Julius Peppers’ legacy lives in Canton, though he wants to add to it

And when Peppers sat down Friday at the Hall-of-Famers-only Ray Nitschke Luncheon, he was next to legendary Vikings defensive lineman Carl Eller, a Winston-Salem native whose legacy Peppers was well familiar with. When Peppers was with the Bears, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli would often replace reviewing practice tape with historical footage, making sure his guys knew how the game used to be played.

“We would put on a tape with the Fearsome Foursome or the Purple People Eaters and we would just sit there and watch Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen and Carl Eller. So, I appreciate Rod for educating us on the history of the game because it’s important to know your history. Because these guys are the ones that laid the foundation for you.”

Peppers laughed and said while rules changes prevented him from incorporating Jones’ head-slap maneuver, there were definitely teachable moments in those tapes.

“Not necessarily football stuff, but more so how they treated their teammates, how they were brothers together off of the field, and how they took care of each other,” he said. “The head slap, I couldn’t take that. But yeah, Deacon, he was a bad guy, so I tried to sometimes go into that mindset.”

The undercurrent of history was evident from his speech to the moment he walked into his party Saturday night to be surrounded by former coaches, teammates, co-workers, friends, and family. He admitted a bit of surprise when he walked in and saw former UNC basketball legend and his old assistant coach, Phil Ford, the Rocky Mount product he grew up idolizing from nearby Bailey.