE!!!

[Johnny Rockets]

1 hour ago, Cyberjag said:

All y'all kids think that sports started in North Carolina sometime after you were born...

 

You also got guys with more accolades in their chosen sport than Peppers, like Catfish Hunter, a few NASCAR drivers, Sonny Jurgensen, and even Steph Curry, who isn't quite there yet but who looks like he will be remembered among the all time greats.

Peppers was/is a freak, but hyperbole man...

Pie because Catfish Hunter. 

[therealmjl]

1 hour ago, imminent rogaine said:

I agree, from the age stand point. I also agree that if he comes back, it is solely because DG believes he can contribute to this defense and is worth whatever price he commands.

Those two that you referenced were respected leaders  - which something DG also looks for when he brings in old Vets - other examples are Harper, Cotchery, and even Blackburn. You will never hear anyone question the effort or heart of Allen or Tillman. Peppers, on the other hand, will leave you questioning his effort after one series.

The break-up with him didn't bother me; nor did it with anyone else who has left the Panthers. Repeatedly seeing his habit of refusing to be involved in plays over and over and over again is what really irked me. Sure, he is a great pass rusher. Sure, he will stop a run if it comes right at him. He will not assist in tackles and he rarely pursues a running play that is away from him. 

He really is an enigma... insane talent, HOF production, unbelievable plays, but still leaves you wanting more and never reached his potential.

Right. I was using those two as an example of age/point in career.

When it comes to leadership and motivation, Pep isnt really in the same stratosphere as a guy like Tillman.

[top dawg]

Blah blah blah. You can't force someone to be a leader. Some people really don't have the demeanor, proclivity or desire to lead. 

Even if the insinuation here is true, no one is perfect, not even J-Rich. There have been a few times over the years where I thought that he should step up as a true leader, the latest being when Cam was being pummeled by repeated illegal hits.

[rippadonn]

When he was here the organization was spiraling deeper into mediocrity. Just like Cam, JP needed pieces around him and his "help" was breaking down physically all around him.

The good Jake, bad Jake, TommyJohn thing was going on also. John Fox hadn't received an extension and was a lame duck walking and was obviously pissed. This orginization went on to this day not having back to back seasons above.500.

The Panthers were a mess. Had good years recently but still no consistency. At that point in his life why should he tie himself down to mismanagement and mediocrity?

Given our history we should be glad that players still want to play here. Management had the opportunity to right the ship with the best roster in decades but instead flubbed it again.

I don't blame Peps agent at the time or him for listening. We have the roster NOW and if he can help us NOW. Open arms

 

[Cyberjag]

1 hour ago, electro's horse said:

...Fox was a very conservative coach even when he was having success...

...Also, how could he take a scheme seriously that dropped him into coverage (something that was ahead of its time)?... 

[electro's horse]

3 minutes ago, Cyberjag said:

1 hour ago, electro's horse said:

...Fox was a very conservative coach even when he was having success...

...Also, how could he take a scheme seriously that dropped him into coverage (something that was ahead of its time)?... 

Are you insinuating dropping a pass rusher into coverage is aggressive?

[L-TownCat]

Best Peppers OP ever.

[Cyberjag]

1 hour ago, electro's horse said:

Are you insinuating dropping a pass rusher into coverage is aggressive?

Nah, just thought it was funny to see both statements presented in a passive aggressive slam on the coaching. :)

This is pretty entertaining, BTW.  I like it better than the one you did where you said Peppers was gay.

[Paa Langfart]

1 hour ago, L-TownCat said:

Best Peppers OP ever.

Still waiting for the dramatic conclusion.

[Davidson Deac II]

Too much drama here, calling it a tragedy.  He was a very good player for us who left under less than ideal circumstances.  But as player separations go,  it was a relatively mild one.  Didn't have an issue when he left, and don't have one now if he comes back.