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Peppers conference call recap

jtnc

By jtnc,
in Carolina Panthers

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monstercat Newbie

monstercat

Posted
Posted

Except he said he was open to coming back after the '09 season.

I believe that was disingenuous. If he really wanted to be here, he would have taken that very generous offer they made him right after his worst season as a pro. Of course, that would have pissed off a lot of Panthers fans too though, because a lot of people on this board didn't think he deserved it. Some people have hated Peppers for years. I'm sure that most of them were ABCers though, so they were gonna find a reason to hate him no matter what.

I don't hate Peppers myself, but I don't think he was honest with the Panthers either.

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CRA Grand Master

CRA

Posted
Posted

I don't think of Peppers as a villain but I don't think of him as a complete player and I don't respect him like I used to.

Smith wasn't forcing a trade, he was asking for one there is a difference. Smith had his troubles that is for sure but he laid it all on the line for his team every game and took the team on his back for years.

Peppers rode on his talent to get him by and would frequently disappear in games and get taken out by back ups. And couldn't handle stepping up as a leader all because of his apparent social ineptitude. A 30 yr old man who has been a big part of the team for so long get's pissy because he's asked to help lead the team. I guess we're suppose to treat him like he's 5.

Also, his bs about wanting to be on a 3-4 team but then ends up on the same defense in Chicago. The money issue was a load of crap. I personally would have more respect for him if he just said, it's not about the money I want a change(before the fact). He could say he hated the Panthers and I would have had more respect for him. But his bs about Hurney not trying to reach him and that the Panthers didn't value him like other teams would and that the Panthers were actually close on their offer like it would have made a difference.

You're right Peppers isn't special in what he did, I never said he was.

Well, I think Peppers is as about as complete as a DE can be. That doesn't mean he will live up to fan expectations.....and IMO the bar was set fairly high for him (as it should of).

Smith most definately would have been forcing a trade......it just would have looked prettier in the paper. Ron Rivera made it clear he was waiting on Smith to say yes or no he would play for him.......if Smith said no that is forcing a trade. Smitty wouldn't of played for Ron if he said he wasn't and that he was requesting a trade (no matter how pretty you want to paint it Smith said he was considering such a move).

Smith may have played hard.....but he also caused issues in the locker room, w/ teammates and to a degree it reasonable to assume handcuffed them at points in his career in regards WR talent they could bring in.

But I do think the bar was set for Peppers in an unfair place......outside of a few HOFers.....just about any 4-3 DE disappears in games.

I got no problem w/ Peppers bullshitting why he wanted out.....if he was blunt about it he would have just recieved more crap from our fanbase. A fanbase they pretty much had been all over him since 2007. A season he obviously had something going on.....yet still at least played.

I got no beef with whatever stance anyone wants to take w/ Peppers....love or hate. But if you are gonna hate him....I don't like the double standard. All though not identical situations you can't hate Pep and love Steve if he "respectfully" left forcing a trade.

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CRA Grand Master

CRA

Posted
Posted

Except he said he was open to coming back after the '09 season.

"Open" is very vague. Maybe a lot of the things Peppers didn't voice to the media would have had to change for him to consider staying......and maybe none of those seem to happening.

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CRA Grand Master

CRA

Posted
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I believe that was disingenuous. If he really wanted to be here, he would have taken that very generous offer they made him right after his worst season as a pro. Of course, that would have pissed off a lot of Panthers fans too though, because a lot of people on this board didn't think he deserved it. Some people have hated Peppers for years. I'm sure that most of them were ABCers though, so they were gonna find a reason to hate him no matter what.

I don't hate Peppers myself, but I don't think he was honest with the Panthers either.

But again, he said he was "open to it"......he didn't say this was his first choice if they paid him. Peppers says very little.....and when he was considering his options a lot of stuff had been going on. Fox had been on the hotseat w/ JR for seasons. Maybe Peppers was open to staying if he thought X, Y, Z were going to occur in the next few seasons........and maybe that not being the picture painted closed that door of staying.

Saying he is open to it....does not mean he implied if you are willing to simply pay me I will stay.

It ain't like Peppers is going to give us a clue of what legitimately was going down.....and what impacted his choice. Jerry Richardson I am sure knows a lot more than what has been put in print or rumored around message boards.

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Montsta Rising Star

Montsta

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Fantastic player. Clearly he seems a lot more motivated in Chicago then he ever was here. Hard to know exactly what goes on in a guy's head.

Hit the nail on the head. Weird guy, he's happy now, we're happy now. I'm over it. If he stayed with the contract he had, CJ would be gone. I'm not saying CJ is a Peppers level talent, but from a strictly age perspective, I'll take a 24 year old CJ over a 30 year old Pep. We have a good young nucleus of guys here, and a lot of that wouldn't be possible had we resigned Pep. We probably would still have resigned beason, and maybe Davis, but Anderson would have surely walked, and maybe no Godfrey extension either. Peppers eats up a TON of cap room.

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Seltzer Veteran

Seltzer

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Posted

Peppers was and still is a great player. One of the best DE's to ever play and as long as he plays 2-3 more years like he has, probably a first ballot Hall of Famer. And fair or unfair, his reputation nationally has done nothing but grown since he went to Chicago.

Whereas when he was here, he would get mentioned in the conversation about best 5-10 DE's in the league, now he is in the conversation for best. Just the way it is.

He didn't do anything wrong here per se, but it still sucks that the city and the fans were willing to get so much to him and he just took a big shat on everyone.

And he could and did b/c he's a legitimate superstar and athletic freak. Most of the people for my company work in Chicago, and they think he is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

And for his arrogance, who knows? It's hard to judge b/c Peppers is so socially akward and certainly not overly bright- at least in the common sense sort of intellect. One of my friends use to work for a property management company that oversaw the building on Church St. where he owned the penthouse. Suppossedly, Peppers would hide when they came to fix anything after one time when he couldn't explain an issue with a door handle. After that, he would either hide while they were there or leave and may one of his boys explain any issues.

So who knows? He certainly has the fame and fortune to be arrogant, but at the same time he never went out of his way to bash anyone. It was obvious though that he couldn't wait to get out of Charlotte. He literally got on a plane with Lovie Smith the day free agency started and never looked back.

And I think that's what hurts the most. It's a lot harder to deal with someone just walking away than if they bitch and moan about it beforehand. And as much as I hate to admit it, I'm still a little butt-hurt like most Panthers fans are.

Not as bad as last year, but yeah still a little. A win Sunday would go a long way towards feeling like we got the final word in some stupid little way

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jtnc Newbie

jtnc

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Alright when he gets accepted into the HOF, he probably won't even acknowledge the Panthers or the coaches, that's the kind of narcissist he is. Anyone find it odd he only keeps in touch with TWO teammates during his 9 year career here? But Chris Harris is still very close with the Carolina Panthers players? and he was only here for TWO years. Yeah, that just tells you what kind of teammate he was.

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