Last night, Julius Peppers was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. No doubt the ceremony brought back many memories as a player that we haven’t seen since he took his place among the football greats.
I was fortunate enough to be in school while Peppers was, and the easy thing to do would be to roll off highlight films of him tearing apart opponents on the football field or his monstrous dunk against Wake Forest. For me, though, the first thing that pops into my mind is just how his departure coincided with the beginning of some dark times in two sports.