UNC in the NFL: Tracking Tar Heels in Week 3
By Grant Hughes
Silent protest overshadows a quiet day for Julius Peppers.
In a week where football was secondary for the NFL, Peppers made a statement of his own.
The Carolina Panthers are one of the more discreet teams in the NFL and are rarely topics of conversation off the field. That’s the kind of organization owner Jerry Richardson wants and the kind of team Ron Rivera leads.
Many teams this week protested comments by the president by kneeling or staying in the locker room during the National Anthem.
The entire Panthers team stood for the national anthem except for Peppers who stayed in the locker room.
After the game, Peppers gave a brief explanation for his behavior:
Julius Peppers explains pic.twitter.com/r2Meh2mBwj
— Bill Voth (@BillVothNFL) September 24, 2017
Peppers garnered less attention in the actual game as he failed to notch a tackle or any other statistic.
He’s still working his way onto a defense that has been one of the best in the NFL going into Week 3. But after a bad performance against the New Orleans Saints, the Panthers are looking to rebound.
Peppers and the Panthers look to get back on track next week in a tough matchup against the defending New England Patriots. It will be a rematch of Super Bowl XXXVIII when the Patriots beat the Panthers.