An ode to Julius Peppers, an all-time great

Putting a label on Julius Peppers was always difficult. But, frankly, it's also unnecessary.

Versatile? The second overall pick in the 2002 draft created havoc in the backfield from defensive end or linebacker, often single-handedly eliminating the opposition's deep-passing option.

First-ballot Hall of Famer? That's coming, sure. His thrashing and bullying resulted in 10 double-digit sack seasons and 159.5 total for his remarkable career, fourth all time and nine clear of fifth-place Chris Doleman. Peppers' 97 sacks over a decade with the Carolina Panthers stand as a franchise record.

Generation-defining talent? Undoubtedly. Physically, he was remarkable. Before Peppers, it was difficult to process a 6-foot-7, 295-pound man flying around with his level of explosiveness. His impossible blend of power and speed forced front offices to rethink their checklists when searching for pass-rushers to anchor their defense.

The hunt for a Peppers clone was a fool's errand, of course, but his influence is evident today throughout the league - Von Miller bending and twisting his way past hapless defenders en route to the quarterback, or J.J. Watt using his instincts to swat passes.

Peppers' explosiveness was preternatural, allowing him to play both football and basketball at North Carolina. The gridiron was where he did most of his damage, but Peppers rattled plenty of rims, too.

In case you weren't watching college basketball in the early aughts, here's Peppers delivering a thunderous dunk off a lob from future Raiders receiver Ronald Curry.

Matt Doherty, then UNC's basketball head coach, called that dunk "one of the best that I was a part of."

Peppers featured on Doherty's team that went to the Final Four in 1999-2000, and the big man averaged a career-high 7.1 points and four rebounds the following season.

"I'll tell you this, I do believe if Pep would've just focused on basketball, he could’ve played in the NBA," Doherty told ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky in 2015.

Thankfully for us, Peppers stuck with football, blessing our Sundays with his lethal combination of length, size, and speed. And the basketball player arguably never fully left, as the nine-time Pro Bowler used his slick hands to amass 82 passes defensed and 11 career interceptions.

Getting back to labels, how about persistent? Peppers was the marquee free agent in 2010 when he signed a six-year contract with the Chicago Bears worth $91.5 million, with $42 million guaranteed. Entering his age-30 season, many questioned how many prime years he really had left.

Oh how wrong they were. Peppers missed just six games during his career, and he recorded 78.5 sacks past the age of 30, the sixth-highest total in league history, according to Pro Football Reference.

He was supposed to be taking a victory lap in 2017 during his return to the Panthers after four years in Chicago and three with the Packers. Instead, Peppers recorded 11 sacks and consistently finished the job of bringing down the quarterback, with 41.9 percent of his 31 pressures turning into sacks, according to Pro Football Focus.

After all, finishing was a staple of the Peppers experience, as was gifting the ball, and often quality field position, to his offense.

Benchmark? In 2014, long before his final snap, Peppers became the first player in NFL history to record 100 sacks and 10 interceptions, according to ESPN Stats and Information.

Humanitarian? The Panthers nominated Peppers for the 2018 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award after he started the Julius Peppers Hurricane Florence Relief Fund and for his efforts with the University of North Carolina’s Light on the Hill Society Scholarship, which supports African-American students.

The labels could go on and on. Let's leave it at this: Julius Peppers was truly great.