Julius Peppers will be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 3 as part of a seven-man class, and he will have bragging rights in at least two categories.
Peppers is among the best pass rushers who ever played. He’s also the best basketball player.
Peppers totaled 159.5 sacks in a 17-year career with Carolina, Chicago and Green Bay, which ranks fifth all time behind Bruce Smith (200), Reggie White (198), Deacon Jones (173.5) and Kevin Greene (160). At 6-foot-7, 295 pounds, Peppers was a force off the edge.
He also was a force as a forward with the North Carolina men’s basketball team for two seasons at a time when the Tar Heels were national title contenders.
How good was Peppers at basketball? A look back at that career:
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Julius Peppers starred in football, basketball
Peppers was a two-sport standout at Southern Nash High School in Bailey, N.C., and he had dreams of playing for the Tar Heels in basketball. He was a 6-5, 230-pound running back as a sophomore, and North Carolina assistant coach Donnie Thompson recruited Peppers early. North Carolina assistant basketball coach Phil Ford also was recruiting Peppers.
Peppers’ high school football highlights are predictably amazing.
Peppers was the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Athlete of the Year in 1997-98. He finished his football career 3,501 rushing yards and 46 TDs, but he also had been a star forward on the AAU circuit with future Tar Heels Brendan Haywood and Kris Lang.
Peppers was assured by both coaches he would be able to play both sports at North Carolina.
Julius Peppers played two seasons of hoops at North Carolina
Peppers was a two-sport athlete for two seasons at North Carolina.
In 1999, Peppers started 11 games for the football team as a freshman – where he totaled 50 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and six sacks. Peppers then joined the basketball team - where he played in 31 games and averaged 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds.
Peppers was known for his rebounds and dunks and emerged as a fan favorite on both teams.
He had 64 tackles, 24 tackles for loss and 15 sacks as a sophomore in 2000 – a remarkable season that earned second-team All-American honors. He then averaged 7.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in 25 games for the basketball team and shot a team-best 64.3 percent from the field.
Peppers decided to focus on football as a junior, when he had 63 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks and three interceptions. He finished 10th in the Heisman Trophy voting and was the No. 2 pick in the 2002 NFL Draft behind Houston’s David Carr.
Did Julius Peppers play in the Final Four?
North Carolina finished 22-14 in basketball under third-year coach Bill Guthridge in 1999-2000, but the Tar Heels made a run to the Final Four in the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed.
That team featured Joseph Forte and Peppers’ AAU teammates in Haywood and Lang.
Peppers averaged 5.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in that tournament run, which ended with a 71-59 loss to No. 5 Florida in the national semifinal.
Peppers and Donovan McNabb – who played two seasons of basketball at Syracuse – are the only two players to play in a Super Bowl and Final Four.
Did Julius Peppers play football, basketball with Ronald Curry?
Ronald Curry was the more-coveted two-sports star at North Carolina when Peppers arrived. Curry – who was the top football recruit in the country in high school – was a four-year quarterback for the Tar Heels from 1998-2001.
Curry averaged 4.0 points and 3.2 assists in three seasons with the basketball team. He combined with Peppers for this memorable alley-oop connection against Wake Forest.
Julius Peppers going into the hall of fame is a good reason to remember that he and Ronald Curry played a combined 23 seasons of NFL football and also averaged a combined 39 mins per game on the 2000-01 UNC Basketball team
— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) February 9, 2024
Insane two-sport talents overlapping simultaneously https://t.co/8gSIVyHXY8 pic.twitter.com/slHiQySVa3
Curry had a seven-year career as a wide receiver in the NFL from 2002-08.
Julius Peppers vs. NFL stars who played college basketball
Terrell Owens
Owens, a 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame member, played three seasons of college basketball at Chattanooga from 1993-96. He averaged 1.5 points and 1.3 rebounds. Owens had 1,078 catches, 15,394 yards and 153 TDs as part of a 15-year NFL career.
Tony Gonzalez
Gonzalez, 2019 a Pro Football Hall of member, averaged 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in three seasons with Cal. He had 1,325 catches, 15,127 yards and 111 TDs as part of a 17-year NFL career.
Antonio Gates
Gates – who was not enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year – averaged 16.5 points and 7.8 rebounds through a college basketball career at Eastern Michigan and Kent State. He had 955 catches, 11,841 yards and 116 TDs in a 16-year NFL career.
