Luke Kuechly recalls favorite memory of playing with Julius Peppers
Legendary defensive lineman Julius Peppers was recently revealed as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024 following his impressive career in the NFL.
Peppers was one of the most feared defensive players of his era following a standout career as a two-sport athlete at North Carolina, spending the majority of his lengthy professional career in his home state with the Carolina Panthers.
Peppers spent seven seasons away from the organization before returning to the Panthers for the final two years of his career. There, he shared the field with another likely future Hall of Fame member in Luke Kuechly. Kuechly recently joined the ‘Up And Adams’ Show and shared his favorite memory with one of the game’s best pass rushers of all time.
“One thing that I think sets Pep apart from people is just you watch him and I love when Pep smiles,” Kuchely said. “That big smile that he has was just so fun to me and there was one thing when I was getting ready to play with Pep that I was excited about.”
Peppers’ signature grin was seen a lot throughout his NFL career, recording a whopping 159.5 career sacks and smiling after a lot of them.
He took home the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2002 after recording 12 sacks, five forced fumbles, and one interception in 12 games for Carolina. But he’d go on to maintain that standard for 17 seasons in the NFL, earning seven Pro Bowl selections and five First-Team All-Pro designationss in the process.
Peppers also recorded an impressive 16 sacks in his final two seasons with the Panthers, which Kuechly had a front-row seat for.
“You know Pep always had that dark visor and I always wanted to be there when Pep got a sack and he had that dark visor and the only thing you could see on him is that smile through his face-mask and I was just so excited,” Kuechly admitted. “I don’t remember who we were playing, I should probably know that, but when he got that sack and I ran up to him and it was that big toothy smile behind that dark visor man. I was just like gosh this is so cool.”
“It’s such a dorky thing for me to say but it was super cool when I saw him.”
Kuechly’s sentiments aren’t dorky at all, as he was even in awe of the larger-than-life figure that was Julius Peppers. Who this year will become a first-ballot Hall of Famer after being the Panthers’ franchise sack leader and the only player in NFL history with 150 sacks and 10 interceptions (four of which he returned for scores).