Peppers hinted at decision

Peppers hinted at decision
By Charles Chandler
cchandler@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Monday, Jan. 19, 2009
Here are a few more thoughts on the Julius Peppers drama now unfolding:

The first hints that Peppers might want to move on to a new team surfaced back in training camp. In a July31 interview in Spartanburg, he carefully chose his words and didn't respond directly when asked, in effect: “Do you want to remain a Panther?”

In the locker room after the Panthers suffered their playoff loss to Arizona on Jan.10, Peppers again sidestepped the question, pausing and gathering his thoughts before answering. Ditto for Sunday, Jan.11, when he spoke with reporters for a few moments.

If indeed Peppers has played his last game for the Panthers, it is such a strange ending.

John Fox seemed the ideal coach for Peppers, having served as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants and tutoring standout defensive end Michael Strahan before coming to the Panthers. Strahan, like most all the Giants defenders, seemed to love playing for Fox.

If Peppers becomes an outside linebacker, as his agent, Carl Carey says he's interested in doing, he'd face a major adjustment, but would have the potential to mint a new breed of NFL defender. There simply is not a 3-4 outside linebacker comparable in size to Peppers' frame of 6-foot-7 and somewhere close to 290 pounds.
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