Jul 30, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packer linebacker Clay Matthews (left) talks to defensive end Julius Peppers during training camp at Ray Nitschke Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
During the annual NFL Honors ceremony on Thursday night, it was revealed that two former Green Bay Packers would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024 and go to Canton. First-round selection Julius Peppers played three seasons with the Green Bay Packers as an outside linebacker, and defensive tackle Steve McMichael played one season with the Packers towards the end of his career after spending thirteen years with the Chicago Bears.
Inductees of the Modern Era Dwight Freeney, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, and Patrick Willis, along with Randy Gradishar and Art Powell, who were chosen by the Seniors Committee, join the pair. Peppers is the only contender from the modern era to be inducted on the first ballot. Buddy Parker’s name was submitted by the Coach/Contributor Committee, but it did not receive the required 80% clearance from the Hall of Fame committee. As a result, in 2024, there will not be a coach or contributor admitted.
Although Peppers played for the Packers from 2014 to 2016 and made it to one Pro Bowl, his memories will mostly be associated with his time in Carolina and Chicago.
With three All-Pro selections and selections to both the All-2000s and All-2010s teams, he was as near to a lock to go into the Hall of Fame as you’ll find. With 159½ career sacks, he ranks fourth in history.
The Chicago Bears cut ties with Peppers in March 2014, basically a salary-cap casualty. Peppers had led the Bears with 7½ sacks the year before, had started all 64 games in four years with the franchise and already had cultivated a reputation as one of the best to ever play his position.
Four days later, the Packers pounced and signed the 34-year-old, a rare free-agent jump for Packers general manager Ted Thompson. The three-year deal worth a maximum of $30 million (less than $8 million guaranteed), marked the second-largest contract Thompson ever handed out to a free agent, behind only the seven-year, $39 million deal to Charles Woodson in 2006 that nonetheless turned into a bargain and laid the groundwork for a Super Bowl.
Peppers played the most of his ten seasons with the Carolina Panthers, where he began and concluded his career. However, he was a formidable opponent of the Bears, winning three Pro Bowls during his four seasons in Chicago. But in his Bears career, Peppers was 2-7 versus the Packers (including in the 2010 NFC title game). Peppers could have ruined one of the more remarkable moments in recent Packers history, the 2013 season-finale victory over Chicago that earned the team a division title and postseason berth, if fullback John Kuhn hadn’t made a crucial block.
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