After 17 years and a Hall of Fame resume worthy collection of stats, defensive end Julius Peppers is retiring from the NFL.
Peppers wrote a passionate retirement post for The Players' Tribune, talking about idolizing Michael Jordan and watching Bulls games as a kid lucky enough to grow up in the North Carolina with satellite television.
As a North Carolina kid, who played college football in-state and was drafted by the hometown Carolina Panthers, Peppers writes a lot about Carolina. He does make a point to address Bears fans.
Bears fans … man … I could not have chosen a better place to make my first stop outside of North Carolina.