0:03

A little on the shy side and a determined

0:05

guardian of his privacy. Panther legend

0:07

Julius Peppers has to force himself

0:10

to look back on his career. A lot

0:12

of people tell me that one day I

0:14

have a chance of making a Hall of fame, and maybe,

0:17

if, if, if, those things come

0:19

calling, maybe I'll be forced to

0:21

sit down and think about my career

0:23

as a place. Today we celebrate twenty

0:25

five years of Panther Football with future

0:27

Hall of Famer Julius Peppers.

0:31

Twenty five seasons of Panthers

0:33

Football a celebration of the players,

0:36

coaches, and other people who have contributed

0:38

to the organizational success. Now

0:41

to mc nixon, it's

0:44

kind of weird to walk down the hallways of Bank

0:46

of America Stadium in the business offices

0:48

and see Julius Peppers

0:51

in a business attire keeping office

0:53

hours. What in the free world have

0:56

you been up to lately, Julius, as

0:58

you join us here on the podcast, I've

1:00

just been up to um first

1:02

and foremost just relaxing a little bit at home. But

1:05

on the days that I'm not there, I'm here

1:08

UM in a new role, kind of an advisory

1:11

um consultant type roll

1:13

to the front office on the business side. So, um,

1:16

it's a little something that it's keeping

1:18

me busy. I'm also learning at the same time, what

1:21

have you been learning? Just

1:24

uh, you know, just you

1:26

know, a little bit of that of

1:29

the business side, of the

1:31

corporate etiquette, I guess, um,

1:34

uh, more than anything, just watching

1:37

watching some of these some of these guys,

1:39

Um, Mark Card, Meredith

1:42

Steve, how they go about their business and

1:44

how they you

1:46

know, um, how they navigate,

1:48

you know, some of the some of the things they deal with

1:50

on the daily. Are

1:53

there any parallels to the problems

1:55

that an organization might confront on the business

1:57

side to what you guys dealt with on the football

1:59

side. I'm not

2:01

sure. I'm not sure. Um,

2:04

it's two different worlds. I'm

2:06

an expert in that world. In this world,

2:09

you know, UM, I'm a novice just

2:12

just now, just trying to trying

2:14

to absorb everything that I'm seeing and just

2:16

trying to listen as much as I talk. So I'm

2:18

just trying to trying to trying to figure it out as

2:20

I go. You've heard it all I know about

2:22

how small a pencil looks in your hand, and a

2:24

coffee cup and all that. And I've

2:27

also heard that large people sometimes

2:29

it takes a while to get accustomed to your size and your

2:31

body. How does how does it feel to you in the business

2:33

world to be still be six seven pound?

2:38

It feels good. I feel I feel good. Actually,

2:40

um, um, you

2:43

know, my body is a little bit settled

2:45

down from the season, so I'm like, I

2:47

feel great physically, but um,

2:50

you know, d the little

2:52

cubicle that I sit in is a little small.

2:55

Um, so that's an adjustment and

2:57

uh, you know, just it's

2:59

act really a little bit of of a wardrobe

3:01

adjustment to um,

3:04

finding the shirts that fit and find things

3:06

that are appropriate for for

3:08

for this, for this, for this gig. Yeah,

3:11

even the big and tall section may let you down

3:13

at times. Julius Peppers with us on the

3:15

podcast. Do you feel like you made the right decision?

3:17

Julius? And are you are you? Are you good and calm

3:19

with not being a football player anymore? Yeah,

3:22

I'm good. I feel like I made the right decision. I

3:24

felt like, um, you

3:26

know, everything has a has a

3:28

shelf life. I think my football

3:31

playing days where at the end of

3:33

that it had expired.

3:36

Of course, I feel like if I wanted to I could

3:38

probably get in shape in a couple of months and

3:40

still go out there and performed, but I

3:42

don't think it's necessary. I don't really want to.

3:45

The motivation is not not there anymore.

3:47

So that's how I know that I made the right decision.

3:50

What are your goals moving forward now? Just

3:53

to um,

3:55

you know, my priority is always

3:57

my family, UM, spending

3:59

time um and you know, connecting with them a little

4:01

bit more. So that's number one. Number two is just

4:04

trying to figure out the post football part

4:06

of my life. UM, whether

4:08

that's something you know,

4:11

uh in the football world,

4:14

whether it's something outside of football. UM.

4:17

Just trying to just take a little break right now,

4:19

just to try to sort everything out,

4:22

and just trying to um be

4:24

patient as I, uh

4:27

go on this next journey and phase of my life.

4:30

I remember talking to you, Julius. You said that when

4:32

you did retire, you sit on a rocking chair,

4:34

you inventory at all, take stock of

4:36

your career and then comment on it. Then. Have you

4:38

done that yet? Not really? Um,

4:43

not really, I haven't. Uh,

4:46

you know, it's it was a long time.

4:49

I'm sure it's a lot of stuff that I forgot in there.

4:51

So one day I will actually go back

4:53

and look through the seasons. UM.

4:56

A lot of people tell me

4:58

that one day I have

5:00

a chance of making the Hall of Fame, and

5:02

and I'm actually on the ballot

5:05

this year for the college one, but the NFL

5:07

one in five years. So, UM,

5:11

maybe if if those

5:13

things come calling, maybe I'll be forced

5:15

to sit down and think about

5:17

my career as a player. If you will

5:19

take a quick glance into your rear view mirror

5:22

of what during your panther career are

5:24

you most proud on

5:28

the football side, UM,

5:34

I think I think, uh, you

5:38

know, it was so many great memories. Um.

5:40

The Super Bowl is the one that sticks out the most.

5:43

Um, even though we came up short in the game, I

5:45

think the story of the season was something

5:48

that made us all proud of UM.

5:51

And there was a lot of different storylines during that season.

5:54

Um, you know, the whole Sam Mills thing, that

5:57

Jake coming in and you know, playing

5:59

well that sea, uh lead us to

6:01

the Super Bowl. UM. I

6:03

think that that season, the team

6:06

and how we were constructing and how we

6:08

came together and how we performed and

6:10

and and made a Super Bowl run. I think that was

6:12

one of the great memories from here for

6:14

those who do not know. Julius Peppers on the podcast

6:17

now is very well read, a very sensitive,

6:20

intelligent man, and I got a sociology

6:23

question for you to wrap up. Are

6:25

you ready all right? Why is

6:27

it, Julius in your opinion that different types

6:29

of people can get along so much better

6:32

on a football team than we seem to be able

6:34

to in society at large. I

6:39

think that the

6:43

locker room is a special place, and

6:46

there is a special um.

6:51

There's like, uh, you know,

6:53

a certain certain level of respect, a

6:56

certain level of camaraderie,

6:58

of a certain level of um

7:01

of you know, having to work

7:06

with each other. You know, Um,

7:09

we have so many people that have to football

7:11

as a team sport, the ultimate team sports. So we all

7:14

have to come together and we have to work together towards

7:16

one common goal. And

7:19

that's what we have to do in society as well. And

7:21

you have to have the right leaders in place that

7:24

are um

7:26

promoting those things. You know, you

7:29

can't have people that are promoting um,

7:31

division and promoting you

7:34

know, all the wrong things. You gotta have the right

7:36

leaders in place. And I think that's really the

7:38

that's really the main the main thing

7:40

is simple. But you know,

7:42

it's hard, you know, find the right leaders,

7:45

find the people who um align

7:47

with your values a line, uh, and

7:49

promote the things that

7:51

our country stands for. And you

7:53

know, I think we're on the right path. Great

7:56

words, and you do great with your foundation. This would

7:58

be the absolute final question. Whichever can it are running

8:00

for some kind of office someday to help help these

8:02

principles that you articulate so well. I doubt

8:05

it, Um, I doubt it. You

8:07

know, I don't think that's my I

8:10

don't think that's my destiny.

8:13

You know, it's it's not really my strong

8:15

suit, um

8:18

to be political and being you know, be

8:20

a politician and those type of things,

8:22

because it's a lot, it's a lot, it's

8:25

it's a lot that those guys

8:27

go through and the um,

8:29

it's just not something that I desire, um

8:32

to be in a spotlight and to be in charge

8:34

of those major decisions that affects so many

8:36

people daily. UM.

8:39

You know, you know, I

8:41

support I support the ones

8:43

who who are doing the right things.

8:45

But as far as me being in that position is too

8:48

much responsibility, that's

8:50

too bad. Because peppers for presidents got

8:52

a nice ring to it. Let us know, if you change

8:54

your mind and Julius thanks for stopping buying do We'll

9:00

continue our historical perspective of

9:02

the first quarter century of Panther football next

9:05

time, right here on the podcast