Julius Peppers Earns Respect of Packers Teammates, Elected Playoff Captain

The Packers linebacker hasn't spent even one full season in Green Bay, but he's already been recognized with an honor reserved for a select few.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Julius Peppers by Jeff Hanisch—USA TODAY Sports.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Julius Peppers by Jeff Hanisch—USA TODAY Sports.

Perhaps the decision to vote on playoff captains in mid-December was a bit presumptuous. With two games left in the regular season, the Green Bay Packers haven't even qualified for the NFL playoffs yet.

But that's vintage Mike McCarthy, employing yet another motivational tool. This is the same coach that had his players sized for their championship rings the night before the Super Bowl in 2011.

If the Packers want an opportunity to win the division, get a bye to the divisional round, or perhaps even clinch home-field advantage, they need to start winning now and not wait until January.

"I don't think he necessarily was saying, assuming we're going to make the playoffs," said linebacker Julius Peppers. "It's just that time of of the year, you want guys that's gonna emphasize having that sense of urgency, leading at this time of the year."

The decision to vote on captains was McCarthy's, but it's the players that do the balloting.

When the results were in and Peppers was named one of six playoff captains—two each from offense, defense and special teams—it said a lot about the respect Peppers has gained just one season in Green Bay.

After all, this is a man that was a longtime nemesis of the Packers when he was with the division rival Chicago Bears from 2010 to 2013 and with the Carolina Panthers before that.

It didn't take long for Peppers to weave himself into the fabric of the Packers culture, however.

"I think its the way he carries himself in the locker room," said quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a co-captain with Peppers. "He came in with a lot of respect from the guys because of his track record and his play for a number of years. But he's actually exerted a lot of himself.

"Maybe he doesn't do it with (the media), but he's been speaking up a lot more to the team, and he had a great three-minute speech. We were supposed to be out about 30 seconds before the game weeks ago, but everybody appreciated it because it's great to hear him talk. He has some great insight and great ideas, and he's a man of few words, but they're pointed words and they're words everybody listens to."

The recognition of playoff captain is significant for several reasons. These six players represent the franchise. They'll wear a patch on their jerseys, and they'll get extra facetime on national television for every playoff game when they go out for the coin flip.

But the honor is especially meaningful becaue it comes from their peers.

Along with Morgan Burnett on defense, Rodgers and Jordy Nelson on offense and Randall Cobb and Jarrett Bush on special teams, Peppers was placed on a pedestal that's a little bit higher than normal.

"This is an opportunity to give people more credibility, more opportunities to take the platform," explained McCarthy. "I think leadership is something that every coach is focused on. I know I've always looked for ways to create opportunities for leadership. You can't assign it. The leadership has to come from the locker room. The credibility has to come from the locker room. That's why the locker room votes on it.  So this is clearly an opportunity of identifying, these are the six men we feel we want to lead us down the stretch. And with that, those six men have accepted the responsibility."

At 34 years old, Peppers entered the season with questions whether he was on the downside of his career, whether he'd live up to the three-year, $26 million contract the Packers offered him as a free agent in the offseason.

Through 14 games, Peppers has made 47 tackles, five sacks, forced three fumbles, defended a career-high nine passes and returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

Although Peppers' pass rush has been lacking the past two weeks, it's fair to say he's still a productive player, even if he's not the league's preeminent defender anymore.

The respect that Peppers has attained is not just about his individual contributions. It's also about what he's done to make the team better and help them achieve a 10-4 record up until this point.

"I thought he did a great job one on one with his teammates," said McCarthy. "I can remember specifically him and David Bakhtiari having a few conversations, because obviously David competed against him twice last year. He was giving him insight on how he viewed him as a left tackle, and I know that David was thankful for that and got a lot out of that conversation. You talk about stacking successes, I think that's just kind of the way he went about it. He did it more on the one on one. He's not very flamboyant."

And so even though Peppers has spent only one of 13 professional seasons in Green Bay, he's now etched himself in Packers lore.

"I've been here for a while, long enough to gain the respect of everybody in the locker room," said Peppers. "I came in; I felt like I've been a leader since I got here, since I stepped in this locker room. So for the guys to recognize that with a vote, it's a little special."

Peppers will always be a revered football player, perhaps even a future Hall of Famer. The one thing he hasn't accomplished up until this point, however, is winning a Lombardi Trophy.

If Peppers can help the Packers do that this season, the legend only grows.

 

Brian Carriveau is the author of the book "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," and editor at Cheesehead TV and its "Pro Football Draft Preview." To contact Brian, email [email protected].

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Comments (6)

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green19's picture

December 18, 2014 at 04:09 pm

McGinn on Peppers against the Falcons:

"Julius Peppers (58 snaps) was almost invisible. It was shocking because every one of his snaps came on the left side across from RT Ryan Schraeder, a free agent from Valdosta State. His only pressure came early when he split Schraeder and Asamoah. Otherwise, he came off the ball lethargically, showed his numbers and sometimes just stood there. It was strange to see."

McGinn on Peppers against the bills:

"Julius Peppers didn't even have one pressure playing against long-armed rookie Seantrel Henderson, a seventh-round pick. Everyone knew right where stationary Kyle Orton would be, but Peppers still couldn't get there. He also had one of the 12 missed tackles by the defense."

If the Matthews to ILB move is going to work then Peppers is going to have to play better going forward. If Peppers wants a ring then he is going to have to produce. He has been terrible the last two weeks. A lot of the season he had made some flash plays but seems to disappear for way too long and in way too many games. He should have made mincemeat out of his match-ups the last two weeks and has produced nothing. Let's hope he can crank it up a notch the next two games and into the playoffs.

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egbertsouse's picture

December 19, 2014 at 09:37 am

I just hope he was pacing himself so he can turn it up a notch in the playoffs.

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green19's picture

December 19, 2014 at 11:48 am

You know what, then pace yourself on the sidelines Peppers. Give Elliot or Neal more snaps if he isn't going to go full tilt for long stretches of games. This is damning by McGinn, "...he came off the ball lethargically, showed his numbers and sometimes just stood there. It was strange to see." If he really was motivated to get a trophy he would of understood the significance of that Bills game and wouldn't have been "pacing himself" or waiting for a big stage or "important game".

I don't think its about "pacing himself" however. My gut tells me he just is not physically capable anymore of playing 60 minutes of football and beating even mediocre opposition on a consistent basis. He doesn't know how to handle this given his career and shuts it down in games. Yes, he is savvy and smart vet with some physical gifts and he will make a few plays every few games but he isn't going greatly improve or help this defense. Man, I hope I am wrong and he is just a head case who will turn on the engine in January but my guess is we will be wondering after a playoff game if Peppers even played.

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LASVEGAS-TOM's picture

December 19, 2014 at 12:05 pm

Does anyone know, How much of that 26 Million was Peppers Guaranteed? LVT

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green19's picture

December 19, 2014 at 02:23 pm

Nothing was guaranteed in his contract except a $7.5 million signing bonus. It was a three-year deal. Next year, he is scheduled to make a $8.5 million base salary and $1 million in roster bonuses. No way the Packers are going to pay that. At the time the contract was signed, it was widely reported it was essentially a one-year deal. The 2nd and 3rd years of the deal were added to help spread out the cap hit of the signing bonus. If they cut him before next season, his cap hit will be $5m per the signing bonus proration "dead money". If they keep him, his cap number would be $12 million. Again, no way TT keeps him for that figure. If Peppers wants to be a Packer again he'll have to restructure drastically given his production this year.

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green19's picture

December 20, 2014 at 11:46 am

Yeah, I remember why I rarely post comments on this site. It ALWAYS regresses into this kind of crap. A few comments about the actual topic and then quickly turns into a handful of people attacking each other and trying to settle long standing feuds.

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